Among the sacred plants were: bryonia alba (loshtak), a pain-killer, nigella sativa L., a stimulant and excitant, and betonica officinalis, a powerful tranquilizer. Campion and gentian are also mentioned in such lists. Vardanyan suggests that the reverence shown to these plants was due to their curative properties, and indeed, all of them were used in medicinal remedies. S. Vardanyan, "Medicine in Armenia" p. 186 in The Diffusion of Greco-Roman Medicine into the Middle East and the Caucasus, J. A. C. Greppin et al.ed. (Delmar, N.Y., 1999).

There has been some debate about whether loshtak also referred to mandrake (Arm. mardatak, manragor), one of the ancient world's most powerful hallucinogens, used in witchcraft and magic from Europe to India. Gabikian claims that mandrake and bryonia alba were confused in the popular mind because of their similar human-like roots and effects. (Gabikian, p. 77) (Alishan, #950, #1979).

In addition to the "official" sacred plants, it seems clear from the anecdotal evidence in Alishan, that Armenians were well aware of the numerous ethnobotanicals growing in their midst, and made use of them. Among them are: Foeniculum vulgare (Fennel) Arm. rhzian, rhazian (Alishan, #273, #2668, #2693); Artemisia (Mugwort; Absinthium) Arm. hambardzum, bardzmaneak, (Alishan, #321, #501, #1615); Lactuca quercina L. (Wild Lettuce), Arm. hazar vayri (Alishan, #1576); Cannabis (Hemp), Arm. kanep' (Alishan, #1296); Veratrum album L. (Hellebore), Arm. jok', koch vrats'i, (Alishan #133, #901, #1462, #2638); Nymphaea caerulea Sav. (Sacred Lily of the Nile), Arm. harsnamatn (Alishan #285, #940, #1456, #1655, #1785, #2205, #2214); Papaver somniferum (Opium Poppy), Arm. xashxash, mekon (Alishan, #1000, #1001, #1003, #1656); Solanum nigrum L. (Black Nightshade), Arm. aghuesu-dzuk', kotruk, ktruk (Alishan #62, #1443, #2117, #2328, #2520, #2519); Atropa (Belladonna), Arm. sngoyratak, (Alishan, #2782); Hyoscyamus niger L. (Henbane), Arm. aghuashbank, aghueshbank (Alishan, #59); Valeriana officinalis L. (Valerian) Arm. katui degh, katui xot (Alishan #52, #476, #1350, #3083); Datura Stramonium (Thornapple), Arm. archengoyz, archu engoyz (Alishan #230). This is a partial list only.

There are also a few which have not been fully identified such as horot-morot which may be one or two plants (tuberous hyacinth) and/or poppy (See Russell, pp. 380-383); and the mysterious hamaspiwr.

In addition to plant hallucinogens, we believe that the populations of the Caucasus were also familiar with the psychoactive properties of toad-skin, an element found in almost all European witches' brews. As a protection against insects, the common European toad Bufo exudes the chemical bufotenine, a very potent hallucinogen. Some Caucasian folktales describe a magical being, (a frog) whose power is in his skin. To force this creature into human form permanently, the frog skin must be taken and burned. (M. Wardrop, Georgian Folktales (London, 1894) pp. 15-21.

17. See, for example Stella Vardanian, "Medicine in Armenia" pp. 185-198 in The Diffusion of Greco-Roman Medicine into the Middle East and the Caucasus, J. A. C. Greppin et al. ed. (Delmar, N.Y., 1999).

18. On the etymology of Arm. sunk, see HAOMA, pp. 121 ff. Sunk, the generic Armenian term for "mushroom" originally may have designated Amanita muscaria specifically.

19. Eznik, Book I. 68.

20. Eznik, Book III.16

21. According to C. Hobbs, Medicinal Mushrooms (Loveland, CO, 1996) pp. 10-15, the agaricum of Pliny is to be identified with Fomitopsis officinalis.

22. Alishan, pp. 576-577, under #2804-5 sunk/sungn.

23. The Lawcode [Datastanagirk'] of Mxit'ar Gosh, R. W. Thomson, trans. (Atlanta, 2000) chapter 31, p. 146. Gosh (d.1213) also authored a book of fables, several of which deal with plants and trees. See in particular numbers 15, 16, 19, 25, 26, 27, 29, 30, 31, 33, 45, 47, 48, 49, 51, 52, 53, 64, 61. The Fables of Mkhitar Gosh, R. Bedrosian, trans. (New York, 1987). A more literal translation is available on another page of this site, Mkhitar Gosh's Fables.

24. Russell, pp. 32-33, 52, 375, 387-388. Whether poplar is a host to Amanita muscaria is unclear, though it belongs to the willow family, Salicaceae, as does the aspen, a known host. Karst, p. 46-47 connects the poplar cult with the Eleusinian mysteries. The illustration of mushrooms in Haykakan sovetakan hanragitaran [Armenian Soviet Encyclopedia], vol. 10 (Erevan, 1984) before p. 417 shows one (#3) called kaghamaxasunk ("poplar/aspen" mushroom) which is clearly not Amanita, though it does resemble the hallucinogen Stropharia cubensis, as do entries #4 mamrhasunk and #5 yughasunk. See note 15 above on the psilocybin-containing mushrooms. In any case, the poplar was also prized for its polyphores, mentioned by Pliny (Natural History, XVI.85; XXIV. 47) for their healing qualities.

The identification of the saws/sos tree is disputed. According to the classical Armenian dictionary of M. Bedrossian, Nor barhgirk' hay-angliaren, (Venice, 1879; repr. Beirut, 1973) p. 660, sos is the "plane tree" or "white poplar", two trees which are quite different. Since divination was done by the rustling of leaves, the logical choice from a botanical standpoint would be the poplar. The poplar's leaves are alternate, ovate or heart-shaped in outline. Because of their laterally compressed petioles, the leaves tremble in the slightest breeze. The same dictionary does not have an entry under bardi, another term used for "poplar", while kaghamaxi p. 320 is also called "poplar". In modern Armenian, kaghamaxi is usually translated "aspen".

25. Prayer-trees: Ananikian, p.62. On the Arewordik' see Russell, chapter 16, pp. 515-528. Paulician/T'ondrakets'i/Arewordik' reverence for known Amanita muscaria hosts, may indicate the mushroom's ritual usage among these groups. The 12th century Nerses' indictment of them included:

[The demon of passion]...also taught them to make noise before trees on earth, (saying) "You are my father," and to rock (saying) "You gave birth to us," and he commanded them to sacrifice on mountain and hills, beneath oaks and poplars/aspens (i nerk'oy kaghneac' ew kaghamaxeac') and leafy trees. Russell, p. 538.

In a fitting way, then, command also the women to be far from witchcraft, administering of potions and all manner of demonic cult, for whosoever practices witchcraft, he is one who worships and bows down to demons. Russell, p. 536.

...Nor must they revere the aspen, any more than the willow, the poplar or other trees, nor should they think the wood of Christ's cross was aspen-wood; this is a lie and Satanic deceit, that has led them into confusion and has turned them from God. For this tree called the aspen was for them an object of worship in the times of idolaltry, and demons used to settle in it and accept the obeisance of men. And although this confusion was by the grace of God rooted out from amongst other peoples living on the earth, amongst you Satan hid and cherished it as a leaven of evil, and if you wish to come to the truth of Christ, then pull out the wicked custom from amongst you. Russell, p. 535.

Greek mythology provides some information on eastern Asia Minor and the Caucasus in the 8th century B.C. The myths concerning Aia are early reflections of the enduring image of the area as a place of magic/medicine/drugs:

... the strong and independent royal women of Aia are shown as practitioners of magic/medicine. Both Medea and her aunt Circe have extensive knowledge of the local pharmacopoeia, which is accurately reflected in these myths (29). Thus, it is due to a magic ointment which Medea gives to Jason that he is able to yoke the bulls, plow the field and defeat the men sown from dragon's teeth (30). After this battle, it is due to another of Medea's drugs that the sleepless dragon guarding the Golden Fleece is lulled to sleep and Jason is able to take the fleece (31). Medea, during her subsequent adventures in Greece, continued to concoct poisons and medicines (32). [10] Circe, Medea's aunt, is the sorceress par excellence in Greek mythology. She transformed half of Odysseus' men into pigs by putting a drug into their wine, and later restored the crew to human forms using a different drug. Still another Aiakid, Pasiphae, sister of Aeetes and Circe, exhibited similar talents (33). R. Bedrosian, "Eastern Asia Minor and the Caucasus in Ancient Mythologies", (1993) pages 9-10.

Several early historical accounts provide additional, fascinating information on entheogens native to the area. In 401 B.C. the Greek general Xenophon's soldiers had an unexpected (and probably unwanted) experience with a narcotic honey, in the area south of Trapezus (Trebizond):

After accomplishing the ascent the Greeks took up quarters in numerous villages, which contained provisions in abundance. Now for the most part there was nothing here which they really found strange; but the swarms of bees in the neighbourhood were numerous, and the soldiers who ate of the honey all went off their heads, and suffered from vomiting and diarrhoea, and not one of them could stand up, but those who had eaten a little were like people exceedingly drunk, while those who had eaten a great deal seemed like crazy, or even, in some cases, dying men. So they lay there in great numbers as though the army had suffered a defeat, and great despondency prevailed. On the next day, however, no one had died, and at approximately the same hour as they had eaten the honey they began to come to their senses; and on the third or fourth day they got up, as if from a drugging. Xenophon, Anabasis, Carleton L. Brownson, trans., (London, 1922/1968) IV. viii.20-21, [LCL, p. 340/341]. [Xenophon's Anabasis is available on another page of this website.]

Plutarch, in Isis and Osiris, 46 described another entheogen found in Cappadocia and Armenia, the famous moly plant:

They pound up in a mortar a certain plant called omomi, at the same time invoking Hades and Darkess; then they mix it with the blood of a wolf that has been sacrificed, and carry it out and cast it in a place where the sun never shines. Plutarch Moralia, volume V, F. C. Babbitt, trans., (London, 1936; 1999) LCL v. p. 113.

Flattery, in HAOMA, p. 36, considers this Peganum harmala, and relates it to the magical plant moly given by Hermes to Odysseus (Odyssey I. 304-306) as an antidote to Circe's pottage. Schwartz, ibid, p. 146 relates the word to Armenian mol, molor, moli, "raving, mad, insane". However, these are not the properties of haoma intoxication. Furthermore, the concoction is said to have been "thrown away", like spawn, rather than ingested.

Pliny the Elder (A.D. 23-79) has preserved remarkable information about the ethnobotanical interests of the famous king Mithradates VI (reigned B.C. 120-63), who was from Sinope and was the father-in-law of Armenia's king Tigran the Great (reigned B.C. 96-56/55):

5. Mithridates, the greatest king of his time, defeated by Pompey the Great, was, as we know from direct evidence and by report, a more attentive researcher of life than any man born before him.

6. Alone and unaided, he devised a plan to drink poison every day after first taking remedies, in order that by accustoming himself to the poison he might become immune to it. He was the first to discover the different antidotes, one of which bears his name. Mithridates also mixed the blood of Pontic ducks with these antidotes because they lived on poison. Still extant are treatises addressed to him, written by the famous doctor Asclepiades, who when invited to come from Rome sent written instructions instead. It is well attested that Mithridates was the only person to speak twenty-two languages, and that he never addressed any of his subject peoples through an interpreter during all fifty-six years of his reign.

7. Mithridates, with his breadth of intellect, was especially interested in medicine and amassed detailed knowledge from all his subjects, who covered a substantial part of the world. He left among his private possessions a bookcase of these treatises, together with specimens and descriptions of their individual properties. Pompey the Great, when all the royal booty had fallen into his hands, ordered his freedman Lenaeus, a man of learning, to translate these works into Latin. As a result, this great victory was of no less benefit to everyday life than to the state. Pliny the Elder, Natural History, a Selection, J. F. Healy trans. (New York, 1991) XXV. 5-7. p. 240.

Prometheus himself, in some traditions, was apparently the magical plant. A miraculous herb, parasitic on a tree and in color like the crocus, was said to grow from the blood of Prometheus in his torment. Medea picked it to annoit Jason (or Iason, in Greek, apparently so named for this anointing with the drug that will protect him from the fire-breathing bulls guarding the tree with the golden fleece); when the plant was thus harvested, Prometheus himself groaned, according to the way that Apollonius Rhodius told the story, for the plant is said to grow from a double stem. In picking the Promethean herb, Medea is also in contact with the suffering Titan bound to his mountain, for which reason the root of the plant when it is plucked was said to resemble the flesh of a corpse that has just been cut (Argonautica 3.845 ff.).ibid p. 172.

Erkner erkin, erkner erkir,
Erkner ew dzovn dzirani.
Erkn i dzovun uner ew zkarmrikn eghegnik.
End eghegan p'ogh dzux elaner,
End eghegan p'ogh bots' elaner,
Ew i bots'oyn vazer xarteash patanekik.
Na hur her uner.
Apa t'e bots' uner morus,
Ew ach'kunk'n ein aregakunk'.

Among the situations where sauma seems most likely to have been used was at the inauguration of pre-Islamic Iranian rulers. This is indicated by King Wishtasp's consumption of "hom and mang" at his "initiation", which is still commemorated by Zoroastrians at the New Year...A reflection of the initiation of kings with sauma may be preserved in Plutarch's Life of Artaxerxes III. 1-3: "A little while after the death of Darius [II], the new king made an expedition to Pasargadae that he might receive the royal initiation at the hands of the Persian priests. Here there is a sanctuary to a warlike goddess whom one might conjecture to be Athena. Into this sanctuary the candidate for initiation must pass, and after laying aside his own proper robe must put on that which Cyrus the Elder used to wear before he became king; then he must eat a cake of figs, chew some turpentine-wood, and drink a cup of sour milk. Whatever else is done besides this is unknown to outsiders". Zoroaster also put on a garment when he came up from the hom liquid as, it seems, did his father Porushasp when he approached the hom and as also did Arda Wiraz. This suggests that a change of clothes may have been a regular feature of sauma-drinking in the initiation of Iranian rulers.

Many dews lived in that Rock and seduced the men of that place, giving [them] there potions of passion for the fulfillment of the corruption of their passions. They made blows of the hammer, terrors by dread wonders. The men of the country became learned in these and lingered by the crucible, taking from the non-gods talismans dripping with the corruption for seduction to the passions, like the talismans of Cyprian for the seduction of Justine, and they named the place Rock of the Smiths. The Holy Apostle arrived, drove out the smiths--the ministers of evil--and smashed the idols, which were in the name of Anahit. Russell, p. 404.

The Ms. contains also a drawing of a tripod from which a box is suspended over a fire, with the caption "What you are to smoke. And this is the shape of the pipe you must suspend"...There follow these instructions: "When you hang this, let it stand there that way, and you stand one or two hours long and ask your wish again, and implore and pray and ask for God's help to accomplish your concern. And when it is morning, pick it up with a pipe and take it to a warm place and keep it there. When night falls, bring it out again and smoke that which you are to smoke beneath the stars, and prayerfully ask your desire, and go and stand singleminded and keep your thoughts on it, singleminded. (If) it was not fulfilled, and morning comes, keep it the same way again and do it every night until the days are done. After that keep it on you. Keep it on you and wash your head with it, and go and ask what you want from that man or great one or king". James R. Russell, "The Book of the Six Thousand" (Bazmavep) 1989 1-4 pp. 234-235.