Haoma and soma
The sacred plant and drink of Zoroastrianism and the soma of the Vedas: a plant whose identity is still debated.
In Zoroastrianism, haoma is the name of both a sacred plant and the drink made from it. Pounding the plant to prepare the drink, and drinking it, are central to Zoroastrian ritual. Haoma is also personified as a deity who grants health, fertility and even immortality [1].
Haoma is the Avestan form of the Sanskrit “soma”. The close similarity of the two rituals points scholars to a shared Indo-Iranian religion older than Zoroastrianism [1].
Which plant haoma was is unknown. One candidate is Ephedra: it has been debated whether this plant, which grows in Asia and has been used in Chinese medicine for at least 2,000 years, could be haoma and soma.