Amanita Muscaria and Soma – Was the Ancient Intoxicating Drink Made from the Psychoactive Mushroom

A growing number of people are enjoying our amanita gummies and love how this fascinating mushroom makes them feel. If you’ve read and enjoyed my blog posts on the history and mythology of amanita, you’ll love this post! It’s all about whether a famous beverage called “soma” was made from Amanita muscaria.

Certainly, the ethnomycologist and author Robert Gordon Wasson believed so. He wrote a book on the subject that was published in 1968. However, other scholars have largely refuted the claims Wasson made in his book Soma: Divine Mushroom of Immortality. Below, I will discuss some of Wasson’s key arguments and the rebuttals made by the author, Chris Bennett, who disagrees with Wasson.

Was Soma Made from Amanita Muscaria?

Amanita muscaria has been revered for thousands of years for its spiritual importance. It played a significant role in shamanic traditions in Northern Europe and Siberia and indigenous religious and cultural traditions in North America.

Some historians believe that Amanita muscaria was used 3500 years ago by the Indus Valley civilization. Given its long-standing use by different cultures throughout the world, some believe that Amanita muscaria may be soma, a plant, god, and intoxicating drink frequently described in the ancient Hindu text, the Rigveda.

Exactly what soma was made of has been lost over time, but there are compelling theories and arguments in favor of Amanita muscaria being the mind-altering drink. However, many scholars oppose these theories, and the argument that soma was made from Amanita muscaria has been largely discredited in academic circles.

Soma References in the Ancient Hindu Text, the Rigveda

Soma is mentioned throughout the Rigveda. In fact, an entire book within the scripture is devoted solely to soma. In the Rigveda, soma is described as many things, including a god, a plant, and an intoxicating beverage that bestows profound euphoria upon its drinkers.

Tracing its origins to the Aryans, who lived in the Indus Valley during the second millennium BC, the Rigveda shares cultural connections with the people who lived in the Iranian plateau, like the Zoroastrians. Soma and another sacred plant called haoma, mentioned in the Zoroastrian religious text, the Avesta, share remarkable similarities. In fact, the descriptions of soma in the Rigveda and the haoma in the Avesta are so similar that many say they are the same.

Rigveda‘s 1028 hymns were orally transmitted until the middle of the 1800s, when Western scholars began to transcribe them from Hindu priests. As a result, many of the words were reinterpreted, and some of their original meanings were lost over time. Unfortunately, this includes what soma was made from. That question continues to be the subject of much debate and speculation today.

Among various propositions, one prevailing theory is that soma wasn’t a plant but a mushroom, specifically Amanita muscaria.

Could Amanita Muscaria be Soma?

Gordon Wasson, an American ethnomycologist, is one of the best-known people to have thrown their weight behind the notion that Amanita muscaria is actually soma. Wasson outlined why he thought Amanita muscaria was soma in Soma: Divine Mushroom of Immortality, a book he wrote in the late 1960s.

Wasson’s Arguments for Soma Being Made from Amanita Muscaria

Wasson points to many indications in the Rigveda that soma was made from Amanita muscaria, including:

• Rigveda does not mention leaves, blossoms, seeds, or roots, implying that soma was not made from a plant or a tree but a mushroom.
• Soma is made by extracting the “plant’s” juice by combining it with water, pressing it with stones, and filtering the liquid through a woolen cloth. Wasson argues that this is comparable to the manner in which Amanita muscaria was generally prepared before being consumed.
• The description of soma’s juice, which is said to be tawny yellow, matches the color of Amanita muscaria‘s extract.
• Amanita muscaria mushrooms grew abundantly in the northern regions where the Aryans originated from.
• Soma is said to have grown in the mountains. The warmer conditions of the Indus Valley were realistically the only place where these mushrooms could conceivably grow.

Wasson also advanced further arguments in support of Amanita muscaria actually being soma. However, these are essentially conjectures. Soma, for example, is frequently associated with the sun, which he compares to the mushroom’s vivid red top.

He also highlighted references to the human body filtering soma. Wasson believed this was a significant indicator that Amanita muscaria was soma, as consuming the urine of a person who has ingested the mushroom is a popular ingestion method in some cultures.

Arguments Opposing Wasson’s Theory that Soma was Made from Amanita Muscaria

Several scholars, including Chris Bennet in The Mushroom Soma Theory: A Critical Analysis (2010), have critiqued Wasson’s theory. Some of Bennet’s main critiques of Wasson’s theory include:

• Bennett highlights that in one particular section of the Rigveda, soma is said to be a purple and green tree.
• In another rebuttal to one of Wasson’s claims, Bennett refers to an account in the same chapter of the Rigveda, which describes the stones that press the juice from the soma turning green rather than a tawny yellow color, as Wasson mentioned in his book.
• Another chapter in the Rigveda describes soma as “ever-green, golden-hued, refulgent, with a thousand boughs,” which bears no resemblance to the appearance of Amanita muscaria.

According to Bennett, it’s more likely that soma is, in fact, cannabis, which grows in the Indus Valley and probably has its origins in the Hindu Kush mountains.

Amanita Muscaria Soma Recipe

In the Rigveda, there are multiple references to combining soma with milk. This bears some resemblance to the intoxicating Indian drink bhang. If soma were, in fact, cannabis, it would need to be mixed with milk to increase the absorption of its fat-soluble active compounds. On the other hand, Amanita muscaria‘s active compounds are water-soluble; therefore, adding milk wouldn’t have been necessary.

It is also important to note that other scholars, besides Bennett, have proposed alternative soma candidates. These include ephedra, opium poppies, Psilocybe cubensis, and Syrian rue. So, there are many different theories about what soma was made from, but there is no definitive answer. The speculation and the debate continue.

Amanita Muscaria and the Mystery of Soma

While Wasson makes a compelling case for Amanita muscaria being soma, many scholars have refuted his claims. Indeed, others have proposed alternative candidates, being more likely to be the ancient drink due to geographical reasons, as well as detailed descriptions of soma in the ancient Hindu text, the Rigveda, pointing to it being made from a tree or a plant rather than the mushroom Amanita muscaria.

If you want to learn more about the history of Amanita, click on the link, and prepare to be blown away!