Erowid Canvas Tote/Shopping Bag
This reusable "Ecobag" is made of 100% recycled mid-weight
(10 oz) cotton canvas, printed with the Erowid logo.
Donate now and receive yours!
The Split and the Stairway
Salvia divinorum (10x extract)
Citation:   the explorer. "The Split and the Stairway: An Experience with Salvia divinorum (10x extract) (exp24642)". Erowid.org. Mar 23, 2006. erowid.org/exp/24642

 
DOSE:
2 hits smoked Salvia divinorum (extract)
BODY WEIGHT: 166 lb
Salvia Divinorum is an herb that has perplexed me from the beginning of my relationship with it. I was one of the lucky people who was fortunate enough to experience full effects on the first attempt, and that was with 5x extract. I was shocked by the undescribably bizzare intoxication that it produced. Each time that I catapult myself into that headspace I am always shocked by this sensation of being split apart psychicly. This is the trademark effect of Salvia, for me anyways. The stronger the trip, the more complexly my ego is diced into bits and is experienced as individual peices yet as a whole simultaneously, somehow.

I have been so profoundly affected this way more times than I can count, but one experience stands out among the rest. I have to say that it was truely the weirdest experience of my life, although different, possibly weirder than Jimson Weed. I expected the usual shocking trip, but got so much more. A freind and I purchased a gram of 7x extract from our local head shop, we had both done it before and felt the common pre trip feelings of apprehension. Upon arriving to my house, using a torch lighter, we each took fairly decent sized hits of the dark, leafy substance from my glass bong. I went first, he followed, and we were both only minimally affected. So of course, after a small increment of time elapsed, we decided to try again. We moved from my room, where we had begun, to the back porch. This time my freind went first, taking a larger hit than before and reacting as if he was heavily under its spell.

After monitering him as he returned to normalcy I packed a very large hit into the bowl. I then took the whole thing down very quickly and held the smoke in my lungs for a very long time. As I exhaled the sweet smelling cloud I said 'this one is going to create the split,' which was the name I had given the Salvia experience. Suddenly it seemed as if the environment was closing in on me, then retracting from me at light speed. I no longer knew where I was and I no longer perceived reality in a human sense. I couldn't understand what was going on. I was suddenly in many different dimensions all at once. My reality was defined by some odd shape, with sharp edges that my psyche was forced to conform to the shape of. My vision and sense of self warped into the shape of stairs. Not like actual stairs, I didn't turn into a stair case, but that is the best that I can explain it. It was like standing at the top of a flight of stairs and looking down upon it as it led to the bottom. In my delerious state I tried to share the experience with my freind, but was at a loss for words. I might add that this was also horrifying and profound.

I began to reassemble my consciousness slowly, putting my reality into a less confusing geometric configuration. I felt as if I were being pulled by incredible magnetic forces from many calculated angles. My vision was still somehow like steps, a three dimensional, perfectly angled indentation that led into a strange Salvia induced wound in the fabric of my reality. It was intense, but as I began to return to the mathematically understandable existence, I noticed that my freinds seemed like otherworldly beings. They were such strange creatures, I realised that normalcy was an illusion, we are all alien beings living in this esoteric universe. My hands felt as if they were experiencing the sensation of touch twice, in two different psychological representations of sensori experience. The directional pulls that I was feeling made me fear that I would fall out of my chair from the force. When I could understand it, I began to watch the seconds tick by on my watch, waiting for my return to logical reality. I felt shell shocked, like I had experienced all of world war 2 in five minutes. I couldn't beleive what I had just undergone, it was unfathomable and uncompatible with everyday life; if somehow I were stuck in that condition for the rest of my life I would be fucked.

I have to say that the experience was awe inspiring and became a leader in my transendental psychedelic experience hall of fame. I have many amazing stories about inward travel with drugs, I'll continue to send more, because I have had very strange experiences with a large array of hallucinogens. Salvia is not something to play with, it will terrify those who are not strong and respectful within themselves. Some do not experience its effects, but I would dissuade anyone who has trouble with the effects of LSD from doing this, because although very different and short lived, Salvia is by far the strongest and most shocking experience imaginable. I have had trouble with LSD, but I have learned, and I have grown, but many people do not and may hurt themselves or make a scene if they cannot handle it. Thank You.

Exp Year: 2002ExpID: 24642
Gender: Male 
Age at time of experience: Not Given
Published: Mar 23, 2006Views: 6,266
[ View PDF (to print) ] [ View LaTeX (for geeks) ] [ Swap Dark/Light ]
Salvia divinorum (44) : General (1), Small Group (2-9) (17)

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