Botanical identity of soma–haoma

[citation needed] In his autobiography, Swami Rama recalls contacting an Indian herbologist and Vedic scholar named Vaidya Bhairavdutt, who is described as "the only living authority on soma".

In 1989, in a highly influential text, Harry Falk pointed out that both the Flattery and Wasson arguments assumed that haoma was hallucinogenic, although the effect desired by Zoroastrian and Vedic ritual use was not.

Falk also asserted that the three varieties of ephedra that yield ephedrine (E. gerardiana, E. major procera and E. intermedia) also have the properties attributed to haoma by the texts of the Avesta.

[10]: 87 In 1994, Viktor Sarianidi claimed that ancient ritual objects found at BMAC archeological sites in Central Asia bore traces of Ephedra stalks and Papaver (poppy) seeds.

[14] Nonetheless, in the conclusion of his observations on the 1999 haoma-soma workshop in Leiden, Jan E. M. Houben writes that "[d]espite strong attempts to do away with Ephedra by those who are eager to see *sauma as a hallucinogen, its status as a serious candidate for the Rigvedic soma and Avestan haoma still stands.

Flattery proposed the second plant was Peganum harmala (harmal, harmel, Syrian rue, see also harmaline), known in Iranian languages as esfand, sepand or other similar terms related to Avestan word spenta ('sacred', 'holy').

Since co-occurrence of DMT-bearing Phalaris grass and the MAOI-rich Peganum harmala has been observed at Yazd, Persepolis, Merv and Termez,[17] the hypothesis stating that soma/haoma was a biochemical Eurasian correlate of ayahuasca cannot be excluded a priori.

Nelumbo nucifera is a waterlily-like plant that produces golden-red flowers on long stalks arising from rootstocks anchored in the mud of lake bottoms.

In addition, benzoisoquinoline alkaloids found in Nelumbo nucifera, including aporphine, proaporphine, and nuciferine, are psychoactive, producing feelings of euphoria when ingested.

In the temples found, the central position is occupied by what have been dubbed "white rooms", along the walls of which are sunk, into side platforms, vessels carved from thick layers of gypsum.

A number of proposals were made, including an important one in 1968 by Robert Gordon Wasson, an amateur mycologist, who (on Vedic evidence) asserted that soma was an inebriant, and suggested fly-agaric mushroom, Amanita muscaria, as the likely candidate.

[16] In 1971, Vedic scholar John Brough from Cambridge University rejected Wasson's theory and drew attention to ephedrine (in particular to that extracted from Ephedra sinica), and noted that it "is a powerful stimulant, and would thus be a more plausible preparation for warriors about to go into battle than the fly-agaric, which is a depressant."

[16] Kevin Feeney and Trent Austin compared the references in the Vedas with the filtering mechanisms in the preparation of Amanita muscaria and published findings supporting the proposal that fly-agaric mushrooms could be a likely candidate for the sacrament.

[35] Said Gholam Mochtar and Hartmut Geerken published their findings regarding the medicinal and recreational use of A. muscaria among the Parachi-speaking inhabitants of the Shutul Valley in the Hindu Kush range of Afghanistan.

[36] In his book Food of the Gods, Terence McKenna criticizes the Amanita muscaria theory and suggests the psilocybin-containing Psilocybe cubensis mushroom as a soma candidate.

An ancient rug discovered in the year 2010 depicts figures conjectured to be those of kings, priests, and/or even warriors - one of whom is holding an object strongly resembling a mushroom with a large cap.

This depicts figures conjectured to be those of kings, priests, and/or warriors - one of whom is holding an object strongly resembling a large mushroom with a broad, scalloped (or spotted) cap and a bulbous base - this within the context of what appears to an offering forming part of a haoma ritual performed next to a fire altar (see also Atar).

The embroidery is not only of a high quality, but also exhibits a remarkable degree of preservation, permitting detailed analysis of facial features, costume and ritual paraphernalia - even allowing the dating of the artifact to within fifty years on either side of the turn of the Common Era.

The authors offer a tentative identification of the mushroom depicted in the ritual as Psilocybe cubensis, although they reference also Amanita muscaria, while casting doubt upon the suitability of the chemistry of the latter species for inducing ecstasies of the type evoked by haoma.

[38] The time-worn cloth found on the floor covered with blue clay of the Xiongnu burial chamber and brought back to life by restorers has a long and complicated story.

It was made someplace in Syria or Palestine, embroidered, probably, in north-western India and found in Mongolia...The manner in which the warrior with a horse is depicted copies in minute detail the images on the heads of the coins minted by Indo-Scythian (Saka) kings: Azes I, Aziles (typo for Azilises q.v.)

[38]Some ethnomycological evidence, relevant to a tentative identification of the mushroom depicted in the Noin-Ula rug, may be found in an article published in 1979 by Said Gholam Mochtar and Hartmut Geerken in which the authors describe a tradition involving the medicinal and recreational use of Amanita muscaria among a Parachi-speaking group living in the remote Shutul Valley of the Panjshir Province of Afghanistan.

Mochtar and Geerken's research, while intriguing, has not yet been corroborated by other investigators (an unsurprising state of affairs in view of a history of conflict in Afghanistan rendering scholarly fieldwork difficult, if not impossible).

This said, if their conclusions are correct and Shutuli amanita use is a practice of some antiquity, this would place a tradition featuring ritual use of the fly agaric in the area in which the Noin-Ula embroidery was created (i.e. in a region abutting the northwest frontier of India) and in which a haoma-using Zoroastrian milieu would be historically plausible, given the Indo-Scythian provenance of the clothing depicted and the portrayal of a fire altar.

[36] In The Road to Eleusis, the authors, R. Gordon Wasson, Albert Hofmann, and Carl A. P. Ruck, note the similarity in preparation of the Vedic soma and the Kykeon of the Eleusinian Mysteries.