My Desk Was a Life Raft
Salvia divinorum
Citation:   Anonymous. "My Desk Was a Life Raft: An Experience with Salvia divinorum (exp115075)". Erowid.org. Jan 20, 2021. erowid.org/exp/115075

 
DOSE:
5 - 22.5 g buccal Salvia divinorum (dried)
BODY WEIGHT: 160 lb
I experimented with chewing dried plain Salvia divinorum several times over the course of several weeks, waiting at least one week between attempts. All attempts were performed alone, in a quiet space at home. Times are approximate. I do not take any other medications.

First attempt
To prepare I brushed my teeth with toothpaste, making sure to brush under my tongue. I do not have mouthwash. I soaked 5g of dried leaves in a bowl of water.

0:00 I couldn't fit all of it into my mouth so I stuffed more than half of it and began chewing. Awfully bitter. I couldn't get a good chewing motion going on and ended up gagging and spitting it out after 20 minutes.
0:20 For the next mouthful I took a more manageable amount of leaves (roughly two or three sticks of chewing gum) and chewed it until it became a puree in my mouth. This was more pleasant and I ended up swishing it around my mouth and in my gums.
0:40 Spat this out, put the rest of the 5g in my mouth and began chewing as before
0:50 Possibly placebo, but a very slight delay when I move my head left and right, somewhat like the feeling of a low-level cannabis high. I do not get any effects past this.
1:00 Spat out the last mouthful.
2:00 As far as I can tell, I am completely baseline.

This was a bit disappointing so I resolved to take a higher dose next time.

Second attempt
Same preparation as before.
Instead of soaking leaves, each time I grabbed about 2.5g, quickly dipped it in water, then began chewing until it turned into a puree, then swished it around my cheeks and gums. I repeated this roughly every 20 minutes for 3.5 hours for a total dose of ~22.5g.

0:00 Began chewing.
0:20 New mouthful. Total ~5g.
0:25 I feel like something is moving out of the corner of my eye, but I can't really catch it.
0:40 New mouthful. Total ~7.5g.
0:45 I no longer notice anything moving. I feel rather baseline.
1:00 New mouthful. Total ~10g.
1:05 Could be placebo but I feel a very light body load and a similar feeling of "delay" when moving my head left and right.
1:20 New mouthful. Total ~12.5g.
1:30 I'm sitting at my desk in front of my computer. I feel as though my computer monitor is rotating clockwise but constantly resetting in a sawtooth motion. The room behind the computer is doing the same motion but counterclockwise.

1:40 New mouthful. Total ~15g.
1:45 No OEVs, but when I close my eyes I see what looks like a stone fence at a shrine or palace.
1:50 I feel as though I am tilted to the left even though I am certain I am sitting straight.

At this point my arms feel far away. I sent my arm to go write something, and by the time it had gone and picked up the pencil and came back I had forgotten what I had sent it to do. The rest of the objects on my desk feel extremely far away, as if the desk were a flat concrete expanse or parking lot and each object was a high-rise in a corporate park, separated by distances too far to comfortably walk.

1:55 I close my eyes and get an almost imperceptible CEV of what appears to be turbomachinery and rotating vanes in gas turbines.
2:00 New mouthful. Total ~17.5g. I get a feeling as though the rest of my house isn't tripping, just my desk. It's like a little life raft of trippiness where everything is rotating and tilting, but the other rooms aren't. I'm surrounded by an ocean of trippiness in the form of my floor. The constant feeling of rotation and tilting is helping the illusion as if they're waves in the ocean. I get the the reassuring impression that I can get to shore anytime I want for a quick break, then come back and get back on the boat. This is the peak of the trip.
2:10 I head to the bathroom, "ashore," but by the time I come back I can't get back into the feeling of riding a life raft as before. The rotation has almost completely disappeared.
2:20 New mouthful. Total ~20g.
2:30 My computer monitor feels even flatter than usual, even though it's already a flat glass pane. I find myself very amused by this. I get the impression that some paper on my desk is like a sign hung above a store or hanging off of a cliff face. There are no visual effects to the paper, it's just something that I intuitively feel by looking at it.

2:40 New mouthful. Total ~22.5g.
2:50 I am suddenly extremely tired and head to bed after spitting out the last mouthful.
6:00 I cannot remember dreaming, but I have very severe dry mouth, probably due to not consuming any food or liquid since I started, as my mouth was busy chewing. I had some hunger before heading to bed but it is gone now. Remaining body load feels like I am floating and my joints are wobbly. The effect (and resulting walk) is most similar to cannabis. I have a tightness and slight headache around the parietal lobe.

I especially enjoyed the life raft feeling during this trip, and especially the relaxing reassurance that I could "get off the boat" any time I wanted. I attribute this to the extremely slow comeup caused by quidding the Salvia rather than smoking or vaporizing it.

Third attempt
After my second attempt I only had about 5g of Salvia left. I quidded it with the same preparations as before.
0:00 Began chewing
0:20 New mouthful
0:40 Final mouthful
1:00 I again get what I now consider to be a threshold experience, where moving the head back and forth is accompanied by a slight "delay" internally.
1:40 I feel a little bit colder than usual, but I'm not sure if this is placebo. I receive no further effects past this.
2:40 At this time I feel completely baseline.

Overall I enjoyed quidding Salvia, even if I did not achieve a very strong experience. However, the long time required (several hours of chewing) and large amount of plant material needed will probably discourage me from trying it with any sort of frequency.

Exp Year: 2020ExpID: 115075
Gender: Male 
Age at time of experience: 25
Published: Jan 20, 2021Views: 1,869
[ View PDF (to print) ] [ View LaTeX (for geeks) ] [ Swap Dark/Light ]
Salvia divinorum (44) : General (1), Preparation / Recipes (30), Alone (16)

COPYRIGHTS: All reports copyright Erowid.
No AI Training use allowed without written permission.
TERMS OF USE: By accessing this page, you agree not to download, analyze, distill, reuse, digest, or feed into any AI-type system the report data without first contacting Erowid Center and receiving written permission.

Experience Reports are the writings and opinions of the authors who submit them. Some of the activities described are dangerous and/or illegal and none are recommended by Erowid Center.


Experience Vaults Index Full List of Substances Search Submit Report User Settings About Main Psychoactive Vaults