Talk:Soma

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

	This article is within the scope of WikiProject India, which aims to improve Wikipedia's coverage of India-related topics. If you would like to participate, please visit the project page.
???	This article has not yet received a rating on the quality scale.
More information about this article... ??? This article has not yet received a rating on the importance scale.

	This article is within the scope of WikiProject Hinduism, an attempt to promote better coordination, content distribution, and cross-referencing between pages dealing with Hinduism. If you would like to participate, please visit the project page. Guidelines: Manual of Style - Naming conventions How you can help: Notice board - Discussion board
???	This article has not been rated yet on the quality scale.

This article is part of the WikiProject on Psychedelics, Dissociatives and Deliriants, set up to organize and expand entries on Psychedelics, dissociatives and deliriants as well as related subjects according to chemical type, effects, organic carriers, and cultural/historical uses. Please feel free to participate by editing this article and visiting the project page.

Soma, Soma Chakra ( Amrita, Indu ) Nectar or Moon, Nectar of Immortality, Moon.....Above the Ajna Chakra and resides in the Sahasrara or seventh Chakra, above the third eye in the center of the forehead. Residing above the Soma Chakra is Kamadhenu (the wish-fulfilling cow) and three Nadis : Ambika, Lambika and Talika. The nectar is constantly seeping out of the Nirjhar Gupha, or Brahmar Gupha, the "Cave of The Bumblebee," the hollow space between the twin hemispheres of the brain. The natural course of Soma(Nectar) is to flow downward from Kamadhenu through the Chakras. When it reaches the Manipura Chakra, the third Chakra, it is burned by the fire energy of the solar plexus. Through Yoga, one can block the downward flow of this nectar (Amrita) by meditating on the eight-petaled lotus of the Kameshvara Chakra ( it also resides in the Sahasrara or seventh Chakra, above where Kamadhenu resides), and performing Khechari Mudra. Khechari Mudra enhances the upward flow of energy, enabling one to stay in the Brahma Randhra, the hollow space between the twin hemispheres known as the tenth gate of the body. Crossing the Soma Chakra takes the aspirant beyond worldly desires and gives him or her authority over the elements (Tattvatit). One who stops the downward flow of Nectar becomes immortal in the physical body. He or she enjoys eternal bliss through the union of Shiva and Shakti, the ultimate goal of Kundalini Yoga.

---

Why are the above 5 paragraphs not shown in the main Soma article? Granted, the statements need references to their sources, which I believe are not hard to find. I remember much of the above from a book by Harish Johari (Chakras) and from "Hatha Yoga Pradipika" as well as (if I remember well) from "Kundalini Samhita (?)".

I find the above references - that Soma is found as a store or flow of liquid INSIDE the human body - very telling. In the sources indicated (especially the Hatha Yoga Pradipika) no reference is made to Soma as a manufactured drink or vegetation stimulant. I also know from that source, other sources and... personal experience that the inward flow of Soma is related to Khechari Mudra. The inward flow of Soma comes with experiences of deep bliss and notions or immortality (amrita - ambrosia) and is totally independant of external stimuli. The experience of internal soma is sometimes referred to as the nectar drop at the back cavity of the mouth above and behind the tongue. Could the person who wrote the above 5 paragraphs do some more work some more on it... I believe it is very worth while to then add it then to the main article. William vroman 18:41, 2 May 2006 (UTC)William Vroman

Contents 1 Cleanup 2 Merged Information 3 fly agaric 4 Soma the medication 5 Definition of Soma, as in psychosomatic 6 Haoma split 7 SOMA: Evolution of a Sacrament

[edit] Cleanup

The first section of this article is quite confusing. Can it be written more like a disambiguation article, with one section devoted to the god, and another devoted to the drink? - DropDeadGorgias (talk) 20:25, Jun 17, 2004 (UTC)

the god and the drink are one and the same!

[edit] Merged Information

"Soma is associated with the warrior-god Indra, and Haoma appears to have been drunk before battle (i.e. in a situation where psychedelic tripping would be unadvisable). For these reasons, there are energizing plants as well as hallucinogenic plants among the candidates that have been suggested."

Just FYI cannabis was used by Zulu warriors before battle

http://www.pbs.org/wnet/secrets/case_zulu/clues.html

"warriors were given a cannabis (marijuana)-based snuff to take during battle. Analysis of the snuff has revealed that it contained extremely high levels of THC, a powerful hallucinogen, and yet no detectable levels of the chemicals that cause the sedative effects of marijuana."

More importantly why not link to this page? http://www.huxley.net/soma/

It documents recent archaelogical evidence that soma was a Ephedra/Cannabis/Opium mix.

done. thanks for the link! feel free to insert the zulu stuff yourself (here, or on zulu related articles). dab (ᛏ) 17:27, 2 Feb 2005 (UTC)

Excellent Archaelogical Evidence update! I merged in a small snippet about the Zulu information, and included the pbs article as a reference.

[edit] fly agaric

well, yes, my idea that it is difficult to pound its stalks is that they would disintegrate after some minutes. We're talking about sitting down and pounding the stalks for hours, with stones. But I admit I haven't tried it myself. dab (ᛏ) 05:48, 14 July 2005 (UTC)

[edit] Soma the medication

Soma is also the name of a prescription drug for muscle aches and pains (muscle relaxant).

that's on Soma (disambiguation).

as well as a major mentioned substance in the novel Brave New World, with a seemingly fictional reaction. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 69.249.134.20 (talk • contribs).

and since Soma (Brave New World) is clearly derived from this Soma is seems absurd to probhit a brief mention of it on this page. --Henrygb 21:50, 12 December 2005 (UTC)

nobody is "prohibiting" anything. If you check the edit history, it even used to be treated on this page altogether. I suggest you write a short statement about how Huxley came up with the idea. The intro is another thing altogether, I see no reason why Huxley's Soma should be mentioned in the intro of this article, when it has its own article, Soma (Brave New World). I'll put Huxley's Soma in the "see also" for now. dab (ᛏ) 22:04, 12 December 2005 (UTC)

[edit] Definition of Soma, as in psychosomatic

I've been trying to find a definition of soma beyond '"soma" means body. This article makes no reference to that meaning except to mention a soma chakra. My sense is that Soma is an expanded vision of the body that includes esoteric energy systems, chakras, auras, etc. Does anyone have any suggestions about this?

"Soma" is just Greek for "body". Hence its use in words like "psychosomatic", etc. As far as I am aware, it is not related to the Vedic word. They simply sound the same. Paul B

indeed. we have Soma (disambiguation) for that, linked from the very first line on this article. dab (ᛏ) 08:03, 21 June 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Haoma split

Fullstop, I am unsure about splitting of haoma, especially since you did not discuss it. It is important to treat the two variants comparatively, in the same article. Also, the article was not too long, so there was no reason to branch stuff out. dab (ᛏ) 08:02, 21 June 2006 (UTC)

[edit] SOMA: Evolution of a Sacrament

Soma was the spiritual ground of being that permeated all existence (analogous to the Greek "Logos" or the Eastern "Tao"). This spiritual substance flowed from the god Soma. The gods drank of this immortal substance. Within our bodies this Soma existed as a divine liquid. Soma manifested in a physical plant universally known as a spiritual and physical rejuvenant. As one reads the Rig Veda's it is evident this plant originally was neither hallucinogenic nor an intoxicant. Gernot C. Windfuhr says that Soma was a man shaped root and identifies it as the plant Ginseng. Ginseng had a symbolic connection with the celestial man (the constellation Orion) which has a precise parallel in Chinese lore. Ginseng has long been considered a mild medicinal stimulant. From the ancient temples of China to the woodlands of the American Indians Ginseng has, for centuries, been hailed in various cultures as a spiritual and physical rejuvenator. The Bible called it the "plant of reknown". It has been called "the sacred plant that hides from man" because of the difficulty in finding it. That which is most difficult to find always becomes the Holy Grail. A sacramental elixir was made that consisted of Ginseng, honey, and milk. This too was called Soma. Very early Ephedra was added to the elixir. Ginseng very quickly took second place in the elixir due to Ephedra's energizing effect being more pronounced then the mild adaptagen Ginseng. Ephedra very soon became the main plant Soma as well as the main plant in the elixir also called Soma. Sometimes a side effect of Ephedra is nervousness (or in some people an extreme agitation) which may have caused the priests to add a fermented wine, opium, and/or cannabis (archaeological finds in ancient temples reportedly discovered traces of Ephedra and opium in one instance and Ephedra and cannabis in another). The hallucinogen cannabis may have been the precursor to the adding of the hallucinogenic Psilocybin mushroom to the sacramental elixir. It is very evident in reading the Rig Veda's that the original Soma was not intoxicating. However, further into the Rig Veda's the nature of Soma changes. It promotes the feeling of immortality (Rig Veda, 8.48.3). Then it obtains the ability to take one into another world (Rig Veda, Book 9, Hymn CXlll, Soma Pavamana). So the sacramental Soma and it's properties evolved from the mild adaptigen energy of Ginseng and the mild focus stimulant of Ephedra through the intoxicants of alcohol and opium, to the hallucinogens of marijuana and the Magic Mushroom. The extremity of the final stage resulted in the main plant finally becoming the plant rhubarb which, as was the original plant Soma, a non intoxicant. To think as many do that one sole plant represented Soma throughout the ages is a gross misunderstanding of both religion and human nature. I have many references and sources to prove my above described theory but presently have neither the time nor space to present it here. At any rate the plant Soma, which has been so difficult to define, merely REPRESENTED the spiritual Soma that we are encouraged to pursue. I choose to call this the "logos". C W

^How can ephedra be soma when soma is always mentioned at being on the mountain-top when ephedra does not grow in mountains?

If you read the above carefully you will find it is said that different plants were used at different time periods.