Ltd Ed 'Solve et Elucido' Art Giclee
This reverberating psychedelic giclee print is a gift for a
$500 donation to Erowid. 12" x 12", stretched on canvas, the
image wraps around the sides of the 1" thick piece. Signed
by artist Vibrata, and Erowid founders Earth & Fire.
Three Stepping Stone Experiences
Salvia divinorum (5x extract)
Citation:   Cunning Stunts. "Three Stepping Stone Experiences: An Experience with Salvia divinorum (5x extract) (exp8628)". Erowid.org. May 12, 2004. erowid.org/exp/8628

 
DOSE:
1 bowl smoked Salvia divinorum (extract - 5x)
BODY WEIGHT: 153 lb
(First experience)
Extremely brief explanation of feeling: Stoned and happy.
In depth explanation of experience: Two friends of mine, along with myself of course, went to a place that we knew would be safe and private. Despite reading much, none of us really had any idea what to expect. As the purchaser and holder, we agreed that I could go first. We all sat down in this room, me sitting on a bed... Using a small water bong as the smoking device, I packed a fairly small bowl. As an extremely bad smoker, especially from devices other than standard pipes, I didn't manage to really get a single good hit from the first bowl... so after waiting a bit, and convincing myself that nothing was really going on beyond being slightly disoriented, I struggled to pack another bowl. This was when I realized that it was affecting me at least somewhat, because although usually not very coordinated, I found it almost impossible to pack the bowl.

Looking at my friends felt very strange, both of them seemed... different. I kept getting confused as to whether I was on the bed, or whether I was just on some platform separate from what everyone else was on... it seemed almost as though they were higher up than me, even though I was about two feet off of the ground. However, all of these confusing thoughts were very brief, and easily conquered. I did see some slight fractal patterns, mainly when my eyes were closed. Eventually, when I finally managed to pack it again (with help from a friend), I took a big hit... but it proved too much for my lungs to handle, and I coughed it out immediately. This got me extremely frustrated, so I just gave up, told my friends to leave the room, and laid down on the bed in hopes of something happening. My thoughts were scattered and had a barely existent string connecting them all. Suddenly I stood up, walked outside, laid down on the couch, and told my friends that they could go try it.

Earlier in the day, I had been reading up on the Church of the Subgenius, so I had the thought of their god (Bob) in my head. When I looked around, I could see a repeating pattern of his head across objects of lighter color. I went outside, and in the grass I could have sworn I saw a big letter E.

One of the friends, who said he took about 3 or 4 hits, and was already stoned when it happened... said it just disrupted his thought process a little more, and then made him feel very uneasy.

The other friend, said something about water being everywhere, and seeing trolls. He spent most of his trip just laughing, it seemed, and eventually stopped laughing to say 'that bowl was huge'.

I tried one more time... but for some reason I felt the need to tell my friend something immediately after smoking. Next thing I knew, I had stopped talking, and was staring at the ceiling. The dots on the ceiling seemed to be moving around rapidly, almost like little tiny people. In my mind, I created a little story, the dots were little soldiers or something, and they had just fought a battle and were returning home to the queen, which was represented by the wall. This lasted for probably 2 to 5 minutes, at which point I tried to sit up again and talk to my friend. Talking at this point was not extremely possible.

About an hour afterwards, we all left for the Grocery Store... I had somebody’s keys, and they needed the keys back, so I went to meet that person at a coffee shop. For the entire time that I was at the coffee shop, I seemed more social than usual. Talking constantly, but talking like a moron. The kind of talking where shortly after saying whatever you say, you think to yourself 'God, I'm an idiot, why did I say that.' But I seemed to have little control over what I was saying... no ability to stop my thoughts from entering my mouth. So I said exactly what I thought, as soon as I thought it. There seemed to be a noticable amount of mood lift, as well. Overall, for most of the time, I just felt stoned

(Second experience)
Brief explanation of feelings and whatnot: Some audio hallucinations, slight barely noticeable visuals, disrupted thought process

In depth explanation of experience: Again meeting two friends, again a bed room... different smoking device this time. This time, we used a Graffix two chamber water bong... As I only smoked pot for about a month, and in that time only used regular pipes, this seemed extremely awkward for me. More so than the first time with Salvia, with just the small water bong. Anyway, I took my first hit, but ran out of lung power when there was still a lot of smoke inside the bong. I tried to put my hand over it to hold it in so I could get the rest on my second inhalation, but I failed. I just took a second hit, set the bong down, and apparently closed my eyes.

30 seconds later I am convinced that my friend has been telling me to do something, but I can't remember what it is he told me to do. So I look at him, and say '...what...?', and he denies having ever talked. I smoke another bowl... there are two strips across my stomach where I have a distinct 'pins and needles' type feeling, it's easy to ignore. I can feel my pulse all over my entire body, I feel a drop of sweat rolling down my head... it's hot in there. Suddenly I look around me, and somehow realize that people are there, despite having been aware of it already. These people seem strange to me, I wonder what they're doing there, and why they're looking at me. I see the bong on the floor, and think 'Oh, they must want me to smoke with them...', but find myself unable to say anything about it to them.

Similar to the first time, I begin to become confused as to which direction the bed is facing, which direction I'm facing, and other general discombobulated feelings.

I look out the window, and suddenly get this strange feeling that I'm a middle-aged man, I have a wife and kids somewhere in the background... I'm looking outside the window of my suburban home, I hear a dog barking in the background... it's my dog, the kids are probably playing with it in the backyard. I remember 'reality', and cancel out all those thoughts. I lay down, and in my mind there's an image of some sort of tunnel, formed of columns... predominant colors: Gray, red, black. Somehow I get the feeling that there are people on the other end of this tunnel, trying to get me to come over to where they are. 'What about my friends? Do they have to stay here, or what?'... no response. I 'open my eyes' (not remembering having closed them in the first place), and realize my friends have left. I join them downstairs.

Not quite a breakthrough. After that, I just have the typical choppy thought process and that sort of thing for a while... feeling stoned again. This lasts only 20 minutes or so, instead of a couple hours like it did the first time.

(Third Experience)
Brief Explanation of Feelings: Some physical sensations... mainly due to actual physical stimuli, but they are made to seem different by the Salvia. Stoned again. For the first time, entered a completely imagined world.

In depth explanation: Again, two friends. This time, setting was not ideal... but was acceptable, and was the most convenient. I was in the back seat of a car, it was very dark outside, and there was no music or anything. I did not have access to keys to the car, or anything, so there was not much risk involved. This time, none of those frustrating devices such as water bongs... Just a small wooden pipe, with some tin foil with holes poked in it used as a screen. In packing the bowl, I spill a bit on my leg. Slightly angered, but not too much. Just about a dollars worth, I figure, and I brush it off my leg.

I take a hit... It burns, but doesn't make me cough, unlike pot which doesn't burn as much, but always made me cough quite a bit... hold the hit in for a little bit, realize I still have room in my lungs, take another hit without exhaling. Hold for another 10 to 20 seconds probably, then exhale. Then I take another hit, and hold it in for a while...

There is basically no transition... one minute I'm in the back seat of a car smoking from a pipe... next minute, my hands (lighter in one, pipe in the other), and the two other people in the car are just an image... in a window or on a TV-screen, I'm not sure which.

I'm in a large room, very cartoon-like, the walls are covered with a red, white, and yellow pattern. I turn around, and there is a man. Reminds me of a character off a cartoon such as Powerpuff girls... also somewhat like Clark Kent. Big chin, white teeth, and he's wearing a white jacket similar to that of a doctor. He's talking to me, but either I didn't understand any of it, or I'm not longer able to remember anything that he said. This place seems completely natural, and I'm convinced (while tripping) that it has always existed, and that I've been there many times before. There are some small kids there, again similar to characters from Powerpuff Girls...

But suddenly something demands my attention at my 'station' (the place where the image of 'consensus reality' remains), I start to return there. Then I find myself wondering whether or not the people that I'm with in 'consensus reality' are supposed to know about where I've been. I'm expecting my memory to be erased, as it seems as though it would be a requirement, because in real life I had never remembered that place, despite having somehow been there before. I see something that I would imagine a memory erasing device looking like in a cartoon float by, but it doesn't do anything, it's basically just there for display purposes. 'Am I sworn to secrecy?' I don't know, nobody tells me. When I return to my 'station', first thing I notice before going back to life, is that the red/white/yellow pattern has changed to a repeated image of an electrical outlet.

I return to life, the corner between the cushion of the seat, and the side of the door, is pressing on my bottom right side, it creates a sensation of kind of being sucked into my body as I return and become aware of that feeling. I'm wondering what I missed... While I was 'gone', I could remember managing to get myself to say 'I'm done', in reference to the process of smoking... hoping someone would take the pipe and lighter from me... but that was ineffective. When I returned, I again said 'I'm done', this time not sure what I'm referring to. It just seemed like the right thing to say. I'm still not in touch with reality. The electrical outlet pattern is maintained on different parts of the car. There was then a bit of conversation, that seemed creepily connected to the 'other world', which I was relieved to find that I still remembered.

The visionary portion of the trip in which I was not me lasted about 3 minutes, the not being connected with reality lasted an additional 2 minutes probably... Talking or explaining was impossible for a good while.

Overall, the experience was entirely pleasant. All I could think about afterwards was ordering more, because I was now out (I shared too much… pah). Overall, I found the experience to be entertaining, despite some people insisting that it is not a “fun drug”. I agree it’s not a “party drug”, and it is far from a “socialization drug”…Not sure if this is a breakthrough experience… but it seems to me like it would be considered a breakthrough. Perhaps not…

Exp Year: 2001ExpID: 8628
Gender: Male 
Age at time of experience: Not Given
Published: May 12, 2004Views: 15,376
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Salvia divinorum (44) : Entities / Beings (37), Retrospective / Summary (11), Small Group (2-9) (17)

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