Soma: The Divine Hallucinogen »

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.

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.

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.

Soma
The Divine Hallucinogen

Acknowledgments Introduction
1. Soma and Sacred Herbalism in the Ancient World
2. Light, Ecstatic States, and Other Effects of Soma
3. The Identity of Plants Used as Soma
4. The Asvins and the Elixir of Immortality
5. Soma and the Origins of Alchemy
6. Soma and the Origins of Western Magic
7. Soma and European Alchemy

Notes Bibliography Index