At the Heart of It All
Salvia divinorum
Citation:   Shirow. "At the Heart of It All: An Experience with Salvia divinorum (exp3829)". Erowid.org. Dec 16, 2000. erowid.org/exp/3829

 
DOSE:
T+ 0:00
  smoked Salvia divinorum (extract - 10x)
  T+ 0:02   smoked Salvia divinorum (extract - 10x)
  T+ 0:15   smoked Salvia divinorum (extract - 10x)
BODY WEIGHT: 190 lb
I'd been smoking bud and experimenting a bit with LSD and Mushrooms for the past few months when a friend told me about Salvia. I was greatly encouraged by the fact that it was legal, so I figured I'd do a little research and try some if it sounded agreeable. After spending a few weeks reading material on Salvia, I decided it sounded safe enough and got some.

I asked one of my friends to babysit for me, which was a very smart move in retrospect. I knew from what friends had told me that Salvia was somewhat notorious for its extreme unpredictability, so I took a few moments to quietly meditate and try to de-stress myself. I also refrained from using any other substances for a few days, so I was fairly clean. I decided it would be a good idea to start small and work my way up, as you can always take more, but you can never take less. I smoked one small bowl, and I could immediately feel the effects. I felt a strange force all over my body and especially in my head. It felt almost as though the Salvia was trying to take me over, but thanks to the low dose it couldn't. I was intensly high for about... 20 seconds and the effect wore off.

I took a minute to reflect on the experience and judge if I wanted more. After some deliberation, I decided I should smoke another bigger bowl and then wait. So I loaded up another larger bowl and smoked up.

The effect was immediate and almost indescribable. All over my body I felt waves of energy and force hitting me, especially in my jaw. Everywhere I looked I saw strange, strange, evenly spaced longitudinal rainbow-colored lines. The force of the energy hitting my body became far too great, and I tried to stand up and walk but ended up falling to the floor. I looked up at my friend who was babysitting me to warn him about the rainbow beams, but was distracted by a new shape forming between the lines. I saw that the lines were in fact part of a large green, organic machine-like thing. It's impossible to capture in words what I saw and felt at this point... but somehow I felt and knew that this thing was part of the world, and somehow was awakening me to feelings and thoughts I'd never experienced or even thought could have existed.

I tried to stand up again, but only managed to sit up and look down at the red blanket I'd layed across the floor. The blanket began to shift and warp in my vision, and I began to get the distinct feeling the blanket was in fact made of a strange liquid. Then the force bombarding my body began to finally relent, and I felt strange euphoria, knowing the Salvia was beginning to leave. I came down from the peak and fell into a feeling of happy confusion for about 10 minutes. It's hard to say for sure, but I'd estimate the peak lasted about a minute and a half, give or take a minute.

After I finally came down, I decided to smoke one last bowl. I took a few minutes to meditate and calm myself before I smoked my third and final bowl. Once again, I felt a strong force bombarding my entire body, especially my jaw. I was able to stand up this time, but I began to get the distinct feeling I was in some sort of hollywood production. The next 20 seconds are somewhat sketchy in my memory, and describing them is nearly impossible. I heard several voices and felt multiple presences all around me. I wasn't scared, but it was very very confusing. There wasn't a feeling of really being 'high' per se, it was more like I was still in control, but reality had merely been changed and I was forced to adapt. I looked around my room and still had the distinct feeling I was in a movie. It dawned on me how silly this was, which led me to evaluate how I led my own life, and in turn think it was silly. It's hard to describe, but my entire daily routine was hoisted in front of me to view and analyze in a split second. I stumbled out of my room into the living room with my sitter and spent the rest of the peak playing with my dogs and talking to them.

The peak of my last bowl lasted about 2 minutes, and afterwards I felt hopelessly confused for about 1/2 an hour. I kept wanting to do things like take a shower even though I'd just taken one, or do laundry even though all my clothes were clean. Eventually it passed and I felt both mentally and physically cleansed. I can really only compare it to the sort of feeling you get when you've endured intense physical labor for a long time and finally get home to take a nice hot shower.

The experience has certainly changed the way I think about everything around me. I feel more like a part of the world around me, and feel far more compelled to do something important and worthwhile with my life. It's funny to me because I'm usually so legendarily lazy and apathetic. Salvia is definitely a powerful experience, and I would dissuade people who use it to 'get high', because the Salvia experience isn't anything to be taken lightly. I also recommend using a sitter, even people who consider themselves veterans should consider it. When I took Salvia, it was definitely in control. All in all I like Salvia, but it is an herb that certainly deserves to be treated with respect and caution!

Exp Year: 2000ExpID: 3829
Gender: Male 
Age at time of experience: Not Given
Published: Dec 16, 2000Views: 7,091
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Salvia divinorum (44) : First Times (2), General (1), Small Group (2-9) (17)

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