Salvinorin: The Psychedelic Essence of Salvia Divinorum
1996
My fifth journey, which took place five days after my first, was also the first time I combined Salvinorin with LSD. I started with 360 mcg. of quad-sep (very pure) LSD. About 4 hours later I smoked 350 mcg. of Salvinorin which was greatly potentiated. Prior to smoking the Salvinorin, I noticed that the entire LSD trip felt different than the many other trips I'd had using this same batch. It seemed that everything had a "Salvinorin edge" to it, which was probably a result of my experiments in the preceding days. I also noticed an unusually heavy adrenaline flow which increased as I was approaching the time to smoke the Salvinorin. Conversely, my mind seemed quite calm, as I looked forward to trying this combination primarily with curiosity, secondly with enthusiasm, and felt only a slight amount of apprehension. I took a shower and meditated for a while to calm down prior to smoking the Salvinorin.
The initial effects felt similar to my other Salvinorin experiments in that I found myself relaxing in a state of immensely expanded awareness. On this occasion, however, my awareness was filled with millions of universes, bordering on the brink of infinity as I frequently experience with Ketamine. While enjoying this immersion in consciousness, I realized I was not existing in the time-bound physical universe which I normally call reality. My "Being" was separating from physical space-time, as though they were two separate wheels rotating in opposite directions. It was as though I'd died and become disembodied consciousness, and was no longer subject to the gravitational laws of the earth spinning about its axis, and revolving around the sun, etc I also was no longer anchored to the gravity of the ego, and there was nothing to prevent my drifting off in whatever directions the cosmic forces propelled me. A minute later I became aware of sensations in my body, and felt myself being pulled out of this expanded universe into my previous existence. The sensation felt as though I had stepped outside of time for just a second, was enjoying a tranquil moment of eternity, and then felt myself being yanked back by a strange force that prevents things from moving between multiple universes. I had the thought that what I'd experienced was similar to someone who'd had a near-death experience. It seemed that I had died for a short period; that consciousness or identity began to "disperse," and then I was suddenly yanked back from the "gates of heaven" by some attachment to my body. Is Salvinorin related to a substance produced in the brain of people who undergo near-death experiences?
It felt that when I smoked the Salvinorin I had remembered who I was. I remembered I was consciousness not a body, and as consciousness I had access to unlimited realms. Another perception of what took place is that the "I" that smoked the Salvinorin dissolved into infinity, and a different but similar entity jumped out of infinity into the body that was lying on the bed. This seemed to be an explanation for my body's fear. My body new it was going to be losing the "spirit" which had been inhabiting it, and was going to have a new spirit come inside.
After returning to bodily awareness, I jotted down some notes and lay back to enjoy the remainder of the Salvinorin journey. Soon I saw a rounded, wave-like shape moving in front of me, located horizontally across the room. It was very soft in contrast to the rest of the environment. It was clear and appeared to be made only of air, hut had a blurring, refocusing, lens-like effect on whatever was seen through it. I closed my eyes and began to see the bright white light which often accompanies a near death experience during psychedelic journeys. This light never reached the intensity of which I know it is capable, and remained shrouded in a veil of softly glowing green light. Soon this manifested into a beautiful, sensuous, flowing image. It appeared to be a luxuriant green vine, serpent, plant, Goddess, incorporating all of these forms into a whole that was alive and constantly moving. I distinctly recall seeing long. grouped, twisting vines. a moderate amount of leaves that! resembled maple leaves in shape, the twisting body of a serpent, and the face and top half of a female body. All of these images appeared several times in different branches of this "entity," and were intricately interwoven and flowing in and out of each other. All the images were green in color with the exception of the female bodies, which were a lighter. green-tinted white. I felt this entity to be the spirit of the Salvia divinorum plant who was inviting me into her world. I also had the impression that I could best communicate with her by ingesting her leaves, rather than using the ultra-potent extracted active principal, and if I were to seek her in a natural plant-filled environment.
This was my first encounter with what I'll call the "Salvia entity." I have now encountered this entity on about twenty occasions, several of them occurring when I had not consumed any form of Salvia divinorum; Certain visions and feelings have been common in these encounters. The Salvia entity is almost always accompanied by a luxuriant green radiance, frequently seen as a large twisting matrix of fleshy green vines, which on occasion appear to spread throughout the entire universe. The feeling and energy that accompanies this entity is loving, benevolent, healing, and comforting comforting. One person described it as "being rocked in the arms of Mother Nature." Salvia divinorum has the most distinctly feminine energy of any Entheogen I have used. It also has a quality of pristine clarity and pureness, which may have something to do with the Mazatecs associating it with the Virgin. Experiences of this nature have been reported by several users of Salvia divinorum.
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