American Herb Association, Vol 16:4
This book comes highly recommended by Dr. Willard Johnson-my college professor of religious studies-and I second the vote.


Wendy Doniger, coauthor of Soma: The Divine Mushroom of Immortality
By far the most thorough survey of both the botanical and the psycho-spiritual aspects of the soma plant that I've ever seen. All I can do is congratulate the author. A noteworthy addition to the research on hallucinogens.


Oscar Ichazo, author of Psychocalisthenics and Between Metaphysica and Protoanalysis
Soma brilliantly completes the enquiry on the scientific and botanical aspects, as well as the anthropological and cultural development, of this very important subject. A magnificent book destined to become a classic.


Book Description
Shrouded in mystery for centuries, Soma is simultaneously a sacred hallucinogenic plant, a personified God, and a cosmological principle. With the renewed interest in the ritual use of psychoactive substances, shamanism, and alternative modalities of healing, Soma provides an important key to understanding the earliest systemized methods of medicine, psychology, magic, rejuvenation, longevity, and alchemy.


About the Author

David Spess has a master's degree in microbiology/mycology and studied Sanskrit at the Naropa Institute. David has traveled throughout India and the Middle East researching this book. He was formerly a research mycologist for the FDA and has taught at the University of Colorado. He lives in New Mexico.

FROM THE PUBLISHER

The most comprehensive examination to date of the mysterious elixir soma and the Vedic rituals surrounding it.

This book provides, for the first time, an accurate identification of soma, the mysterious divine nectar, and its religious and ritual use as given in the RgVedic hymns. After summarizing all previous research on this subject, the author goes far beyond his predecessors and shows that soma provides an important key to the understanding of the earliest methods of medicine, psychology, magic, rejuvenation, longevity, and alchemy.

With the renewed interest in the ritual use of psychoactive substances, shamanism, psychic phenomena, and alternative modalities of healing, this book provides a much needed bridge between Eastern and Western esoteric traditions. Contained within the enigmatic verses about soma in the RgVeda is a secret about ourselves and the nature of our relationship to the universe, and this is revealed in the cosmological framework of the soma rituals.

SYNOPSIS

The definitive work on the ancient Hindu soma rituals mentioned in the Vedas and debated by scholars for decades.

* The first book to identify the mysterious soma plant.

* A breakthrough book that reenvisions the role of psychoactive plants in religion.

Soma has been shrouded in mystery for centuries. It is simultaneously a sacred hallucinogenic plant used in secret rituals, a personified God, and an important cosmological principle. Summarizing all previous research on the subject, David Spess goes far beyond his predecessors and shows that soma provides an important key to the understanding of the earliest systemized methods of medicine, psychology, magic, rejuvenation, longevity, and alchemy. Most significant is that his intensive research provides the most compelling case yet for actual identification of the plants that served as the basis for the divine hallucinogen Nelumbo nucifera, the sacred lotus of India, as well as some members of the Nymphaea genus.

With the renewed interest in the ritual use of psychoactive substances, shamanism, psychic phenomena, and alternative modalities of healing, Soma provides a much needed bridge between Eastern and Western esoteric traditions. Contained within the enigmatic verses about soma in the Rig Veda is a secret about ourselves and the nature of our relationship to the world and cosmos. Soma makes this knowledge available to us once again.

FROM THE CRITICS

American Herb Association

This book comes highly recommended by Dr. Willard Johnson-my college professor of religious studies-and I second the vote for anyone interested in history, plant drugs, and the origins of Eastern Religion.

WHAT PEOPLE ARE SAYING

A noteworthy addition to the research on hallucinogens. (Joan Halifax, author of The Fruitful Darkness and Shamanic Voices)  — Joan Halifax

By far the most thorough survey of both the botanical and the psycho-spiritual aspects of the soma plant that I've ever seen. All I can do is congratulate the author. (Wendy Doniger, coauthor of Soma: The Divine Mushroom of Immortality)  — Wendy Doniger