This meta-analysis (n=525) analyzed the effects of Amanita Muscaria (or fly agaric) with regards to inebriation, nausea, and vomiting, sampled across various sources of self-reported ingestion. The dried mushroom caused less nausea and vomiting than when it was consumed fresh, which supports the notion that the preparation methods described for Soma in the Rig Veda may have been a means of reducing the toxicity of Amanita Muscaria, in accordance with Wasson’s theory over the identity of Soma.
Abstract
“Introduction: In 1968 R. Gordon Wasson first proposed his groundbreaking theory identifying Soma, the hallucinogenic sacrament of the Vedas, as the Amanita muscaria mushroom. While Wasson’s theory has garnered acclaim, it is not without its faults. One omission in Wasson’s theory is his failure to explain how pressing and filtering Soma, as described in the Rig Veda, supports his theory of Soma’s identity. Several critics have reasoned that such preparation should be unnecessary if equivalent results can be obtained by consuming the raw plant, as is done with other psychoactive mushrooms.
Methods: In order to address these specific criticisms over 600 anecdotal accounts of Amanita muscaria inebriation were collected and analyzed to determine the impact of preparation on Amanita muscaria’s effects.
Discussion: The findings of this study demonstrated that the effects of Amanita muscaria were related to the type of preparation employed, and that its toxic effects were considerably reduced by preparations that paralleled those described for Soma in the Rig Veda. While unlikely to end debate over the identity of Soma, this study’s findings help to solidify the foundation of Wasson’s theory, and also to demonstrate the importance of preparation in understanding and uncovering the true identity of Soma.”
Author: Kevin Feeney
Summary
In 1968, R. Gordon Wasson proposed his ground-breaking theory identifying Soma, the hallucinogenic sacrament of the Vedas, as the classic spotted fairy tale mushroom – Amanita muscaria. A study of 600 anecdotal accounts of Amanita muscaria inebriation and poisonings demonstrated that the effects of preparation were related to the type of preparation employed.
Amanita muscaria contains two primary compounds, ibotenic acid and muscimol, which are partially, if not entirely, responsible for the psychoactive effects of Amanita muscaria. Muscarine is a cholinergic agonist, but does not contribute to the psychoactivity of Amanita muscaria.
Ibotenic acid is the most abundant compound in mushrooms, and is easily decarboxylated to muscimol through the loss of a carboxyl group. Ibotenic acid may be converted to muscimol in the acidic environment of the stomach.
Dr. Scott Chilton reported unsteadiness, dizziness, narrowed field of vision, mild visual spasms, muscular twitches, and sleep after experimenting with pure ibotenic acid. Peter G. Wa ser reported flushing, lassitude, and sleep after experimenting with a low dose of ibotenic acid.
Muscimol, a salt of ibotenic acid, is five to 10 times more potent than ibotenic acid and is likely the primary contributor to the psychoactive effects of Amanita muscaria intoxication.
Muscarine, a compound isolated from the Amanita muscaria mushroom, produces notable physiological changes, including excessive perspiration, blurring of vision, abdominal pain, nausea, vomiting and diarrhea.
Wasson on preparation
Wasson identified three filters in the Rig Veda, including sunlight, woolen cloth, and the human body. His theory provides varying degrees of support for Soma.
Wasson explained that Soma filters sunlight through its back, and cites several passages from the Rig Veda to support his interpretation.
Wasson’s theory is that sunlight dries out the Soma plant, which is essential in the preparation of Amanita muscaria in Siberia. The Kamchadal consider sun-dried Amanita muscaria to be the most potent.
The Rig Veda suggests that Soma swells in size when mixed with water, a characteristic absent in most fresh plants but familiar to some dried plants, particularly mushrooms.
Wasson spent little time examining the second filter, a lamb’s wool filter, and he omitted to mention that this filter is necessary to remove the solids from the Soma plant. This omission has led to several criticisms of Wasson’s work.
While Brough and Flattery make a good point, their challenge is based on incorrect assumptions. The first assumption is that Amanita muscaria shares similar chemical properties with Psilocybe mushrooms, but the second assumption ignores passages in the Rig Veda that suggest that Soma can be consumed “pressed” or “unpressed”.
The passages above suggest that pressing and extracting Soma alters the chemistry of the sacrament in some beneficial way.
The focus on pressing and straining Soma suggests that Soma is not pressed for consumption, but rather to eliminate impurities and toxic qualities. The human body is the third filter, as proposed by Wasson.
Wasson explained that the mushrooms active constituent, ibotenic acid, passes through the body unmetabolized, but other components, such as muscarine, are metabolized into inactive by-products. This leaves a fairly pure extraction of ibotenic acid in the consumer’s urine.
Wasson’s interpretation of the Rig Veda, that priests impersonate the gods by urinating the intoxicating Soma, has been challenged on two substantial grounds, including the paucity of references to urinating Soma and the ambiguity of these rare passages.
Was son’s interpretation of the third filter is intriguing, but other explanations are more feasible.
Milk and prayer are well described steps in the preparation of Soma, and either process makes a plausible third filter.
Methods
Accounts of Amanita muscaria inebriation and poisoning were collected to analyze variations in the reports of nausea and vomiting. The hypothesis was that the celestial and woolen filters would reduce nausea and vomiting.
Over 600 accounts of inebriation and poisoning with either Amanita muscaria or Amamta pant erma I were compiled from journals, newspaper articles, toxicology reports, and various websites and forums.
Anecdotal accounts of Amanita muscaria experiences described a variety of preparation types, including fresh/raw, dried, tea with solids consumed, tea with solids removed, and cooked. Insufficient anecdotal evidence was available on Amanita muscaria and urine recycling to analyze the properties of recycled urine in terms of nausea and vomiting.
Results
There are some clear trends in the frequency of nausea and vomiting depending on how the mushroom is prepared. The likelihood of nausea and vomiting decreased when the mushroom was consumed dried rather than fresh, and the likelihood of vomiting decreased when the mushroom was consumed as tea.
While the frequency of nausea decreased when dried preparations were used instead of fresh preparations, only a preparation of tea with solids removed had a significant effect on the odds of experiencing nausea.
While preparation may have influenced the frequency of nausea and vomiting, preparation did not influence the production or frequency of psychoactive effects.
Discussion
Amanita muscaria ‘s effects were remarkable when prepared similarly to Soma, as described in the Rig Ve da. The dehydration process can cause statistically significant changes in the toxic effec ts of Amanita muscaria, and supports Wasson’s theory that the first filter used in purifying Soma was a celestial filter.
The effects of Amanita musearia dried or in tea were different, and the effects were similar whether the mushroom was boiled or not. This suggested that the compound responsible for producing nausea and vomiting was not destroyed by high temperatures and was not water soluble.
A recent article by William Rubel and mycologist David Arora (2008) suggests that consuming Amanita muscaria boiled in water eliminates all negative and inebriating effects, but leaves behind water soluble components that may contribute to nausea and vomiting.
A comparison between fresh and cooked preparations of Amanita muscaria has been included in order to address an observation made by Wasson during his unsuccessful experiments with Amanita muscaria. The results suggest that cooking does not significantly impact the chemistry of the mushroom as it related to the production of nausea or vomiting.
Limitations
The data used for this study were collected from a variety of sources, and the extent of details provided varied from source to source. As a result, the data used were not entirely uniform and may have been incomplete in some instances.
The results were limited by a lack of information on diet and set and setting, and by no distinction being made between degrees of nausea.
Conclusion
Wasson’s theory that Soma is the Amanita muscaria mushroom has remained one of the most viable proposals to date, and the research presented above fills in the gap by demonstrating that the preparation of Amanita muscaria, as described in the Rig Veda, supports Wasson’s theory.