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The Ship and the Hallway
Salvia divinorum & 5-HTP
Citation:   Seraphox. "The Ship and the Hallway: An Experience with Salvia divinorum & 5-HTP (exp89364)". Erowid.org. Jan 23, 2014. erowid.org/exp/89364

 
DOSE:
T+ 0:00
100 mg oral Tryptophan - 5-HTP (capsule)
  T+ 1:30 100 mg oral Tryptophan - 5-HTP (capsule)
  T+ 3:00 100 mg oral Tryptophan - 5-HTP (capsule)
  T+ 3:30 100 mg oral Tryptophan - 5-HTP (capsule)
  T+ 4:00 100 mg oral Tryptophan - 5-HTP (capsule)
  T+ 4:30 1 hit smoked Salvia divinorum (extract - 10x)
BODY WEIGHT: 290 lb
THE INTRO

The experience began actually a week before I had ventured into the world of Salvia for the first time. I had remembered reading about this potent Mazatec herb that induced profound hallucinations that were typically terrifying but also enlightening. So, several months after first hearing about this herb, I finally decided to order some from an ethnobotanical website. I ordered 2 grams of 10X extract and in 2 days it arrived on my doorstep.

I was a little nervous the entire day about what would happen, all I had read about was these people having profound visions that most of the time terrified them. But I attributed it to inadequate preparation being the semi-experienced drug use that I am, and also an aspiring pharmacologist, I had read all I had to know on this herb prior to the experience, to get the most research possible.

After work I went to the store and purchased a bottle of 5-HTP, an amino acid that converts into serotonin, one of the 'feel good' chemicals in the brain. Originally, I hadn't intended on using 5-HTP, but my friend and I (who is arguably my 'drug colleague') came up with the theory that people are terrified by Salvia because Salvia doesn't release any feel-good chemicals like other psychoactives - it just thrusts you into an unknown world very quickly.

With this in mind, I got home and opened the 5-HTP, and this is arguably where the trip starts.

THE TRIP

6:30 PM - I take my first 100mg 5-HTP capsule with a full glass of water and sit around for a while browsing the web. Trying to relax and psych myself up for the inevitable adventure.

8:00 PM - I take my second 100mg 5-HTP capsule with a full glass of water, a friend of mine comes over to visit. We hang out for a while and talk about her Salvia experience that she had 2 years ago (a not so good one). Nevertheless, I was still excited.

9:30 PM - I take my third 100mg 5-HTP capsule with a full glass of water. My roommate, who also is doing Salvia, hangs out with me and we talk for a bit about what we want to experience and what we want to come out of it. I then proceed to take a warm, relaxing shower to clear my mind.

10:00 PM - I take my fourth 100mg 5-HTP capsule with a full glass of water. At this time, I go into my room and sit on the floor listening to calming music. I meditated for about a half hour totally clearing my mind.

10:30 PM - I take my fifth and final 100mg 5-HTP capsule with a full glass of water. My friend, who is my trip sitter, arrives. I give her a notebook to record everything that happens to me in the 'real world' while I venture into Salvia. We make all the preparations, I turn off my lights and turn on my blacklight, I sit for a bit and relax with an already loaded bong in my hand.

11:00 PM - The moment has arrived. I sit on the edge of my bed and take my first huge bong rip, the smoke tastes really good - almost earthy and slightly minty, I torch the bowl till it's pure white and breathe it all in till I can't take anymore. I then set the bong down and hold it...here we go!

(NOTE: Some of these times are estimated.)

11:00:10 PM - When I first started taking the bong rip, my heart was beating fast in anticipation and nervousness. But about 5 seconds after I had taken all the smoke into my lungs, I could hear my heart slow down, like time was literally slowing down. Everything seemed to get quieter.

11:00:30 PM - 20 seconds after my heart slowed down, I began to feel tingly and my body felt heavy. I tried to hold the smoke in longer, but I couldn't. So I let it out. I didn't even feel any smoke leave my lungs.

11:01 PM - The tingles became more intense, as I sat on the edge of my bed, the tingles left my body and created this vibrating chain which I could see out of the corner of my right eye. The chain hooked onto both my arms, I laid back on the bed and looked up at the ceiling, the chains were pulling my arms up to the sky. My ceiling had completely disappeared and instead I saw space and a distant planet. I could not necessarily see the chains, but I felt them, and they manifested in my mind's eye.

11:04 PM - There was this ship hovering in the space that used to be the ceiling above my bedroom. On this ship, there were several entities who were using the chains to try to pull me towards them. I outstretched my arms to try to reach the ship, and they called out to me to join them. I sat up in an attempt to reach them, but I couldn't, so I thought in my head that it wasn't time for me to go with them. Suddenly, the chains broke and the ceiling returned, but I could still feel the presence of the ship.

11:06 PM - My circular black light poster on the wall became a colorful hallway that went very deep into the wall. I stood up and walked towards the poster. Down the colorful hallway, I saw many doors and there were entities walking in and out of these doors. Many of them reached out to me and told me to come join them in the hallway, walking through the doors of my mind, but I told them that I wasn't ready yet. They continued to beckon to me, but I just wasn't ready to go with them, so I sat back down on my bed and just watched the hallway.

11:09 PM - My bed felt like a cloud. Most of the visuals at this point had subsided. My 'It's 4:20 Somewhere' blacklight poster still looked strange, as the weed leaf appeared to breathe and sway in this nonexistant wind. Now that the visuals had subsided, the strange thoughts started. I remember thinking non-stop about circus people dancing around on a carousel. I remember not being able to stop thinking about it, it was very weird and slightly disturbing. Many weird thoughts crossed through my mind for the next several minutes.

11:13 PM - The visuals had completely subsided, everything was back to normal. Things were still loud to me though, my room felt like a gymnasium and all the sounds were bouncing off the walls in echo. This lasted for the next couple of minutes, and then, the sounds returned to normal.

11:16 PM - As recorded by my trip sitter, this is when I appeared to be acting completely normal again. The trip was officially over.

THE CONCLUSION

In conclusion, I must say that I am convinced that Salvia is a plant of the Gods. My first experience was anything but terrifying, and after the trip I felt extremely relaxed and happy about life. I have decided that I would definitely do it again, maybe a couple times per month. Salvia is definitely not an herb to be trifled with, I remember telling my friend that I could see where the trip could go bad very fast - as it hits you very fast and very hard.

Regardless, I am convinced that Salvia has more to teach me, and in time I will let her show me all the doors to the world around me and into my own mind. Her and I will have a long relationship as long as I can help it.

Exp Year: 2011ExpID: 89364
Gender: Male 
Age at time of experience: 19
Published: Jan 23, 2014Views: 5,831
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Tryptophan - 5-HTP (196), Salvia divinorum (44) : First Times (2), Combinations (3), Entities / Beings (37), Small Group (2-9) (17)

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