Soma

Soma (Sanskrit), or Haoma (Avestan), refers to a ritual drink of importance among the early Indo-Iranians, and the later Vedic and greater Persian cultures. This drink was composed from a plant, most likely hallucinogenic, which endowed its consumer with a powerful feeling of intoxication. This intoxication was perceived to be a quality of the gods, who were also said to consume the beverage for purposes of gaining immortality. Soma is frequently mentioned in the Rigveda, which contains many hymns praising its energizing or intoxicating qualities. In the Avesta, the foundation of Zoroastrianism, Haoma has an entire Yasht dedicated to it. In each tradition, the drink Soma/Haoma is identified with the plant, and also personified as a divinity, the three forming a mythological unity. Both Soma and Haoma are derived from Proto-Indo-Iranian root *sav- (Sanskrit sav-) "to press", referring to the process by which the drink is made. Hindus also called the drink amrita, or "the wine of immortality."

Vedic Soma

Rg Veda

Soma is praised in 120 hymns within the Rg Veda, rendering it one of the most recognized entities in that text. For example, the entirety of the Ninth Mandala of the Rigveda, also known as the Soma Mandala consists of hymns addressed to Soma Pavamana (or "purified Soma"). Soma was considered to be the most precious liquid in the universe, and therefore was an indispensible aspect of all Vedic rituals, used in sacrifices to all gods, particularly Indra, the warrior god. Supposedly, gods consumed the beverage in order to sustain their immortality. In this aspect, Soma is similar to the Greek ambrosia (cognate to amrita); in that it is not only what the gods drink, but it is also what makes them deities. Indra and Agni (the divine representation of fire) are portrayed as consuming Soma in copious quantities.

Soma could also bestow the power of the gods upon mortals. When consumed by humans, Soma's intoxicating effect represented the temporary replacement of sensory pleasure with that of bliss, or ananda. The effects of this bliss included immortality, poetic insight, enhanched fertility, the ability to heal, the attainment of wealth, and perhaps most importantly, the ferocity of Indra. Rig Veda VIII describes attests to this power:

a ápāma sómam amŕtā abhūmâganma jyótir ávidāma devân

c kíṃ nūnám asmân kṛṇavad árātiḥ kím u dhūrtír amṛta mártyasya

We have drunk Soma and become immortal; we have attained the light, the Gods discovered.

Now what may foeman's malice do to harm us? What, O Immortal, mortal man's deception?

Therefore, soma bridged the gap between human beings and gods. The drink Soma was guarded and distributed by the Gandharvas, part-man, part-animal nature spirits who have superb musical skills and act as messengers between humanity and the gods.

Sacrificial Usage

During the performance of the Vedic sacrifices, soma was prepared by a priest who used stones in order to press juice from the stalks of a indeterminate mountain plant (which has been hypothesized to be a psychedelic mushroom, cannabis, peganum harmala, or ephedra; see below). The stalks were pounded between these stones within the sacrificial area. Such pounding creates what Vedic seers called tapas (literally "heat", later referring to "spiritual excitement" in particular). The juice produced was then purified by the presiding priest by filtering it through sheep's wool and collecting it in tubs. The resulting extract, a sweet brown liquid, was then mixed with other ingredients such as beer, milk, water, curds, ghee, barley and/or honey and then offered to the gods. The remainder was consumed by humans from special cups. Three pressings were undertaken each day of the sacrifice.

Soma the God

Due to the supposedly supernatural powers bestowed upon those who drank it, soma gradually came to be portrayed as a god (or deva). However, unlike other gods, Soma had few anthropomorphic characteristics, commonly portrayed in Vedic art as a bull or bird, and sometimes as an embryo, but rarely as an adult human. Soma is also described in terms of the effect of the beverage upon those who consumed it. The god, the drink and the plant probably referred to the same entity; at the very least differentiation between the three was ambiguous. Soma's divine dominion was held over plant life, evident in his alternative title Oshadhi-pati, or "Supervisor of Herbs." Despite his connection to the earth, he was seen as having origin in the heavens.

In the later Vedas, the god Soma had evolved into a lunar deity and was identified with the moon god Chandra, and came to be symbolized by a silver crescent. Mythology explains that Soma was married to Rohini with whom he created a son, Budha. Apart from Rohini, Soma's had twenty-seven other wives who were daughters of Daksha, the ancient creator god. Based on complaints submitted by his daughters, Daksha felt Soma paid too much attention to Rohini. Daksha cursed him to wither and die with leprosy, but the wives took pity uppon Soma's fate and intervened, claiming the punishment to be too severe. Daksha could not take back the curse, but instead revised it so that Soma's death became periodic and temporary, and is perpetually acted out over and over again by the waxing and waning of the moon each month. Alternatively, the waning of the moon is said to be caused by the various god's consumption of soma, with the moon serving as the cup from which they drink it. A waxing moon meant Soma was recreating himself, ready to be consumed again.

Zoroastrian Haoma

Haoma

Zoroastrianism adopted many aspects of surrounding Indo-Aryan religious traditions as it developed through history. Haoma, the deity and the beverage, can be identified as an example of this syncretistic trend based upon its similarity with Soma. The continuing importance of Haoma in Zoroastrianism is evidenced within the Avesta (particularly in the Hōm Yast, Yasna 9.11). The plant Haoma yielded the essential ingredient for the ritual drink, parahaoma, and, as in Hinduism, is portrayed as a personification of the divine. In the Hōm yašt, the Yazata (divine) Haoma appears to the prophet Zoroaster "at the time of pressing" (havani ratu) in the form of a beautiful man. Yasna 9.1 and 9.2 exhort him to gather and press Haoma plants. Like the Vedic beverage soma, Iranian haoma allows one temporary immortality through intoxication. In Yasna 9.22, it is told that Haoma grants "speed and strength to warriors, excellent and righteous sons to those giving birth, spiritual power and knowledge to those who apply themselves to the study of the nasks". As the religion's chief cult divinity, Haoma came to be perceived as its divine priest. In Yasna 9.26, the supreme deity Ahura Mazda is said to have invested him with the sacred girdle, and in Yasna 10.89, to have installed Haoma as the "swiftly sacrificing zaotar" (Sanskrit hotar) for himself and the Amesha Spenta. Haoma services were celebrated until the 1960s in a strongly conservative village near Yazd.

Yasna

Haoma the beverage still plays a major role in the ceremony of Yasna, the paramount Zoroastrian liturgy. This ritual involves the sacrifice of haoma in front of a fire. The ceremony is prefaced by the Paraga, a prepatory rite, where a number of ritual movements leads to the preparation of the haoma beverage, which consists of consecrated water, pomegranites, goat's milk and twigs. This mixture is poured into a special well outside the pawi so that it may render its strengthening abilities upon all of creation. Thus, haoma fulfills the purpose of the Yasna, to purify the world by bridging the gap between the sacred and profane worlds so that they might come into union.

What plant was Soma?

The plant from which soma was extracted is not explictly stated in the early Vedas, thus, there has been much speculation in academic circles as to what the original Proto-Indo-Iranian Sauma plant actually was. Some clues as to the characteristics and location of the plant are provided within the Vedas. The Rigveda associates the Sushoma, Arjikiya and other regions with Soma (e.g. verses 8.7.29; 8.64.10-11). Sharyanavat was possibly the name of a pond or lake on the banks of which Soma could be found. The plant is described as growing in the mountains (giristha, cf. Orestes), yellow or tawny in colour with long stalks. Because it grew far away in the mountains, Soma had to be purchased from travelling traders. The plant supposedly grew in the Hindukush and thus it had to be imported to the Punjab region. Alternately, the famous ayurvedic scholar Susruta wrote that the best Soma is found in the upper Indus and Kashmir region (Susruta Samhita: 537-538, SS.CS. 29.28-31). Through the centuries, knowledge of the plant was lost altogether, and Indian ritual reflects this, such as in expiatory prayers which provide apologies to the gods for the use of a substitute plant (e.g. rhubarb) due to the unavailability of Soma. By the time of the Brahmanas (800 B.C.E.), additional substitutes for the plant mentioned in the Vedas had been mentioned, including varieties of creepers, grasses, and flowers.

Since the eighteenth century, Western scholars have attempted to identify the original soma plant. It was generally assumed to be hallucinogenic, based on RV 8.48 cited above. However, this is the only evidence of hallucinogenic properties, in a book full of hymns to Soma. The typical description of Soma is associated with excitation and tapas. Soma is associated with the warrior-god Indra, and appears to have been drunk before battle. For these reasons, there are energizing plants as well as hallucinogenic plants among the candidates that have been suggested. Including the mushroom amanita muscaria, which was widely used as a brew of sorts among Siberian shamans for its hallucinogenic and 'religous experience' inducing properties. In fact, several texts like the Atharva Veda extol the medicinal properties of Soma and he is regarded as the king of medicinal herbs (and also of the Brahmana class).

Since the late 1700s, when Anquetil-Duperron and others made portions of the Avesta available to western scholarship, several scholars have sought a representative botanical equivalent of the haoma as described in the texts and as used in living Zoroastrian practice. Most of the proposals concentrated on either linguistic evidence or comparative pharmacology or reflected ritual use. Rarely were all three considered together, which usually resulted in such proposals being quickly rejected.

In the late 19th century, the highly conservative Zoroastrians of Yazd (Iran) were found to use Ephedra (genus Ephedra), which was locally known as hum or homa and which they exported to the Indian Zoroastrians. (Aitchison, 1888) The plant, as Falk also established, requires a cool and dry climate, i.e. it does not grow in India (which is either too hot or too humid or both) but thrives in central Asia. Later, it was discovered that a number of Iranian languages and Persian dialects have hom or similar terms as the local name for some variant of Ephedra. Considered together, the linguistic and ritual evidence appeared to conclusively establish that haoma was some variant of Ephedra. Recent hypotheses suggest that that soma was the hallucinogen Anamita muscaria, or the fly-agraric mushroom.

References

ISBN links support NWE through referral fees

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• Clark, Peter. Zoroastrianism: An Introduction to an Ancient Faith. Portland, OR: Sussex Academic Press, 1998. ISBN 1898723788
• Embree, Ainslee T. ed. The Hindu Tradition. New York: Vintage Books, 1966. ISBN 0-394-71702-3
• Frawley David: The Rig Veda and the History of India, 2001.(Aditya Prakashan), ISBN 81-7742-039-9
• Friedrichs, Kurt. "Soma." In The Encyclopedia of Eastern Philosophy and Religion. Schumacher, S. & Woerner, Gert, eds. Boston: Shambhala, 1994. 336. ISBN 0-87773-433-X
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• Knappert, J. Indian Mythology. London: Diamond Books, 1995. ISBN 0261666541
• McDonald, A. A botanical perspective on the identity of soma (Nelumbo nucifera Gaertn.) based on scriptural and iconographic records. Econmic Botany 2004;58:S147-S173
• Nyberg, Harri, The problem of the Aryans and the Soma: The botanical evidence, in: The Indo-Aryans of Ancient South Asia ed. G. Erdosy, de Gruyter (1995), 382-406.
• Parpola, Asko, The problem of the Aryans and the Soma: Textual-linguistic and archaeological evidence, in: The Indo-Aryans of Ancient South Asia ed. G. Erdosy, de Gruyter (1995), 353–381.
• "Secrets of the Dead: Day of the Zulu" <http://www.pbs.org/wnet/secrets/case_zulu/clues.html> [Retrieved Feb. 5, 2005].
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• Swami Rama. Living with the Himalayan Masters. The Himalayan Institute Press. 1978.

External links

• Evidence of Amanita Muscaria as Soma/Amrita

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