Customer Reviews

Soma: The Divine Hallucinogen

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

A recent theory by David Spess proposes that the Soma plant is Nymphaea and Nelumbo (water lilies and the lotus plant) deserves attention. Spess begins with the fact that India has the
largest variety of water lily and lotus plants in the world, and that some of these were known as Soma and called so in Sanskrit texts. The psychoactivity of these plants is discussed, and although certain books and articles claim that these plants are not psychoactive, Spess asserts that they are (Spess, 2000). Certain indigenous varieties of the plants are known to be visionary and auditory entheogens when properly processed. In particular, the flowers of Nymphaea induce ecstatic states
similar to those from MDMA. Interestingly, the Rig Veda indicates that the deity Indra is initially stimulated, and then sent into entheogenic states by different preparations of Soma, which is a well known property of libations created from both water lily and lotus plants. Another aspect of the evidence provided is the medicinal properties of the plants, which is a key component in the description of Soma found in the Rig Veda. As described earlier, the hymns in the Rig Veda specifically speak of Soma's incredible rejuvenating and healing powers. Both lotus and water lily plants have historically been used to promote long term health in India, and have a special name for this property (rasayana) (Spess, 2000). The Rig Veda also speaks of Sura, a fermented alcoholic drink which is distinct from Soma and causes inebriation rather than entheogenic states. Some preparations of Soma did call for mixtures, which is further discussed in post-Vedic texts. Specific alkaloids found in Nelumbo block receptors that cause alcohol induced stupor, thus a mixture of Nymphaea and a fermented juice frees alcohol soluble alkaloids and increases the entheogenic potency of the drink while decreasing the alcoholic effects of it.

In this meticulously researched, always scholarly but eminently readable study of Soma, the "elixir of immortality" and enlightenment of ancient India, David Spess takes us on a fascinating intellectual and spiritual journey way beyond Wasson's narrowly focused case for Amanita muscaria, the inebriating fly agaric mushroom of ecstatic Siberian shamanism. In a book thankfully free of both scientific and New Age jargon Spess presents convincing evidence that Soma's devotees knew of many different kinds and even colors of soma drinks with different associations and purposes, so that soma botany and taxonomy cannot be reduced to a single sacred plant species. A valuable contribution to both historical ethnobotany and comparative religion----and a good read.

This is a fine but flawed book. Anyone with any interest in the identity of soma will have to read this book, together with two further publications promised by Spess in the bibliography. However, much fascinating historical information and speculation is spoiled by the presence of theosophical Mumbo Jumbo such as references to 'cosmic energies that operate within the universe' and frequent references to 'the paranormal'. No doubt I'll have to wait a few incarnations until that all becomes real to me. In addition there is a complete absence of any pharmacology of Spess's chosen candidates for Soma which would have helped with assessing Spess's claim to have found the true identity of Soma, though one of his pending publications promises to deal with this. This book does not match the book description... It definitely does not 'summarize all previous research on the subject'. Of the two other major contenders in identifying homa/soma Gordon Wasson gets only two brief mentions and Flattery and Schwartz are not even referenced. See Flattery and Schwartz themselves, as appended to 'The Staten Island Project', for some interesting history of the Soma debate.I suspect that this book, much delayed in publication, is a cut down version of that originally intended, coming in at 200 pages versus the advertised 400, the balance of information being due in Spess's promised publications. Another problem with Spess's book is that everthing hermetic, alchemical and mystical comes from the soma sacrifice. While I do not doubt that Spess has made the most intensive study to date of the the Vedas and other relevant scriptures and has more fascinating revelations to come, his insistence that all roads lead to Soma eventually just becomes tiresome. Still, hats off to Mr Spess for a fascinating read that leaves more questions unanswered than answered, more revelations to come, a few hints and tips for the cognoscenti who can read between the lines and bibliographical references and leads enough to keep entheogen hunters busy for the rest of their lives and maybe a few to come. musonius@hotmail.com

In this book the Author David Spess, makes the suggestion that reports of extended life spans achieved by the ancients, were not mistakes of time calculation, translation mistakes or myth, but a true record. He suggests that in the not too distant past humanity had access to a powerful plant or plants which they were able to use to heal or to rejeuvenate. One reviewer, Willard Johnson, refers to this as a daring thesis, and well it may seem to some.

Prior to reading this book I had encountered enough references of like nature to enable me to have formed similar conclusions. This is one of the reasons I purchased the book. unfortunately some of the references I came across, and which particularly interested me, are not quoted in the book. Anyone who is curious as a result of reading this book can be assured that there is certainly more information to be found. Mr Spess seems to be of the opinion that the psychoactive qualities of the plant are instrumental in increasing the power of the mind, therefore enabling spontaneous healing and rejeuvenation to occur. Mr Spess does, I feel, get overly euphoric about his conclusions in this regard and rambles on, sometimes for pages at a time, during which he has the unfortunate tendency to proffer his personal conclusions as fact. That he should be excited by this topic is understandable, but the lack of objectivity is sometimes annoying. I feel he would do better to provide more examples of the original materials from which he is quoting.

From the reading I have done I have formed the conclusion that the soma rejeuvenation procedure was a somewhat more radical experience than the three day Soma Holiday described by Mr Spess. The accounts that I found describe and period of preparatory fasting and special diet, Collection of the plant at a particular time of year, the construction of a special sterile,light proof isolation chamber, dramatic physical consequences, and the need for months of intensive care for the process to be complete. Under these conditions death would not seem an unlikely outcome.

In seems to me that advanced powers of mind control would be required to overcome the fear of the procedure. If the drug produced frightening hallucinations then it may have been important to have become accustomed to this before undertaking the full procedure.

I've had a good rave but believe me there is more to say. Please read the book, and the sequel. I will definitely be giving this book to my daughter to read as an accompaniment to her studies of "Brave New World".

The author references only his own unpublished works to support his claim about the Soma plant! There is not a shred of external evidence to support his claim. His logic is awfully weak and seriously flawed -- not even worth it to itemize the details! He does not discuss or disprove other theories about Soma, nor does he tell us why his identification is better than that of others.

I'm astounded that Prof. Willard Johnson could say in the jacket that it is a "well-argued and convincing book"! After 57 pages of padded claims about the identity of soma, the rest of the book is even more padding about alchemy and western magic. This book is a major disappointment. Save your money.

I truely enjoyed most of this book. The amount of speculative information was beyond what I expected. I found the arguments for the Lotus/Lilly being an ingredient of SOMA plausible. But only as one possible "ingredient", certainly not the main one.

Being an avid reader of R. Gordon Wasson and his protegee, James Arthur, i find it surprising that Spess just doesn't get it as far as the Mushroom/Soma connection goes. I like his concepts regarding the Lotus/Horse hoof and even the speculative rants but he is biting off more that anyone can chew if he thinks that his concept of Lotus/Soma will ever replace the Amanita muscaria. There are just too many connections which cannot be ignored.

If he had presented the case that he has discovered another ingredient used in soma rather than trying to dispose of previous research this book would find a welcome spot in the A shelf of my library. It rates a B- just because Spess misses the bigger picture. It is still a worthwhile read.

it was a dry read. Spess's writing was very repeative. It was interesting, especially for anyone interested in the field of entheogenics, with plenty of connections drawn between Soma and it's anthropologic/historic importance to Eurasian achemical tradition. But, as mentioned in a previous review, Spess gives no reasons as to why his thesis on the identity of the plants used in the Soma ritual is any better than Wassons or that the two may be supportive of each other. If you are someone interested in Soma and entheogenics on an anthropologic level, this book is a important read though I would not recommend it as an introduction to the Soma mystery or entheogenics.

Dr. Andrew McDonald has come to the same findings as Spess and says so in his detailed article:
A Botanical Perspective on the Identity of Soma (Nelumbo Nucifera Gaertn.) Based on Scriptural and Iconographic Records, (Economic Botany,. Volume 58, Issue 1, February 2005, Article: pp. S147-S173)

See the link or past it into your browser: [...]

Andrew McDonald, P.hD

University of Texas at Austin, Plant Resources Center, 78712; E-mail: amcdon@mail.utexas.edu

An examination of the mythic and artistic records of India and Southeast Asia indicates that the famous psychotropic of the ancient Aryans was the eastern lotus, Nelumbo nucifera. Vedic epithets, metaphors, and myths that describe the physical and behavioral characteristics of the `soma' plant as a sun, serpent, golden eagle, arrow, lightning bolt, cloud, phallic pillar, womb, chariot, and immortal navel, relate individually or as a whole to the eastern lotus. Since most Hindu and Buddhist gods and goddesses trace their origins from the Vedas and have always shared close symbolic associations with Nelumbo, there is reason to believe the divine status of this symbolic plant derives from India's prehistoric past.

I was really looking forward to reading this book, but I found it very redundant. The author seemed to be making the same point over and over again so it became very dry and boring.

THE SO-CALLED SCHOLARSHIP OF THIS BOOK IS CONFUSED , SELF-PROCLAIMING , ERRONEOUS , FAULTY , MISLEADING AND IS COMPLETELY DEVOID OF ANY FACTUAL BASIS IN REALITY . NOT ONLY IS THE TEXT OF THE BOOK ITSELF TRITE AND SUPERFICIAL , FULL OF " NEW AGE MUMBO JUMBO " BUT THE FOOT-NOTES ARE LESS THAN SHALLOW AND THE INDEX FAILS TO EVEN MENTION THE CONTRIBUTIONS AND RESEARCHES MADE IN THE VARIOUS FIELDS OF STUDY BY SUCH SCHOLARS AS JONATHAN OTT , ALBERT HOFMANN , RICHARD EVANS SCHULTES , CHRISTIAN RATSCH , HUSTON SMITH , TERENCE MCKENNA , DENNIS MCKENNA , WESTON LA BARRE , ALEXANDER SHULGIN , WILLIAM EMBODEN , ETC. ETC. COULD IT BE THAT THE AUTHOR NEVER BOTHERED TO EVEN STUDY THE MASSIVE RESEARCH MATERIAL PRODUCED BY THESE SCHOLARS OR PERHAPS HE FELT THAT THE MATERIAL WAS USELESS AND NOT AT ALL RELATED TO HIS STUDIES ( INDEX ONLY MENTIONS GORDON WASSON TWICE !! ) ?? SPESS'S KNOWLEDGE OF SANSKRIT IS ALMOST NONEXISTENT AND IN ABSOLUTELY NO WAY PERMITS AN ARTICULATED STUDY OF THE SCRIPTURES HE CITES . HIS KNOWLEDGE OF PHARMACOLOGY , AS EVIDENCED THROUGHOUT THE TEXT OF THIS BOOK IS COMPLETELY LACKING . HE IS FAST TO CONDEMN THE WORK OF OTHERS BUT PROVIDES NO FACTUAL BASIS FOR HIS MUMBO JUMBO NEW AGE FAIRY TALE CONCLUSIONS . ISN'T IT ALSO ODD THAT THE DUSTWRAPPER SAYS HE STUDIED SANSKRIT AT THE NAROPA INSTITUTE BUT FAILS TO ELABORATE ON ANY DEGREE HE RECEIVED ( I SUSPECT PERHAPS IT WAS A WEEKEND SEMINAR ) DUSTWRAPPER ALSO SAYS HE TRAVELED THROUGHOUT INDIA AND THE MIDDLE EAST BUT FAILS TO PROCLAIM THE DURATION OF TIME HE SPENT AND WHERE EXACTLY HE WENT OR WHY OR WHAT HE ENCOUNTERED . DUSTWRAPPER ALSO STATES HE WAS A RESEARCH MYCOLOGIST FOR THE FDA BUT ODDLY ENOUGH DOES NOT ELABORATE ON WHAT HE WAS RESEARCHING OR THE DURATION OF HIS RESEARCHES OR UPON ANY PREVIOUSLY PUBLISHED RESULTS! AGAIN THE DUSTWRAPPER MENTIONS THAT HE TAUGHT AT THE UNIVERSITY OF COLORADO BUT OMITS EXACTLY WHAT HE TAUGHT , FOR HOW LONG HE TAUGHT OR WHEN HE TAUGHT . I FIND THE WHOLE OMISSION OF THESE STRONG MATERIAL FACTS TO BE " RATHER ODD " . READING THE TEXT OF THIS BOOK ONE WILL FIND THEMSELVES SUBMERSED IN A MAZE OF DISJOINTED SELF-PROCLAIMING ERRONEOUS LOGIC WHICH RELIES ON THE ACCEPTANCE OF THE AUTHORS SPECIAL KNOWLEDGE OF COSMIC FORCES . WELL TO MY KNOWLEDGE , AND I HAVE BEEN STUDYING ETHNOBOTANY FOR 35 YEARS , THIS IS ALL " MODERN DAY COFFEE HOUSE HYPE " . I TRULY FEEL THIS VOLUME CONTAINS ABOUT ABSOLUTE ZERO VALIDITY AND THAT SCHOLARSHIP IS TOTALLY LACKING IN ALL RESPECTS . A CRITICAL ANALYTICAL EXAMINATION OF THE TABLE OF CONTENTS , FOOT-NOTES , BIBLIOGRAPHY AND INDEX WILL LEAD THE COURTEOUS READER TO REALIZE THAT THERE IS NO SCHOLARSHIP PRESENT AND THE TEXT WILL SUBSTANTIATE THIS IN AN OVERWHELMING FASHION . THE AUTHOR HIMSELF doesn't EVEN SEEM TO KNOW THE SECRET COSMIC FORCES HE PROCLAIMS TO HAVE KNOWLEDGE OF BUT USES THEM AS A PLOY TO DISCOURAGE SCIENTIFIC , LINGUISTIC AND HISTORICAL INVESTIGATIONS . THERE ARE MANY FINE BOOKS AND JOURNALS IN THE ETHNOBOTANICAL REALM BUT THIS IS DEFINITELY , DULY , DIRECTLY AND WITHOUT HESITATION NOT ONE OF THEM !!