Soma

Sacred juice, nectar, lunar principle. In the Ṛg Veda, soma is the ritual plant whose fermented juice was offered to the gods, conferring poetic inspiration and ecstasy. Symbolically, soma is identified with the moon (Chandra) and with the nectar of immortality (amṛta) that flows from the sahasrāra. In the Tantric tradition, the somatic nectar that descends during meditative practice signals the fusion of lunar and solar energies. See [[amrta]] and chandra.