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Since my brief (and I mean brief) exposure to salvia's effects, I've done a lot more research into it, and I am slowly but surely becoming convinced that this plant is innately a shamanic tool.
Not that I am an accomplished psychonaut; my opinion may account for squat.
Scary, but amazing. Those are the best three words I can use to describe my short experience. Completely different than LSD. Acid takes at least an hour to become active; salvia took about 15 seconds. It was like a rocket launch--and during one's first trip, one may not be adequately prepared to brace for the Gs.
It was the tail end of a DXM trip (which was fairly light--475 mgs, of which only 120 mgs came from C+C+Cs). I'd had reasonable success with inner journeys during the trip, and I thought I might be able to repotentiate it with salvia, as F and I were temporarily out of marijuana. Yes, salvia seemed like the best idea at the time. It was T+6:00 since I initially dosed the DXM, and its effects were nearly completely gone. And I wasn't quite ready to be done quite yet.
The salvia was concentrated, ten times the normal potency of dried leaves. (F and I had tried regular salvia several times, with absolutely no success. However, I attribute some of this lack of success due to bad setting. I remember one time trying it at B's house, with music in the background as well as people talking, and lights. It was not a good setting at all.) Here is where I admit to doing something foolish: I packed the bowl in complete darkness (as my eyes were extremely photosensitive by this point; also, I didn't want any burning candles around if and when I 'went under', so to speak). I really have no idea how much I might have smoked. All I know is that I had two hits: one very small--I barely got the lighter going before it flickered out--and one medium-sized hit, which I managed to hold for the recommended amount of time (15-25 seconds).
I'd set down the waterpipe and lighter, and was patiently holding my breath. About halfway into counting I realized that I was counting much too slowly, but I didn't change my rate. I got to my idea of 15 seconds before I realized that while I probably couldn't manage to get to 20, it didn't matter anyway. I felt a bodily change. All of my body felt consumed by an extremely fine vibration, and my brain felt incensed. All of this occurred before I even exhaled.
I had one major hallucination, which persisted despite calling in my trip partner, having him turn on the lights, and even holding a conversation. DXM hallucinations can be dispelled by opening one's eyes; LSD hallucinations often can be mentally wished away. But I had the definite feeling that no matter what I wanted or did, that hallucination was going to do what it was going to do, and there was nothing I could do to stop it. It took 10 full seconds of full light and dialogue for the vision to subside.
The persistence of the hallucination, along with the imagery involved (a laser beam of miniature orange skulls) scared me, disturbed me, yes... but also completely amazed me and took my breath away. This was powerful stuff, and just because it looks like marijuana doesn't mean it acts like it! My respect for salvia grew 100-fold in the span of 15 minutes.
F said that I may have had such an alarming experience because I took it on the spur of the moment. Many trip reports at erowid suggest preparation and mediation before entering into "salvia space". I will take their advice the next time. My biggest lesson from the experience is not to take this substance lightly, and to approach it humbly and reverently.
But I'd be lying if I said I wasn't looking forward to the next time. I am, quite anxiously.
Not that I am an accomplished psychonaut; my opinion may account for squat.
Scary, but amazing. Those are the best three words I can use to describe my short experience. Completely different than LSD. Acid takes at least an hour to become active; salvia took about 15 seconds. It was like a rocket launch--and during one's first trip, one may not be adequately prepared to brace for the Gs.
It was the tail end of a DXM trip (which was fairly light--475 mgs, of which only 120 mgs came from C+C+Cs). I'd had reasonable success with inner journeys during the trip, and I thought I might be able to repotentiate it with salvia, as F and I were temporarily out of marijuana. Yes, salvia seemed like the best idea at the time. It was T+6:00 since I initially dosed the DXM, and its effects were nearly completely gone. And I wasn't quite ready to be done quite yet.
The salvia was concentrated, ten times the normal potency of dried leaves. (F and I had tried regular salvia several times, with absolutely no success. However, I attribute some of this lack of success due to bad setting. I remember one time trying it at B's house, with music in the background as well as people talking, and lights. It was not a good setting at all.) Here is where I admit to doing something foolish: I packed the bowl in complete darkness (as my eyes were extremely photosensitive by this point; also, I didn't want any burning candles around if and when I 'went under', so to speak). I really have no idea how much I might have smoked. All I know is that I had two hits: one very small--I barely got the lighter going before it flickered out--and one medium-sized hit, which I managed to hold for the recommended amount of time (15-25 seconds).
I'd set down the waterpipe and lighter, and was patiently holding my breath. About halfway into counting I realized that I was counting much too slowly, but I didn't change my rate. I got to my idea of 15 seconds before I realized that while I probably couldn't manage to get to 20, it didn't matter anyway. I felt a bodily change. All of my body felt consumed by an extremely fine vibration, and my brain felt incensed. All of this occurred before I even exhaled.
I had one major hallucination, which persisted despite calling in my trip partner, having him turn on the lights, and even holding a conversation. DXM hallucinations can be dispelled by opening one's eyes; LSD hallucinations often can be mentally wished away. But I had the definite feeling that no matter what I wanted or did, that hallucination was going to do what it was going to do, and there was nothing I could do to stop it. It took 10 full seconds of full light and dialogue for the vision to subside.
The persistence of the hallucination, along with the imagery involved (a laser beam of miniature orange skulls) scared me, disturbed me, yes... but also completely amazed me and took my breath away. This was powerful stuff, and just because it looks like marijuana doesn't mean it acts like it! My respect for salvia grew 100-fold in the span of 15 minutes.
F said that I may have had such an alarming experience because I took it on the spur of the moment. Many trip reports at erowid suggest preparation and mediation before entering into "salvia space". I will take their advice the next time. My biggest lesson from the experience is not to take this substance lightly, and to approach it humbly and reverently.
But I'd be lying if I said I wasn't looking forward to the next time. I am, quite anxiously.