DOSE: T+ 0:00	1 bowl	smoked	Salvia divinorum	(dried)
T+ 0:05	1 bowl	smoked	Salvia divinorum	(dried)
T+ 0:05	5.0 mg	smoked	Salvia divinorum	(extract)

BODY WEIGHT:

170 lb

‘+4’ is a rating for a psychedelic experience which is a profound, life changing experience, and one that is very rarely attained, but is often sought after. Some people choose to “do drugs” to alter their state of mind, others to escape reality, but the historically accepted reason was always to touch a divine level or plane of existence – one where a person sees clearly what the future has in store for them. But the deepest, supreme purpose for this altered state was to gain a better understanding of the universe and our place in the grand scheme.

I name this experience “four plus” because I don’t believe ‘plus four’ does my experience justice. I went through a period in my life when I felt my soul deteriorating – my very will to live slipping away. This wasn’t a matter of depression, indeed I haven’t had a depressed day in my life, nor does it infer that I wanted my life to end. I felt as if I neither understood myself, nor the world around me in the least.

I received a package of salvia in the mail, in it was 1oz of salvia leaves (crushed), 1g 5x extract and 1g 15x extract. I read up on salvia thoroughly (as I always do to prepare me for a new drug) having experienced a plethora of herbal and synthetic inebriants in the past, and when I thought I was well prepared I took a deep breath and continued with my first experience.

It was late – about 11:30pm – and I just got in from a party (a lame one – no alcohol or drugs… but that wasn’t the reason it was lame), I was stone cold sober, with nothing in my system but a couple slices of cheese pizza. I packed my bong (water removed, since I wasn’t sure if salvinorin was water soluble) with a couple of leaves and with my torch I lit the bowl and took a huge hit (killed the bowl). I had read that the breakthrough might or might not take multiple hits, but to be ready and be near a bed. So, I held the hit and walked over to my bed before exhaling the smoke. The hit was a little harsh, but nothing for an avid pot smoker (it had a distinctive flavor, a little nasty, but not terrible). I lay on my bed with the TV on for a few minutes, but realized the hit was taking WAY too long to take affect. So, I walked back into the kitchen to prepare another bowl.

Ok, time for hit, the second. This time I packed the bowl with a leaf of salvia and maybe 5mg (10 or so little flakes) of the 15x extract. I killed the bowl again with one huge toke (at this point I thought I was convinced this legal high thing was pure bunk!) This time it was a little more harsh, and I had to exhale before leaving the kitchen. I immediately started walking toward the bedroom – that is all I remember until I came partially to.

I “awoke” in my closet hysterically tossing clothing and other junk all over the place, but I didn’t know it was clothing. I was immersed in a world in which I was a character in a show – not a sitcom or anything – but the ME show. My whole life had been staged (almost like the Truman Show) – and I had finally awoken from this fantasy world and realized that this was so. I was on a stage and I heard applause from everywhere – people all around me were so happy that finally figured it out. At this point I saw a clown, a person who was there to guide me, show me the real world and try to calm me down. I also heard a song playing over and over again, almost like a broken record. It was the repetitive song that clued me in to this “fake world”, and when the clown sighed and realized that I knew what was going on. He showed me into this door (the door to the real world) and I walked onto a set – a children’s show (which explained the clown) and I walked down a series of steps (in reality, video cassettes that I had knocked over at some point) until I came to and was back in reality within seconds. I went from being 100% in this strange world created by my mind under the influence, to the real world in less than 10 second or so.

I must add that as a result of this salvia trip (although I don’t think ‘trip’ applies) I ended up with multiple injuries including cuts, scrapes, black-and-blues, and a minor concussion (I assume, after seeing the horrible state of my apartment, that I was quite irate about something). I also remembered next to nothing within minutes – the entire experience lost. When I checked the clock as a came back to the real world more than 3 hours passed. I realized I took WAY too much, as a result of my skepticism after my first toke.

I decided to repeat the experience a second time, but this time with a trip sitter. I was in a familiar setting, with a good friend, one who I trusted with my life. And after explaining my previous experience, he decided not to try the substance, but agreed to sit for me. This time I used the 5x extract with some dried leaved (1/2 leaf, 5mg of the 5x extract). I took a toke and as the first time was engulfed in the experience in the same way – and while I failed to remember the first experience just after it occurred, I now remembered all of it, although I lost touch with reality within moments. Here is what happened:

Moments after the toke (about 15 seconds), while telling my friend what was going on (at that point nothing), I felt a tingling in the back of my head. It reminded me of my previous experience somehow and I became terrified immediately (being experienced with psychedelics I knew I had to calm myself and be reminded that whatever happens it will be temporary and worthwhile), but before I could calm myself I saw the fabric of reality “unzip” before my eyes. (Keep in mind that while others have since described this “unzipping of reality” I used this term before I had ever read it). As I saw this zipper unzip the fabric of reality, the new reality looked identical in every respect – I could only muster a few words to warn and prepare my trip-sitter for what was to come, “Oh no, it’s happening again.” I stood up violently and ran down to the basement where there was less to break and less space to run around in – all the while everything I saw and touched worked itself into my hallucination (if that’s what it was – stay tuned for my own analysis).

My friend replaced the clown in my previous “trip” trying to calm me down and integrate me into this new world – in this experience, again, the world wasn’t real. It was a stage, and my friend was just a player (actor), who when he realized that I finally figured it all out was supposed to guide me and wait for whoever to come and get me.

It took about 5 minutes for me to come back to reality, fully, but my friend made me sit there and tell him of my memories of that experience. I remembered much more this time - I remembered the fabric unzipping and being pulled round me, running downstairs, and finally how he consoled me and snapped me out of it. But then he brought me back upstairs to the mess of a house I left his with. I was delirious for about 15 minutes, and in a irate way ranted and raved, banged on walls, almost broke a window, and at one point pulled out a large kitchen knife and held it to my wrist threatening to commit suicide.

While this is getting long, this experience had a profound experience on my life, and I hope you have gotten this far – of so, here comes the moral of the story.

My immediate understanding of the experience (the personally important part) is that my delusion was one of my life not being real… but one constructed around me – like the Truman Show. Since then I have developed the ability to read people, understand their states of mind, and, overall, am able to empathize and help people deal with their problems. This goes much deeper and farther...

I also think I have an understanding of this drugs mode of action. I believe Salvia awakens the normally dormant sleep centers of the brain (mostly the subconscious), while the conscious parts are also active (hearing, sight, taste, touch, smell). The two seem to merge and the brain tries to make sense of it all, and just as dreams seem real while I am dreaming, this combination experience (dream and wake) is made to seem real. I am actually integrating a dream with waking interactions - thus if I walk into a wall, even if a wall isn’t present in my ‘dream’ it spontaneously exists since I bumped into one. And as I increase the dosage of the active principles (salvinorin A and B) the more my ‘dream’ seems to take hold.

I remember grabbing a banister for stairs while under the influence, and it completely broke off the wall – in reality I grabbed a doorknob and missed. But since in my ‘dream’ I grabbed it, and in reality missed, the banister seemed to break off (which added to the illusion of reality being fake, making it seem like a set). Words don’t even come close to portraying the profound impact of these experiences. But I do believe that in a dark, silent room, I would have a “normal” salvia experience, which, in my opinion, is just an impromptu dream.

I am finished with my story, but it doesn’t even come close to describing how profound an experience the trips were – suffice it to say that both were over and above +4 experiences. I am much to afraid to try it a third time, but maybe some day I’ll muster the courage.

Ok, that’s it. My most profound experience to date… almost.

I believe that it is this expansion that allows ‘dormant’ parts of the brain to be accessed and allows impulses to travel to nearby parts of the brain allowing for ‘cross-connections’ to expand our mind. I know that with all the experiences I’ve had I can’t say anything more than, “Oh, that was fun”, “eye opening”, “intense”, or, “interesting”… except this one.
Now, I am not one who believes in the paranormal, yet since my experience I am able to read people better – see what’s in their mind; almost read their thoughts. And as a result I am able to say exactly what they need to hear to feel better. I am not a mind reader – I am able to empathize completely. I am able to instantly put myself into their shoes and feel the emotions they feel, by living their experiences for an instant.

Just like people are deficient in clotting factors, or stomach acid, some peoples’ minds are deficient in or handle incorrectly certain neurochemicals. Over time changes in perception, understanding or thought process may become affected. I know my use of psychedelics, and the like, enable me to change my perception for a short while – and it is these changes that make me grow as a person. I do not use one chemical too often (perhaps 1-3 times each, except good old MJ), just enough to make sure I have ONE meaningful experience… one from which I can say I gained a greater understanding of my own mind.

Exp Year: 2002	ExpID: 25364
Gender: Male
Age at time of experience: Not Given
Published: Oct 28, 2005	Views: 47,577
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Salvia divinorum (44) : Entities / Beings (37), Train Wrecks & Trip Disasters (7), Alone (16)