Opening the Eye of the Soul: Zoroastrian Entheogenic Engagements

This paper examines the role of entheogenic substances in Zoroastrian ritual, literature, and visionary theology. While the tradition is often framed primarily in ethical and doctrinal terms, textual and ritual evidence reveal a history of altered states associated with sacred plants and narcotic preparations. Focusing on the ritual use of haoma, references to intoxicants such as bang, and visionary narratives like the Arda Wirāz Nāmag, the paper explores how these substances functioned as ritual technologies enabling spiritual perception and otherworldly travel. These practices are analyzed alongside broader traditions of visionary intermediaries in Zoroastrian literature and interpreted through ritual theory and the anthropology of religious experience. By situating entheogenic practice within Zoroastrian cosmology and esoteric discourse, the paper argues that such experiences are understood in Zoroastrianism as legitimate means of accessing divine knowledge and perceiving the spiritual realities underlying the material world.