These are
my recommendations and suggestions for obtaining a rewarding Salvia divinorum
breakthrough experience, and are offered as such (just MY recommendations and suggestions
- use at your own risk). While others may disagree with some of these
recommendations and suggestions, I can say these tips have been tried and tested with more
than a few people I personally know, who had thought they were simply salvia hardheads and
had previously given up on Salvia divinorum.
Educate
Yourself
To begin your introduction to the wonders of Salvia divinorum,
read as much as you possibly can about it first, before you even think about trying
it. Below are just a few links to help get you started:
The
Salvia Divinorum Research and Information Center
The Salvia Divinorum Vault, on The Vaults of Erowid
Salvia Divinorum - Diviner's Sage, on the Lycaeum
Also, make sure that you
read The Salvia Divinorum User's Guide
in it's entirety (PDF copy suitable for printing can be found HERE).
Although nothing in
print can come very close to preparing you for your first salvia breakthrough experience,
an informed and educated salvia explorer will be (slightly?) better prepared to handle the
unexpected - and trust me, your first time salvia breakthrough will be unlike anything
else you may have previously experienced or had expected. Also have your sitter read
the same materials.
Start
with the Best
At least for your first experience and breakthrough attempt with Salvia divinorum,
order only the best. You do not want to take a chance being disappointed by using a
weak, deficient, or inferior product on your first attempt. Start with a good, high
quality, high potency, reliable supplier. While there are many suppliers out there
that offer a good high quality product, I will only list my favorite supplier here, who
does sell the best quality salvia that I have ever experienced to date:
The Sage Wisdom Salvia Shop
While this supplier may have slightly
higher prices than most other suppliers, the quality of Daniel's products is the best I
know of and have personally tested. I can personally recommend his Regular-Strength Standardized Salvinorin A
Enhanced Leaf product. I prefer it for this reason: it is prepared using an
exact measured amount of PURE salvinorin A (as opposed to using a CRUDE dirty extract of
unknown potency, which will also contain fortified tars and resins, which is more harsh to
smoke and worse on your lungs).
Some salvia explorers will recommend
first time users start with regular non-fortified leaves, and others will recommend
starting with an extract fortified product. I myself recommend starting with an
extract fortified product, such as the one mentioned above. When you start with a
more potent product, you reduce the chances of being disappointed with a product that may
be too weak in strength if you are a salvia hardhead, you can take a smaller dose if you
are highly sensitive to salvia, you minimize the amount of product to smoke and thus the
amount of smoke inhaled, and often - at least for your first attempt - you may need a
higher potent dose in order to have your first salvia breakthrough experience (as is often
the case).
Alternately, some people will also
recommend growing your own salvia plant first, and waiting until your own plant has
contributed enough leaves for you to try it for the first time. While this sounds
like a very good suggestion, this does require a lot of initial effort and dedication, and
it can be very disappointing and a wasted effort, if in the end, you are found to either
be a salvia hardhead, or find that you do not like the salvia experience what-so-ever.
I would recommend waiting until after you have been introduced to salvia space
before spending the time, money, and effort, that is required to growing your own.
The key here is to NOT set yourself up
for failure and disappointment by using a cheap, weak, or inferior product.
The
Right Time
When your salvia order arrives in the mail, do not rush into the
house, ripping open the package, eager to try it right then and there. Salvia
divinorum is not a cheap (err.. expensive) buzz or high, or an experience that can be
easily appreciated at any time, in any place, on demand. Salvia is an aid for inner
exploration and meditation. It is not a "party time, let's get high"
substance. If you approach it as such, it may just kick you in the butt and slap you
senseless for such disrespect.
For a rewarding salvia experience, you
must be "in the mood" for such an experience. Wait a few days, until you
"feel" that the time and place are just right, and you are in the mood and
receptive to such an experience. I personally find late weekend nights, right before
bed, to be the perfect time. Spend time preparing for the experience.
What to
Expect
For those who haven't experienced salvia yet, it's very difficult to
describe the experience. It's unlike anything else I've tried. If I had to
make a comparison, I would say that, for me, salvia is very much like a lucid dream-like
state. It's like being awake, lucid, and cognitive "within" a dream.
The experience can be either a totally psychedelic like experience, of forms, patterns,
and colors, or it can be a journey back in time, or to other worlds. While the
intensity of the experience can be quite overwhelming and shocking for some, it is best
experienced with "no resistance." In other words, be prepared to give
yourself over to the experience TOTALLY. Any attempt to resist or escape will
totally ruin the experience, and likely scare you half to death. Make no mistake, a
deep full level 5 salvia experience can be quite intense, but at the same time it can be
VERY pleasurable and rewarding. But the key is to remain calm and receptive to the
experience, and while the effects are coming on, remind yourself that all will be
okay. If you approach the salvia experience with reservations and apprehension, you
will very likely find it confusing, unrewarding, and possibly terrifying.
Salvia
Friendly Music
While I personally find salvia is best experienced in total darkness
and silence, it is also very pleasurable while listening to various forms of music.
The best words that I've found that describes salvia friendly music is meditative,
relaxing, spacey, mystical, colorful, bright, expanding, soundscapes.
The music I prefer must not become the
experience, overwhelming and dominating it. It must not be too intrusive or invasive
(i.e. no fast thumping and throbbing bass and drums). It must not distract from the
experience (no intelligible human voices). And it certainly must not contain any
unexpected startling surprises that send me leaping 6 feet into the air. It should
have a smooth flowing mystical background composition that carries and sustains the
experience through the entire selection, like the flowing water within a river. And
it should have a unique special characteristic to it that enriches the experience, adding
color and texture, like the occasional fish that leaps from the river from time to time,
or the loon on the lake that speaks when it has something to say.
The
Right Dosage
There is no definitive answer to this question. Mileage will
vary for everyone. And the level of experience desired will also dictate the actual
dosage too. Now, while most salvia users will recommend approaching a salvia
breakthrough slowly, approaching each level one at a time, I will have to state that I
disagree with this approach, for a couple of reasons. I will state that I personally
believe the best approach for a first time salvia breakthrough is to go for a level 4
experience on your first attempted use of salvia. Why? Well, no matter how
much you may THINK you are prepared for a salvia experience, you will likely be shocked
and amazed when you actually discover what a salvia trip really is like. And thus,
approaching it slowly, one level at a time, can create hesitation, apprehension, and a
certain level of fright with each subsequent dosage increment. Therefore, I find it
best to just jump right into a level 4 experience, right from the start. With such
an initially higher dose of salvia, it will be harder to escape from it, and you won't be
going into it with 3 previous level attempts of apprehension.
As an analogy, think of this like
learning how to swim. How many people haven't learned how to swim, simply because
they approached it in one foot depth increments at a time? Dump them into the middle
of the 12 foot deep section of a pool and you'll be amazed how quickly most people
immediately learn how to swim. Fortunately, with salvia, there is no chance of a few
people drowning. So in other words, just "go for it."
Now, for some initial guidance on
dosage, all I can say is that I myself, and most others I know (8 out of 10 it seems),
find that 1/6th to 1/5th of Daniel's Regular-Strength Standardized Salvinorin A Enhanced
Leaf is more than sufficient for a nice level 4 or 5 experience. Thus, I would
suggest starting with 1/8th to 1/6th a gram of the same for your first exposure to
salvia. If you have some reservations about that amount, try 1/10th of a gram first,
for a milder introductory effect. But again, mileage will very. After your
first breakthrough, you may likely find that smaller dosages will allow you to find your
way into salvia space.
Also, if you do not have an accurate
method to measure your dosage (measure out a gram and cut it into 8 parts if you have an
accurate scale, for a 1/8th of a gram dose), try taking a cooking measuring spoon of 1/4th
teaspoon size, and take a slightly heaping 1/4th teaspoon amount of salvia (that should
give you about 500 mg), and cut that amount into 4 equal parts (which will equal about
1/8th of a gram each). Use one of these 4 parts for your first dosage amount (1/8th
of a gram will typically be a safe dosage amount for most everyone to use as a frame of
reference, on par with most likely a level 4 experience - but again, mileage will
vary). If your salvia product is a crude extract dark/black powdered substance, you
may need slightly less because the powder fills less volume space when measured that way.
 |
 |
 |
| Slightly heaping 1/4 teaspoon, |
should equal around 1/2 gram, |
cut into 4 parts for around 1/8th gram. |
Step by Step
If you are having trouble obtaining a breakthrough experience with
salvia, I will make my recommendation of something to try. Make a ritual of the time
spent getting ready for the experience.
A
sitter is highly recommended! Please, use Salvia divinorum safely!
Wait until the time is right.
Late night Friday night, when you don't have to get up for work the next day. Wait
until all is quiet and everyone else is asleep. Right before bed is a perfect time,
which helps to eliminate that feeling of "I don't have time to do this right now - I
can't leave planet earth right now", which salvia can sometime create (as a result of
it's ability to take you away from where you are, to a different place or time).
Prepare your salvia doses in advance.
If smoking, I highly recommend using a water pipe, and a butane torch lighter (like
those sold in tobacco stores). Prepare multiple doses, in case you want to have a
second or third salvia journey right after the first. I usually prepare two
pre-loaded salvia doses, in two separate water pipes.
Prepare your environment. Use
some dimly lit ambient lighting. Light a few candles, or burn some incense (but only
if you are using a sitter). Make your bed comfortable. Wear comfortable loose
clothing (shorts and a T-shirt). Drink a small little glass of wine, or something
else refreshing (for some reason, I like a bottle of Green Apple Soda before a salvia
journey - don't ask me why). Also, urinate before doing salvia. For many,
salvia seems to cause a lot of fluids to pass through the body quickly, and many report
having to take a piss shortly after the experience. It's annoying to finding
yourself grounded before the experience is over, realizing you need to go take a piss
really bad.
Spend some time in meditation (not 5
minutes - but more like 30 minutes at minimum, an hour is even better). Play some
meditative music (stuff you wouldn't otherwise listen too - NO rock, metal, rap, techno,
etc.). One really good recommendation I can make is a CD entitled Tranquility:
Silence Follows Rain (sorry, but I haven't found any locations for free downloading of
this one - but it's popular and sold at many department and music stores). Other
suggestions are listed on my Salvia Music
page too (most of which is freely downloadable - but support these creative artists by
buying the CDs too). If you are all keyed up and tense, or your brain is overly
active, try something like Journey
To Samadhi with headphones on. Lay back on your bed and relax. Also,
I would like to recommend doing your first salvia breakthrough on music, using something
soothing and relaxing (such as those listed HERE). Queue up enough selections
to be played, so the music won't stop in the middle of your experience/trip.
Now, dim all unnecessary lights (a
lamp besides your bed is handy, and conveniently allows you to turn off the light right
after smoking your dose of salvia). Say a short brief little prayer before smoking
your dose of salvia, something to the effect that God and/or the spirits protect and watch
over you during your journey. If using music, start it now, put on your headphones
if using them. Smoke your dose of salvia, put the pipe and lighter safely aside,
turn off the lamp, and lay back on your bed (flat on your back, head on a pillow,
arms/hands in whatever position is comfortable), and close your eyes. Relax.
Listen to the music. Do what you would normally do to relax, as if you are trying to
drift off into dreamland and fall asleep. Listen to the fluid flowing music,
allowing it to float you away into space, but a different space - one of unidentifiable
forms, patterns, textures, and colors. Relish in the wonderful experience you are
about to have. Give yourself entirely over to the experience. Do not
resist. Do not fear (there is nothing to fear anyhow). If you approach the
salvia experience with respect and a willingness to give yourself over to it totally, and
show your eagerness to see and learn, you will be welcomed and amazed. Go with the
experience, regardless of where it will take you. Above all, it will help to think
of the salvia experience as a wonderful lucid dreamland that you are about to journey to.
If after trying the above, and nothing
much was experienced, do not become discouraged. Most often (assuming you are using
a good quality high potentcy salvia product), all you may need to do is to increase your
dosage. Just increase your dosage slightly and try again (however, I found it to be
very rare that anyone would require more than 1/5th a gram of a good high quality extract
fortified salvia product to obtain at least level 4).
When time permits, I'll mention a couple
more ways for a salvia hardhead to potentially have a breakthrough experience, such as
using a salvia tincture and boosting with enhanced leaves (a sitter is an essential
necessity). |