How Not to Smoke Salvia Divinorum
Salvia divinorum, LSD, Betel Nut, & Methamphetamine
Citation:   Mobius. "How Not to Smoke Salvia Divinorum: An Experience with Salvia divinorum, LSD, Betel Nut, & Methamphetamine (exp3822)". Erowid.org. Dec 26, 2001. erowid.org/exp/3822

 
DOSE:
T+ 0:00
1 bowl smoked Salvia divinorum (extract - 5x)
  T+ 0:30   oral Betel Nut (extract)
  T+ 1:00 1 bowl smoked Salvia divinorum (extract - 5x)
  T+ 2:30 1 line insufflated Methamphetamine (powder / crystals)
  T+ 0:00 1 hit oral LSD  
  T+ 0:00 1 hit smoked Salvia divinorum (extract - 5x)
BODY WEIGHT: 90 kg
**NOTE - the author does not intend to devalue or discourage the use of the Divine Salvia divinorum. This report documents one style and instance of Salvia usage which the author regards as unfulfilling, unsatisfactory, and probably unhealthy.**

Our first attempt at smoking the extract was made at about 6:30 pm. We sat in the backyard, and I smoked one large cone of the extract, holding the flame over the extract throughout the process, holding smoke for as long as possible, etc etc as per the numerous guides to smoking salvia available at any self-respecting psychotropic plant website. What wasn't provided for in these guides was the fact that the conepiece didn't really fit the bong, and after inhaling my hit I decided it would be a good idea to force the conepiece down into the stem so it didn't fall out. The painful burns on my right thumb and forefinger will be my eternal reminder of my second ever salvia experience. As far as psychological effects go, there was definitely 'something', strange visual phenomena such as being able to focus on all points in my field of vision at once. I probably would have enjoyed this a lot more were it not for the aforementioned burns.

Half an hour later, the effects had mellowed into a trippy weed-like feeling, and I decided to boost it up again by sucking on some betel nut extract. This worked quite well, giving a strange floating-but-very-heavy feeling when walking. At around 7:30 we decided it would be a good idea to smoke some more salvia before leaving for a party out in the mountains. This was our first *true* salvia experience. My friend smoked his cone first, and began giggling before he had finished the whole hit. He said something like 'Oh well, it works' and put the bong down, giggling all the while.

The effects of my cone can best be described by a phrase that I was destined to repeat many times over the next 12 hours: 'Myself, the stereo and the reflection of the candle in the window formed part of a plank in the bottom of a small rowboat being controlled by NBN television' (a local television network). Now, any sensible psychonaut would gratefully accept such an astounding experience, and try to at least partially understand it before embarking on any other such adventures. I, on the other hand (for reasons still unknown), decided that the best course of action would be to bombard my still-reeling consciousness with as much and as many psychedelic drugs as were readily available in the shortest possible period of time. (I didn't actually 'decide' this, it just happened).

Well, after a long, seemingly uneventful drive to the party (more on this later), I set the wheels in motion to score some acid, and took it at about 9ish, after a small line of some nice meth donated by a generous benefactor. At around the same time, my friend and I had been recounting our recent adventures to any who would listen, and offering salvia to as many as I thought my small supply would accommodate (about 6 people I think). I won't try to describe these peoples' experiences, except to say that some frequently used words/phrases were 'weird', 'disturbing', 'like nitrous oxide', and 'it was like I was caught in a time loop and I would be stuck in this combi for the whole night'.

Well, the acid came on, and was quite strong. During this period, dubbed for sake of reference the 'pre-insanity' period, I enjoyed the trip, dancing and chatting and laughing. At what I guessed was the peak of the trip, I decided that it would be a great idea to smoke some more salvia. Unlike before, I felt very little immediate effects, and thought it mustn't have worked. It turned out, however, that this hit of salvia was the rough equivalent of smoking a few hits of good acid, along with some nice buds, and a healthy dose of paranoia. My memories of the next hour are blurred, incomplete and possibly manufactured, but I do remember a vague feeling of physical and mental discomfort. The most significant event of the 'post-insanity' period was so extremely intense and real that even now, hours afterward, I still shrink away from considering all the possible implications. What happened was this - just before smoking the salvia, a friend said something to me about how the guy who had driven us to the party had said something to suggest that I didn't like the bumpy roads or something. This puzzled me at the time, but I quickly forgot about it. It came back soon after, however, in all its earth-shattering significance. The fact is, that while we were driving to the party, I (still feeling a strong salvia buzz from the earlier smoke) had had an imaginary conversation with this friend (the one who was driving) about how it was a very bumpy and scary ride, but I didn't blame his driving because it was all due to the bumpy roads. At least I thought it was imaginary at the time…. Suddenly, I wasn't sure what I had really said out loud and what I had just thought. I still clearly remembered that this conversation had occurred purely in my head, but now it seemed that the other person knew all about it…I came to the conclusion that either :

1) I had gone insane after becoming a plank in the bottom of a small rowboat, and was saying out loud what I though was just in my head
OR (infinitely more disturbing )
2) My friend, and most probably everyone else as well, was able to read my mind.

It was this second conclusion that really screwed me up, as I tried to empty my mind of all thoughts that I didn't want anyone else to know about, and replaced them with all of these false thoughts so that they wouldn't get suspicious when they read my mind and found it devoid of thought. I decided that the only way to ensure the effectiveness of this ploy was to actually believe the false thoughts myself, so they would become my real thoughts and the mind readers wouldn't be able to tell the difference.

Thankfully, I realised the foolishness of this practice before I had totally reconstructed my identity, and I managed to sort out the real from the false thoughts (I hope…). However I was still very spun-out by the whole 'mind-reading hypothesis', and found myself thinking that maybe that last cone was not such a good idea. Obviously I didn't think about that very much though, because when morning came I decided that another cone was in order. Luckily, this one was much less intense than the 'pre-to-post-insanity boundary cone', and all that happened was that the whole thing (ie existence) seemed like a corny joke from an old home video in which I was being unsuccessfully persuaded to stand up.

It is now 1:00pm on Saturday, and I am still feeling the acid, as well as a lot of tiredness and exhaustion. And I learned:

1) DO NOT handle scalding-hot conepieces, or scalding-hot anything for that matter
2) DO NOT take further psychedelics before previous experiences have been resolved
3) DO NOT offer salvia to those who have not been adequately prepared for the effects
4) DO appreciate that some substances require no further psychoactive additives
5) DO respect age-old religious sacraments as something more than recreational rave-candy
6) DO think twice before reconstructing your entire personality on the basis of a drug-induced paranoia

Exp Year: 2000ExpID: 3822
Gender: Male 
Age at time of experience: Not Given
Published: Dec 26, 2001Views: 31,685
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Betel Nut (92), Salvia divinorum (44), LSD (2) : Small Group (2-9) (17), Combinations (3)

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