R. G. Wasson. Soma: The Divine Mushroom of Immortality

Edited by Mikhail Vishnevsky

This detailed study by the dedicated amateur ethnomycologist R. Gordon Wasson reads like an exciting scientific detective story. His willingness to seek necessary information through various means of linguistics, archaeology, folklore, philology, ethnobotany, plant ecology, human physiology, and the history of primitive society serves as a vivid lesson for all researchers of human nature.

Regardless of whether Wasson was correct in his vision of the “fly agaric” origin of Soma, his works and ideas made a revolutionary contribution to the understanding of the nature of religion itself. Before the “Wasson era,” theologians, religious scholars, and ethnographers predominantly believed that Vedic and other mystical practices (including shamanism) involved alcoholic intoxication among cult leaders and participants in ceremonies and rituals. Wasson was the first researcher to conclude that ancient religious-mystical practices and the religions derived from them relied on entheogens and psychedelics of plant, fungal, and animal origin. The significance of his discovery for understanding the emergence of modern religions can only be compared to Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution in terms of its importance for understanding the origin of life on Earth.

A number of well-known contemporary scholars accepted Wasson’s hypothesis unconditionally, while others approached it with skepticism. It can be said that today the discussion has erupted with renewed vigor, with the main contenders for the role of Soma being the fly agaric and cannabis. To showcase current trends, articles reflecting these discussions are included at the end of the book.