The Soma plant held central importance in Vedic religion, especially in elaborate soma-sacrifices described in Yajurvedic texts and earlier in the Ṛgveda. Western scholars have long speculated on its botanical identity, proposing candidates such as Ephedra, Sarcostemma, Periploca, Cannabis, and Rheum, but no conjecture has gained general agreement, and many consider the problem insoluble.
A review of a book that argues Vedic and Zoroastrian rituals centered on an entheogenic substance, comparing them to ayahuasca ceremonies in the Brazilian Santo Daime church. The author suggests these ancient religions developed primarily as vehicles for psychedelic experiences, and also examines Greek mystery rites that may have used an ayahuasca analogue. While the book's wide scope and reliance on diverse scholarship may provoke objections from specialists, it productively engages perspectives such as self-experimentation, ritual studies, and comparative religion, reframing the soma/haoma problem for future research.
This edited volume collects studies on Indian and comparative mysticism, examining the figure of the yogi and the mystic across traditions. The essays explore philosophical, theological, and art-historical dimensions of mystical experience in Indian and Buddhist contexts, comparing them with Western mystical traditions. The work argues for a nuanced understanding of mysticism that respects cultural and doctrinal differences while identifying shared experiential patterns.