DOSE: T+ 0:00	1 hit	smoked	Salvia divinorum	(extract)
T+ 0:02	1 hit	smoked	Salvia divinorum	(extract)

I have been working with Salvia for just over a year. My explorations have been for personal spiritual reasons, primarily. A secondary use I have found benefit in is the exploration of my dreams. I suffer from mental illness the nature of which revolves around memory problems related to brain damage from accidental exposure to toxic fumes. One thing that can happen from time to time is I lose 'contact' with my dreams. Further, I suffer from anxiety disorders. As self-therapy for the anxiety disorder, I need to remember my dreams to be able to deal with them.

I should add, as a side note, that prior to my brain damage I was extremely intelligent, functioning on the superior level. I retain some of that functionality, but my ability to function relates to my level of stress. However; the functionality is on an overall level. In some ways, I can still function on a superior level, such as the example herein where I can provide my own therapy when adequately educated on the topic, as I am in many aspects of my own mental illnesses.

Salvia was very helpful in my anxiety therapy because it helped me recontact my dreams. I come from the school of thought that Salvinorin A induces the same state your brain is in when you sleep. So being awake and in that state means I have some consciousness while experiencing dreams. But the crux has more to do with the notion that Salvinorin A induces a dream-state in your brain than anything else. Last night's experience fomented this thought for me.

I made my own extract leaf, though I cannot ascertain its strength. I believe it to be on the order of 100x, given that the leaves are all covered with a layer of crystal. I smoked a good sized amount through a water pipe and laid down in the dark to let the experience happen. I felt the disconnect, but two minutes later, smoked an additional dose. I held my breath as I laid down, and exhaled as I felt the effects kick in very heavily. I lay with my eyes open as the world melted away, along with my body.

Salvinorin A, in high enough dose, seems to be able to cause a loss of awareness of the body. I believe this is an important aspect of dreaming. While our dreams can be influenced by our surroundings, our awareness of our body has to be diminished for dreams to be what they are. This sensation was intense during my experience. I believe that the lack of awareness of my body was so intense in those 10-15 minutes, that when I came down, my mind ached for that sensation and I became hyper-aware, and thus insomniatic. During the experience, I felt it to be so intense, that I had to do a reality check. Despite laying in my bed, I felt vertical, as if my body were through, not on top of my bed.

Again, I believe that Salvinorin A is not actually a hallucinogen. I believe it mirrors the state my brain is in while I am dreaming. I believe this has incredible potential for therapy, as well as for learning about the brain, especially during dreaming. It frightens me that such an extremely vast potential for therapy, as well as research, may well never be realized because of the prevailing attitude in America that Salvia divinorum is a harmful 'street drug' that should be kept out of the hands of the people.

This is not a toy, it is a valuable tool. I have experienced fallout from Salvinorin A that I feel can be dangerous to those who are not capable of understanding what the nature of the fallout is, and what the risks are of the drug itself. To give you an idea of how well I can handle Salvia divinorum; even when under the influence of these extremely high doses, I can still maintain a connection to reality - the result of years and years of preparation and experience, as well as the result of a mind that has both incredible capacity for understanding, as well as connection to logic. My intellectual capabilities are above those of far more than 99% of the population. And my connection to logic can be exemplified by my being an atheist based on the fact that such beliefs are based on faith, and I cannot operate in any capacity on faith - which is belief absent of fact.

Exp Year: 2008-2009	ExpID: 82367
Gender: Male
Age at time of experience: 40
Published: Aug 15, 2019	Views: 612
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Salvia divinorum (44) : Therapeutic Intent or Outcome (49), Retrospective / Summary (11), Alone (16)