Soma (Brave New World)

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Soma is a fictional, happiness-inducing drug in Aldous Huxley's novel Brave New World (1932). In the novel, soma is an "opium of the masses" that replaces religion and alcohol in a peaceful, but morally controversial, high-tech society far in the future. Soma, a narcotic tranquilizer in tablet and vapor form,^{[citation needed]} is regularly taken by all members of society in order to produce feelings of euphoric happiness. The name satirically refers to the revived interest in ancient Aryan culture at the time. The name of the drug in the story is based on Soma, the stimulant drink used in ancient Aryan (Indo-Iranian) rituals, in particular those of Vedic India.

Soma, however, is harmful or even deadly when taken in large amounts. This happened to the mother of the Savage in the novel.

[edit] Popular culture

Huxley's soma was taken by the anti-psychiatry movement in the 1960s as a model for their claim that anti-depressants and other drugs functioned to emotionally control people whose distress and mental illness arose from the oppressive nature of modern society.

"Now—such is progress—the old men work, the old men copulate, the old men have no time, no leisure from pleasure, not a moment to sit down and think—or if ever by some unlucky chance such a crevice of time should yawn in the substance of their distractions, there is always soma, delicious soma..."^{[citation needed]}

After experiencing what he called the consciousness-expanding effects of mescaline and other psychedelic drugs, Huxley wrote the novel Island (1962), in which the psychedelic mushroom known as "Moksha" played a central role as an active sacrament in the spiritual lives of the citizens of a utopian society. The term "Moksha" is also Hindu in origin, referring to the liberation of the soul from reincarnation. The social and religious roles of Soma in ancient proto-Hindu-Vedic and Persian culture were probably closer to those ascribed to Moksha than to those of the Soma of Brave New World, which was written before Huxley became closely acquainted with Hinduism and psychedelic drugs.

[edit] See also

• Sleep-learning