Soma

Soma is one of the most enigmatic
deities in the Hindu tradition. The 120
hymns to soma in the Rg Veda, the oldest Hindu sacred text, variously describe
soma as a plant, as the juice pressed
from that plant, and as the deified form
of both juice and plant. The Vedic
hymns give detailed descriptions of how
the sacrificial priests pressed it, strained
and filtered it, and finally consumed it,
which then brought visions upon them.
These hymns portray soma as some sort
of mind-altering substance, although
there is no general agreement on what
the soma plant might be. Its identity has
been lost since late Vedic times, and
since then various substitutes have been
used in rituals.
Although the hymns describe soma
as hallucinogenic, one need not take
this literally. One can explain such
visions in purely psychological terms, as
induced or fostered by the priests’
heightened expectations in the sacrificial arena. If one assumes that soma was
actually mind-altering, it could not have
been an alcoholic beverage—since it
was prepared and consumed on the
same day, this would have given no time
for fermentation. One theory is that
soma was hashish (charas), which is still
consumed in certain ritual contexts. The
most intriguing theory was
proposed by R. G. Wasson, who
contended that soma was Amonita muscaria, a mind-altering mushroom that
has a long history of use in Asian
shamanic traditions. Although Wasson’s
theory would explain soma’s ability to
take immediate effect, many Indologists
have taken issue with this claim. See
Robert Gordon Wasson, Soma, 1971; for
contrary remarks, see J. Brough, “Soma
and Amonita Muscaria,” in The Bulletin
of the School of Oriental and African
Studies, Vol. 34, 1971.