Botanical Ecstasies: Psychoactive Plant Formulas in India and Beyond

Soma and hoama are among the earliest recorded substances that supposedly elicit religious ecstasy. Mentioned in the sacred texts of the Brahmans, the Vedas, and in the Zoroastrian Avesta respectively, the mystery of their botanical identity has been contested by scholars since the eighteenth century. Many plants and fungi have been proposed in the intervening years, including Amanita muscaria and Psilocybe cubensis mushrooms, the sacred lotus (Nelumbo nucifera), and even ergot. None of which, however, reliably fit available evidence.

In Botanical Ecstasies: Psychoactive Plant Formulas in India and Beyond, scholar Matthew Clark proposes that soma/hoama is instead an ayahuasca-like plant complex made up of different species. He argues that the widespread use of this ancient ritual drink in Asia means that different plants would have been used depending on geographical location. Thus he examines a range of candidates that reliably grow on the right areas and which in combination might produce an effect similar to the so-called 'classic' psychedelics. These early ecstatic experiences, he suggests, contributed to the emergent concept and ritual techniques of mysticism.