| 'The
Indo-European Spreading and the Celtic Soma'
The
area bound by and surrounding the Tigris and Euphrates rivers
is known as the 'fertile crescent' and is also often referred
to as the 'cradle of civilisation'. These epithets refer to
the fact that it is from this area that the most succesful
early agriculturalists are thought to have originated. As
they developed agriculture further and began to collect together
in cities, many ideas and practises from these areas are thought
to have spread throughout the whole of Europe and the Middle
east, into North India. Evidence for this can still be seen
in shared and similar words in languages as diverse as Gaelic
and Sanskrit, which derive from a language group (Indo-European)
that is thought to have originated in Anatolia (modern Turkey).
Religious
practises and rituals are also thought to be shared across
the Indo-European language area and one excellent example
of this is seen in the use of an intoxicating / hallucinogenic
preparation called Soma, used in the North Indian Vedic tradition.
It is thought that this was based on Amanita muscaria
in some areas and other intoxicating plants and fungi in others.
If, as is generally agreed, there are these commonalities
throughout Indo-European cultures, it seems likely that, at
some point, in some areas, the most appropriate organism to
use to commune with the gods was Psilocybe semilanceata.
The species, like Amanita muscaria is ubiquitous and
is very common throughout much of its range, as well as being
potently hallucinogenic. For the Celts, therefore, living
in the areas where this species does particularly well, it
is not unlikely that they would have noticed this rather innocuous
fungus, as it grows in the distinctive 'faerie ring formation'.
Upon discovery of its hallucinogenic properties, it would
have been readily adopted into the ritual life of the Celts,
as a sort of Soma.
Cernunnos on the Gundestrup Cauldron
Evidence
for this appears quite strong in the light of this species'
apparent appearance on a very significant Celtic artefact
- the Gundestrup cauldron. This cauldron was discovered in
a Danish lake, thought to have been thrown in as a votive
offering to the gods. It is particularly interesting, as,
although the gods and styles which appear on the cauldron
are in a style that is often termed 'Celtic', many of the
motifs and symbols appear to share a lot with North Indian
belief systems and it was found in a place which has never
been considered hugely 'Celtic'. The depiction of the possible
P. semilanceata (also interpreted as ivy leaves) is
above the head of and surrounding the Celtic god Cernunnos,
a force of wild nature homologous to the Greek Pan. The Cernunnos
figure sits cross legged, in a position often interpreted
as meditating or in a trance, and holds a torc and a ram-horned
snake (two of his symbols). Around the antlered head of the
god, is a pattern, showing a network of interlinked lines,
each terminating in a delicate ovoid, capped with a distinctive
extra point. These are very suggestive of P. semilanceata
and in the light of very considerable circumstantial evidence,
there appears to be a case for adding a new species to the
list of Indo-European 'Somas'.
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