The Soma Question: Interrogating the History of Psychedelics with Sanskrit Mantras

Abstract

Historical narratives tell us as much about the present as they do about the past—and the grand narrative of psychedelics in the ancient world is no exception. “What is soma?” is a perennial question for historians of psychedelics as they investigate this mysterious psychoactive sacrament of early India. Documented in Sanskrit texts starting in the late Bronze Age, it is reputed to be among the oldest and most venerable psychedelics—yet the material substance of soma remains unidentified. Although soma’s fame in modernity arises from scholarly engagement with Sanskrit texts, the resulting narrative of psychedelic history reveals more about the twentieth-century discourse on plants and drugs than it does about the original Indian sources. This essay interrogates the history of psychedelics through the historiography of the soma question.