Editing Haoma (section)

==In tradition and folklore==

===In the legend of Zoroaster's conception===
The Haoma plant is a central element in the legend surrounding the conception of [[Zoroaster]]. 
In the story, his father Pouroshaspa took a piece of the Haoma plant and mixed it with milk. He gave his wife Dugdhova one half of the mixture and he consumed the other. They then conceived Zoroaster who was instilled with the spirit of the plant.

According to tradition, Zoroaster received his revelation on a riverbank while preparing ''parahaoma'' for the [[Ab-Zohr]] (Zatspram 21.1), that is, for the symbolic purification of ''[[Aban]]'' ("the waters"). This symbolic purification is also evident in {{lang|ae-Latn|Yasna}} 68.1, where the celebrant makes good for the damage done to water by humanity: "These offerings, possessing {{lang|ae-Latn|haoma}}, possessing milk, possessing pomegranate, shall compensate thee".

===Traditional ''barsom''===
It is possible that the ''barsom'' (Var. Avestan ''baresman'') bundle of twigs was originally a bundle of Haoma stalks. The Haoma divinity is identified with priesthood (see [[#As a divinity (Dūraoša)|Haoma as a divinity]]), while the ''barsom'' stalks "cut for the bundles bound by women" ({{lang|ae-Latn|Yasna}} 10.17) is the symbol and an instrument of Zoroastrian priests. Today the ''barsom'' is made from pomegranate twigs (''cf:'' preparation of ''parahaoma'' for the [[Ab-Zohr]]).

===In the ''Shahnameh'' ===
In [[Ferdowsi|Ferdowsi's]] ''[[Shahnameh]]'', which incorporates stories from the Avesta (with due acknowledgement), Hom appears as a hermit, dweller of the mountains, incredibly strong. He binds [[Afrasiab]] (Middle Persian, Avestan: "the fell Turanian {{lang|ae-Latn|Frangrasyan}}", {{lang|ae-Latn|Yasna}} 11.7) with the sacred girdle, and drags him from deep within the earth (named the {{lang|ae-Latn|hankana}} in Avestan, {{lang|pal-Latn|hang-e-Afrasiab}} in middle Persian) where Afrasiab has his "metal-encircled" kingdom that is immune to mortal attack.

In another episode, Vivaŋhat is the first of the humans to press {{lang|ae-Latn|haoma}}, for which Hom rewards him with a son, [[Jamshid]]. {{lang|ae-Latn|Yasna}} 9.3-11 has [[Zoroaster]] asking the divinity who (first) prepared {{lang|ae-Latn|haoma}} and for what reward, to which Haoma recalls Vivanghvant (Persian: Vivaŋhat) to whom Yima Xshaeta ([[Jamshid]]) is born; [[Abtin|Athwya]] (Abtin) to whom Thraetaona ([[Fereydun]]) is born; and Thrita to whom Urvaxshaya and Keresaspa (Karshasp and Garshasp) are born. The latter two are also characters in priestly heroic tradition, and among conservative Zoroastrians of the hereditary priesthood, Haoma is still prayed to by those wanting children (in particular, honorable sons who will also become priests).
The account given in the Indian Vedas closely agrees with that of the Iranian [[Avesta]].  The first preparers of Soma are listed as Vivasvat, who is the father of [[Yama (Hinduism)|Yama]] and [[Manu (Hinduism)|Manu]], and [[Trita|Trita Aptya]].

===Darmesteter===
[[James Darmesteter]], in his 1875 thesis on the mythology of the Avesta, speculating on the [[Parsi people|Parsi]] belief that Ephedra twigs do not decay, wrote:<blockquote>...&nbsp;it comprises the power of life of all the vegetable kingdom ... both the Ved[as] and the Avesta call it the 'king of healing herbs' ... the zarathustri scriptures say that homa is of two kinds, the white haoma and the painless tree. Could it be that soma is the [[tree of life]]? the giver of immortality?</blockquote>

The Indian-Zoroastrian belief mentioned above also manifests itself in the present-day Zoroastrian practice of administering a few drops of ''parahaoma'' to the new-born or dying (see [[Ab-Zohr]]). The belief also appears to be very old, and be cross-cultural. As Falk, recalling [[Marc Aurel Stein|Aurel Stein]]'s discovery of Ephedra plants interred at 1st-century CE [[Tarim Basin]] burial sites, notes: "an imperishable plant, representing or symbolizing the continuity of life, is most appropriate to burial rites".{{Citation needed|date=May 2023}}

=== In the ''Wizidagiha-i Zadspram'' ===
A legendary 'White Hom' grows at the junction of the "great gathering place of the waters" <!-- (named {{lang|ae-Latn|Vourukasha}} in Avestan, Middle Persian: {{lang|pal-Latn|Varkash}}) --> and a mighty river<!-- (proto-Indo-Iranian: ''*harahvati'', Avestan: ''Aredvi Sura'', Middle Persian: {{lang|pal-Latn|Ardvisur}}) -->. According to the ''[[Wizidagiha-i Zadspram]]'', at the end of time, when [[Ahura Mazda|Ormuzd]] triumphs over [[Angra Mainyu|Ahriman]], the followers of the good religion will share a ''parahom'' made from the 'White Hom', <!-- (named ''Gaokerena'' in Avestan, middle Persian: ''Gokarn'') --> and so attain immortality for their resurrected bodies. (''Zadspram'' 35.15)