The book of hymns devoted to Soma.
SOMA OF THE RIG VIDA
Mankind has learned though historical references in the known literature that there were two ancient civilizations which utilized mushrooms in a religious context. These two distinct civilizations were so far remote from each other, not just geographically, but also culturally. Yet they knew the secrets of the universe that we of the present have forgotten.
Although visionary plants have been used as catalysts to divination by hundreds of civilizations since mankind first walked the Earth, only two civilizations are of major importance in the field of ethnomycology. The most notable of the many cultures who employed some of these psychoactive plants as a key to divination were allegedly the ancient Aryans of Northern Eurasia, while the Aztecs and other Mesoamericans, as well as the Mayan people of Middle America also employed certain mushrooms in their rituals and culture.
The Aryans are believed by some, to have made use of a sacred divine god-plant which they, in their written records, often referred to as "Soma." It has been theorized that the entheogen in question is a mushroom species known as
Amanita muscaria (Fr. ex L.) Hooker. The virtues of Soma are known to have been exalted and praised in hundreds of verses throughout the 9th and 10th mandala of the Rig-Veda (the Vedic scriptures). Use of this sacrament (Soma) by the ancient Aryan priests and their people had flourished for more than two thousand years (
Wasson, 1967, 1968, 1970a, 1970b, 1971, 1972, 1979a). Now it is only an uncharted memory in the pages of Vedic history, its use has been aerated by western civilization. But its secrets are once again being questioned as to exactly what was the "Soma" and when did it's use disappear? We need only to look and maybe we shall find the answer. Although the Wasson's had suggested that "Soma" was a mushroom, most likely
Amanita muscaria. R. Gordon Wasson, had pointed out that this mushroom was worshipped by the ancient Aryans and that several groups of primitive tribes currently living in Northern Siberia also used the
Amanita muscaria mushroom in a cultic manner. However, several other plants such as
Cannabis sativa (marijuana),
Peganum harmala (Syrian rue) and even the coprophilous mushroom
Psilocybe cubensis have also been thought of as being the "Soma" plant of the ancient Aryan religions. Currently a renowned scholar has claimed that he has identified the actual Soma plant and is writing his doctrine on its identity and cultural use.
In Mesoamerica, the Olmecs, the Toltecs, the Aztecs, and the Mayans, employed numerous visionary plants ritualistically in healing ceremonies. Mushrooms were one of the most important of the psychoactive agents employed by the Aztecs and their ancestors, the
Náhuatl-speaking peoples. These sacred mushrooms belonged principally to the genus
Psilocybe. Several investigators, who first studied the use of these plants in Mesoamerica, have noted that some species of
Panaeolus and
Conocybe may also have been employed in ritual healing and curing ceremonies, as well as
Amanita species. Several of the early Spanish chroniclers
PALEO-SIBERIAN and NORTH AMERICAN OJIBWAY AMANITA EATERS
Isolated groups of Finn-Ugrian people, the Ostyak and the Vogul of Western Siberia are known to employ
Amanita muscaria shamanistically, as do the Chukchee, Koryak and Kamchadal people of Northeastern Siberia (
Heizer, 1944;
Brekham & Sam, 1967;
Wasson, 1968;
LaBarre, 1975). Other reports have indicated and/or been verified, that the use of
Amanita muscaria is not just restricted geographically to western and northern Siberia. Both
Graves (1960) and
Schultes (1976) have indicated that some Finns and Lapps, as well as a small enclave in Afghanistan may have used, and still do, use this species shamanistically (
Graves, 1960;
Schultes, 1976) and both have reported on its possible use in both in Japan and the Philippines. The use of
Amanita muscaria was recently reported among some groups of North American Indians (
Wasson, 1979b). In her books "Windmills of the Mind" and "Hallucinogens: Cross Cultural Perspectives,"
Marlene Dobkin de Rios (1976, 1984) discusses the strange custom of
Amanita urine-drinking by the reindeer herdsmen of Siberia. This interesting habit had first been reported by travelers and explorers in Siberia during the late seventeenth and eighteenth century and similar evidence of the urine-drinking is also mentioned in the Vedic scriptures (
Wasson, 1968). It has been suggested that some psilocybian mushrooms may have also been employed traditionaly in primitive Siberian shamanistic cultures (
Wasson, 1968).
In North America,
Amanita muscaria has been observed and reportedly used among two different groups of native American Indians:
l). the Dogrib Athabascan (
Schultes & Hofmann, 1979) and
2). the Ojibway of Northern Michigan, U.S.A; and Ontario, Canada (
Keewaydinoquay, 1978, 1979, 1998;
Wasson, 1979b).
Use of this species of
Amanita by Native American Indians dates back over four hundred years. This is the only record of a group of North American Indians who have used a mushroom as a sacrament.
Active ingredients isolated from
Amanita muscaria and some related species include ibotenic acid and muscimol (
Saleminck, 1963;
Eugster, Jolly & Good, 1965).
The same causative agents have also been isolated from a similar species;
Amanita pantherina (
Takemoto, Nakajima & Sakuma, 1964). Both of the above-mentioned species are sometimes employed as recreational drugs in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States (
Ott, 1978;
Weil, 1977, 1980). Furthermore, there are several other species of
Amanita which also contain these classical agents (
Ott, 1993;
Guzmán, Allen & Gartz, 1999).
The Traditional use of Amanita muscaria in North America
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