Salvia
Divinorum
BP
went to the experts for this one - In the psychedelic landscape of today,
Salvia’s place is unique and an in depth knowledge of it’s history
and use is essential reading before approaching the ‘King of Sage’...(from
issue10)
OldRodThe
Good Salvia links for more info
Salvia Divinorum occupies a
unique position in the spectrum of entheogenic plants. Traditionally used
shamanically as a healing elixir and visionary guide by the Mazatec Indians
of the Oaxaca region of Mexico, Salvia has recently experienced a vogue
reputation in the West as the most powerful legal high available to the
'lads mag' generation. Salvia’s current notoriety is again calling
into question the very nature of our approach to altered states of consciousness
and indeed the nature of the Psychedelic Experience itself.
Traditionally Salvia is taken
in the form of a quid, rolled from pairs of leaves, and chewed in the
mouth. In the west it is more commonly smoked in the form of standardised
'extracts' to achieve a shorter lasting but intensely psychedelic high.
One cannot emphasize the strength of these extracts too much… They
are strong! Ranging from five to fifteen (even forty!) times the normal
potency, they offer a glimpse beyond the veil to the Psychedelic Experience.
Many a recreational user is shocked to find such a powerful experience
so readily available alongside the usual range of herbal highs sold openly
in England. The active principle Salvinorin A can also be taken in pure
form and delivers on it's reputation as a shockingly powerful psychedelic
and not at all recreational. As always, the reader is encouraged to do
their homework and research the varying means of taking Salvia and the
different dosages they require.
Until recently, few people
had heard of such an obscure hallucinogen as so little information made
it out of the domain of anthropology and ethnobotany. Much as Hoffman's
discovery of LSD, or Wasson's discovery of the Mushroom spread like wildfire
through the underground, Salvia, a sacred shamanic plant teacher, has
become the darling of the internet generation. The internet offers many
sites detailing the botany, chemistry and use of Salvia Divinorum, so
if possible one should navigate this valuable resource of information
and I refer you all to The Vaults of Erowid (www.erowid.org) as an essential
place to start (see overleaf for other refs). It is all very well to understand
Salvia as a diterpenoid kappa opioid receptor agonist, but that kind of
understanding, valuable as it is, is no kind of help when face to face
with the powerful visionary experience and heavy somatic sensations of
Salvia. I urge the interested party to revise the subject of Salvia seriously,
particularly the work of Daniel Siebert, currently the foremost authority.
Prepare
your journey carefully...
Preferably smoked through a
water bong, Salvia comes on strong in just a few seconds. A small amount
is placed in the bowl and should be vaporised with a high temperature
lighter held just above the extract. One should empty one's lungs of air
and inhale the smoke fully and steadily. It is important to do this commitedly
as it tends toward a stronger experience. Almost immediately, one can
feel the upsurge of a powerful energy intent on sweeping one away. This
is the moment when one's intent is tested by the spirit of Salvia. One
should be prepared.The standard set and setting rules apply... lights
dimmed, phone unplugged, candles out and an atmosphere of sacred intent.
The presence of a trusted sitter is to be recommended, especially if one
is not used to exploring altered states of consciousness. Sometimes the
Salvia experience can bring us to our deepest emotional core and talking
this over with a trusted friend can be a positive, concrete way of bringing
this experience into the reality of our everyday thoughts and feelings...
our life on Earth. Salvia is of this Earth. Salvia is a relationship.
Amongst the Shamans of Oaxaca, Salvia is the sitter... the most trusted
friend.
The Experience…
As one surfs the wave
of energy upon smoking Salvia there is the sensation of being physically
pulled out of the body and propelled at lightning speed into another dimension,
physically, mentally, even spiritually. Behind closed eyes, images of
vegetable matrices, vast geometric landscapes and beings of many types
and many dimensions flow through ones awareness. The sheer speed of this
is stunning. One has barely put the pipe down. The physical sensation
can be too much. Salvia is like DMT in this respect. The effects are slightly
longer lasting, about 10 - 20 mins, and usually back to baseline in about
an hour.
As with DMT it cannot be underestimated how intense the hallucinations
can be. Out of body experiences, near death and rebirth experiences are
common and can change one's view of reality dramatically. Just as common
are experiences of entities parading their cosmic wares, teasing you,
even frightening you and with such an intense rush there is little time
for cutting a deal.
A guide to the more
common effects of Salvia, known as the Salvia Scale, is usually freely
available to the purchaser. The effects range from a subtle, somatic sensation
of CNS arousal, through an altered perception of sensory awareness of
colour and spatial relativity. Beyond this, users commonly experience
a state of fractal, geometric, visual hallucination behind closed eyelids.
These images can develop into an extremely vivid visionary state, what
the initiated refer to as 'true hallucinations'. Here is the realm of
shamanic voyaging, extra dimensional awareness, even extra-terrestrial
contact. This kind of shamanic voyaging can sometimes lead the user to
awesome experiences of merging with consciousness-at-large, and awareness
of individuality is often lost completely. It is here where your choice
of sitter proves essential. To the casual observer the user may appear
completely confused, and panic on the part of the sitter may occur. Hopefully
you have chosen wisely and the sitter is someone with personal experience
of this kind of psychedelic exploring.
“How
we approach Salvia will say a lot about how we approach the question of
psychedelic exploration generally. Are we mature enough to take on board
the notion that Nature lives and we are of that nature? Are we just looking
for kicks? Does the production of stronger extracts suggest a will to
develop a deeper level of relationship to this wonderful plant, or is
it just a way of trying to blow the door off it's hinges without hanging
around?”
The brief nature of
the Salvia trance should constantly be borne in mind. This is also where
the strength of extract you have chosen may prove to have been too strong.
Stronger is not always better! It is possible to take too strong an extract
and overshoot the visionary state completely, leaving yourself in a state
of total confusion and even loss of consciousness. There is definitely
an element of the trickster archetype pervading the Salvia realm, and
not every trip ends in a nice tidy enlightenment! Perhaps it is the speed
of the Salvia trance which leaves one feeling that something definitely
happened, but you're not sure what, or how important it was. Maybe this
is the downside of such short acting psychedelics; they offer a glimpse,
but only a glimpse, of the Psychedelic Universe. The real hard work and
transformational experiences occur when one spends many hours face to
face with the angel within the trance, working through our emotional baggage,
preparing us to walk openly into the deeper realms of true visionary experience,
embracing it honestly with all of our being.
As a strictly amateur
ethno botanist, the most interesting feature of Salvia is the way it encourages
one to realise that taking drugs is about more than just getting high.
To avail yourself of the ethnobotanical and anthropological data regarding
the classic shamanic hallucinogens, is to begin to uncover an alternative
history of mankind, biologically, socially, and spiritually. Alas the
recreational user usually just wants to get high. With Salvia they'll
get something, but it won't be anything high. There are those who seem
positively proud of the fact that they need 50 grams of mushrooms just
to get off baseline, scoffing at the idea that 5x Salvia may be enough.
This reasoning does not work with Salvia extracts, and the wise explorer
starts at the beginning, moving upwards gradually. Of course there are
those whose wish is simply to get mashed and Salvia seems like just the
ticket. It's a valid human drive and I make no judgement upon it. However,
Salvia does not suffer fools gladly and usually kicks the insincere user
to the kerb very quickly. It can be terrifying to go through this, but
it really is a blessing in disguise. Mercifully it is all over fast, which
is small consolation when you may be so far out of your depth. We all
go through this at some time when we take psychedelics. I have found myself
in the most beautiful, unimaginable heavens and the deepest darkest hells
through psychedelic shamanism. It is the hardest trips which have taught
me to seriously reconsider my intent and preparation for this kind of
self exploration, causing me to lay the emphasis on setting one's intentions
straight, before playing with the stronger extracts of Salvia.
How we approach Salvia
will say a lot about how we approach the question of psychedelic exploration
generally. Are we mature enough to take on board the notion that Nature
lives and we are of that nature? Are we just looking for kicks? Does the
production of stronger extracts suggest a will to develop a deeper level
of relationship to this wonderful plant, or is it just a way of trying
to blow the door off it's hinges without hanging around? Do we care either
way? The resolution of this conflict in us as individuals, and in society
at large, will be the real benefit of such a profound legal high.
By the time you read
this Psilocybin mushrooms may well be illegal (in the UK-ed) and Salvia
is probably not far behind. Until then we are afforded a real chance to
explore a genuine, bona-fide psychedelic experience and it is down to
us to tread gracefully and bring something positive back from our journeys,
into our lives. Prepare your set and setting with genuine reverence. Journey
with intent, and allow time between trips to absorb their importance to
you. Those who would seek to criminalize Salvia concentrate on the stories
of those who seek thrills and get burnt. It is up to the serious user
to bring more meaningful reports to the table and that can only come as
a result of taking Salvia in a more sacred context.
In pondering this
short article I have taken for granted that the reader has considerable
experience of chemically induced altered states of consciousness. It has
been my aim to stress the shamanic heritage of Salvia Divinorum and the
attitude of reverence with which the Indians of Oaxaca approach using
Salvia. I cannot emphasise the importance of set and setting enough. It
is important to stress the very brief nature of the Salvia trip compared
to most other psychedelics, except DMT. A stack of art books, some paints
and paper, do not constitute proper set and setting with such a short,
overpowering trip. More important is the security of your environment,
the presence of a trusted sitter and, most important of all, the sincerity
of your intent. It is not always possible to be perfect, it is not always
possible to be pure, but it is possible to be completely and utterly present.
Get set !
Oldrodthe
Salvia Links
Daniel Siebert
Lots of information about salvia.
Daniel Siebert
Erowid Salvia Vault
FAQ's, images, law, chemistry, and more.
Erowid Salvia Vault
Salvia FAQ
Frequently asked questions about salvia.
Salvia FAQ