Has anyone here ever experienced the effects of **Salvia divinorum? ** It’s a Mexican Herb that has seems to have very interesting properties. It’s a very strong psychedelic, but is quite unlike any currently know drug.
According to the New York Times,* “Mazatec Indians in the Oaxaca region of Mexico have used it, with no apparent ill effects, for centuries.” “The herb, Salvia divinorum, is a type of sage plant that can cause intense hallucinations, out-of-body experiences and, when taken in higher doses, unconsciousness and short-term memory loss. Users have also reported sensations of traveling through time and space, assuming the identities of other people and even merging with inanimate objects.”* Scientists have no idea of how it works on the brain.
It’s currently Legal to possess, grow, distribute, etc in the United States.
Thanks for the reply, Wishbone. After reading over the previous threads, I could only find five first-hand accounts of Salvia intoxication. I wonder if that number will increase now that the media is becoming increasingly aware of it.
I did notice a few people commenting that they’re surprised the Gov’t hasn’t stepped in to outlaw this herb. I remember reading that “the powers that be” are keeping a low-key approach as far as Salvia goes. Part of the reasoning being that as soon as they hold hearings on it, all they will do is increase public awareness of it. Also, they may have to actually present evidence that the plant is harmful…and they’re going to have a hard time doing that, from what I understand!
Well, I’ll let this thread die a peaceful death. I must admit I was hoping to stir discussion concerning the curious effects of this and other plants (psilocybin mushrooms mainly come to mind), that have the strange effect of seeming to convey “information” to the user. Sounds implausible, yes, but those that have taken sufficient doses will know what I’m talking about…
frinkboy fades back into the background, returning to Lurk Mode
Well I’ll have a little discussion with you since I missed all the other threads.
I have used salvia many times (enhanced 10X so pretty powerful stuff). Most of my experiences have been very enjoyable but a small few have been quite horrifying (one in particular was extremely so, but I believe this was mainly due to some other reasons besides the salvia itself).
When you smoke the 10X stuff, the experience comes on and goes like nitrous (you feel it in 30 seconds and are peaking in 2 minutes), but the high itself reminds me more of ketamine.
It’s a real bummer to see the NY Times writing about it.
I smoked it a couple of times and it didn’t do anything. Perhaps it wasn’t prepared correctly, but I grew it from a little plant, cut off the leaves, let them dry a little, then tokoed. nothing.
Fandango– From what I’ve read, it can be difficult to get a sufficient amount of *Salvinorin A * from smoking the dried leaf. That’s why many people use leaves that are coated with concentrated resin from the plant. (For instance, Moe mentioned that he used a 10X extract–very potent stuff!)
It seems to me that the most reliable route of ingestion would be the “Quid” method. 15-20 leaves are chewed for about fifteen minutes. This can produce a trip that lasts up to 45 minutes.
Moe– I’m curious…what exactly was so “horrifying” about a couple of your Salvia experiences? I know that something like this may be difficult to “english”.
Also, did you see “visions” or meet “entities” on any of your trips? One of the things that interests me so much about Salvia Divinorum, is that it’s use was discovered in the Mexican state of Oaxaca…the same area where Psilocybin Mushrooms have been used by Shamen for countless years. Mushrooms have always given me (and many others) the distinct impression of trying to “teach a lesson”, or “tell a story” when take in sufficient doses. And some of the Salvia Trip reports I’ve read on the web have led me to believe that Salvia has the same effect on some people. This is a fascinating area of research, IMHO. It would be quite a paradigm shattering revelation if it were possible that nature (or something) was able to communicate with us through the use of these plants. Unfortunately, due to the highly subjective nature of these experiences, it would be hard to convince most folks. Still…I sometimes have the sneaking suspicious that the ancient Shamen may have had a more accurate view of the nature of reality than we do…
A close friend of mine is into the sacred plants hobby-- not really avid and dosing up every weekend, but has tried some things (you know, she’s talked with the DMT Machine Elves, etc.). She has a happy, hearty salvia plant, but only tried to smoke a bunch of it once, last year, but it was a very short trip-- apparently the plant, um, told her (“you’d have to have been there to understand”) that she wasn’t ready to know what it had to tell her, and to come back when she was more prepared (she’s 29). Not much information there, but an anecdote about communicative plants.
Erislover I understand. I too have tried like heck to find how to obtain DMT. I even grew phallaris grass where I used to live but I didn’t know how exactly to make use of it. I actually was fortunate enough to have tried DMT once though a few years back.
frinkboy
Well, on one particular occasion I had a mild asthma attack in the middle of the experience. I have a mild-moderate case of allergic asthma and every now and again I breathe in an allergen in the air which triggers a little wheezing which my little trusty inhaler is usually quite capable of relieving.
Anyway, on this one occasion I had taken a deep hit and lied back to enjoy the ride. Now understand, this drug is a very powerful dissociative. Only moments after exhaling the real world completely melts away and you are in another place. You have very little memory of even the fact that you just ingested a drug. All of a sudden while I was out, I began wheezing (incidentally, I’m not completely ruling out the possibility that the salvia itself triggered my asthma, but I doubt it since this was the only time of many that this happened) and I perceived myself to be some place between life and death with death sucking me towards it. I am usually good about not panicking but as it became more difficult to breathe I felt that I had to fight to hold on. I tried to sit up as I gasped for air but even with my eyes now wide open I still perceived myself to be in this place near death. The walls of my room seemed to fold in on itself like curtains cutting me off from what I perceived to be life. It was the most frightening thing I’ve ever experienced as I thought for sure I was going to die. Anyway, I don’t believe I was ever in any real danger and when I came to and calmed my self down (which BTW took a few minutes and then some) I realized that I was just wheezing mildly.
I believe that the experiences that you describe are largely dependant on a particular person’s own beliefs. At some level, the experience of this and other psychedelics is probably the same for everyone, but based on beliefs (such as the degree to which one is spiritually oriented e.g.), the mind creates an interpretation tailored to fit you.
As to your questions about my experiences: OK, I must admit that I’ve been sitting here for 10 minutes and it’s proving more difficult for me to articulate this than I thought it would be. I’m also getting a little self conscious being so candid on this board about this particular topic. Feel free to email me if you’d like.
BTW, check out this message board: http://www.entheogen.st/cgi-bin/config.pl
It’s a much more appropriate place for this kind of discussion and there’s some good info to be had from the people there (though there’s also plenty of misinformed kids
offering wrong information irresponsibly, so beware).
Depends on how you define “nature of reality” I think. I’m sure they had a much greater sense of oneness with nature and the world around them, as well as with each other. But at the same time, shouldn’t a full understanding of “reality” also include an understanding of matter (atoms and molecues), of planets, solar systems, and black holes, of biology and the role our central nervous system plays in our perception of reality, etc?
ha, sweet, a forum I have something logical to add to. Anything you could possibly want to know about this and other drugs can be found here: [note: link removed – manhattan]
I use this site for information on how to deal with friends of mine in various states mind (all legal of course ;)).
[moderator’s note: This site looked a little to close to the line for me, so I removed it. Please limit links to those solely about still-legal substances. Thanks. -manhattan]
Interesting. I missed that comment the last time. Personal experience dictates a profound urge in me to be next to plants when I took LSD. In fact, after standing among plants for a long time, in a small hollow, I felt a huge empathic response.