DOSE:	3 bowls	smoked	Cannabis	(plant material)
	3 bowls	smoked	Salvia divinorum	(extract)

BODY WEIGHT:

165 lb

Since the time her name first graced my auditory cortex, I felt the insatiable urge to learn more about her. The more I inquired, the more intrigued I became. Peoples' adventures with Sally seem to range from exhilarating laugh-fests to full tilt metaphysical journeys. I spent months pouring over countless trip reports trying desperately to amass any information that I may later find to be useful. Eventually, my efforts proved to not be in vain. I firmly believe that no amount of research can properly transmit the sheer magnitude of a breakthrough trip on salvia divinorum. I will stress the importance of establishing an appropriate set/ setting before embarking on any sort of quest. Placing yourself in the proper ‘open’ mindset is equally imperative to having a good experience with Sally. To prevent myself from mindlessly bantering, I will move on to the events of my first visit with the green goddess.

One most excellent day in the heat of last summer, my girlfriend, N, and I decided to go into the city in order to dissipate some boredom. We both live in small towns situated in the midst of potato fields and sod farms. Having nothing extraordinarily exciting to do that day, we figured the city might be a little more stimulating for a change. After a visit to our metallic* head shop of choice, I held in my hands a gram baggie of crushed Salvia Divinorum leaf extract, the highest potency herb they carried at the time was ’24 X’. I had mixed feelings about shelling out $30 for such a seemingly insignificant item. What a foolish thought that turned out to be.

We ended up finding our way to a friend’s party later that night. Some how the magical ‘S’ word was brought up in conversation and a few people were intrigued enough to try a bowl of it. A very smooth, minty bong hit later saw them stumbling around aimlessly laughing hysterically and mumbling incoherently. One friend, called Dubie, even complained about seeing snakes writhing around the bottom of furniture. Based on my prior findings, I abstained from indulging that first night at the very crowded and very trippy, might I add, party. The plan was to smoke it in a more environmentally controlled situation such as at home.

Soon enough, the right night came to attempt to meet with the ever so mysterious Sally D. The ideal setting, I decided, was on my apartment’s balcony very late one night, after work. My job is not very mentally tasking so my body was feeling unstressed by the time I got home and changed. I hastily and anxiously proceeded to conjure up all the items I would require for my visit. The armload of belongings I carried with me included my favourite personal beaker/flask bong, my small box of smoking utensils, and a warm blanket. Music is an integral part of any mind altering experience. The music of choice at the time was some calmingly intense Boards of Canada. In hindsight, this proved to be an excellent choice. After getting myself situated comfortably in a camping chair w/ leg rest, I smoked 3 rather nice bowls of Emjay. This, I figured, would relax my mind and body allowing Sally to really show me what she wants to. After a moment of baked contemplation, I decided upon smoking 3 bowls, all packed less than half way with Emjay, and the rest crammed full of potently blackish coloured Salvia extract.

The active compound in Salvia, Salvinorin A is at its most effective when it is vapourized at higher temperatures than a normal flame can provide. My butane torch helped me out with this slight setback. There was a glass of ice cold water at hand, which cooled my mouth and throat prior to the three colossal tokes I was about to have.

First Bowl ~ … the entire bowl catches fire easily and ferociously. I watch intently as the milky vapour vortexes toward my mouth. The smoke is incredibly easy to hold in…tastes almost cool or for some reason blue comes to mind…in a minty tasting way though…anyway, I feel an almost electric rush as soon as I exhale, nearly a minute later. The music seems louder now and I soon clue in that all my senses are heightened significantly. Then there’s that smell… that taste…. Salvia! And I suddenly realize that I intended to smoke two more bowls of this mesmerizing herb.

Bowl Two ~ … just like the first, it burns clean and wholly, allowing a nice white ash to be pulled through the stem. Packing this bowl was hard enough… and I still wanted to have one more? I start to contemplate if time has stopped while suppressing the bongload of smoke deep within my torso. After I exhale my body tingles. A rush comes over me again and my limbs feel awkward and somehow plastic? I scramble about madly to prepare the third attempt to summon Sally from her enchanted kingdom. I glance down at the Bic lighter on the table beside me to notice that it appears to be smiling at me…it clearly felt bad having not been of use to me as I returned it to its place in my smoking box.

Bowl Three ~ … while patiently brewing the hit and clearing the chamber of the bong, my mind wanders about and starts giving deep rooted meaning to each of the objects around me. The realization of the exact function each thing I saw played in my life hit me as my eyes dart around. With my senses in overdrive and my mind in an anxious/excited/amazed/shocked state, I felt as if I was being dragged along by time itself. This sensation, I can best describe now as being sprayed with a wall of water that you can’t see and doesn’t get you soaked. I waved my arms around playing childishly with this feeling. All the while it seemed as if my every move was being ‘watched’ by ‘things’ around me, they gave off the vibe of being scrutinizing yet blissful. I felt ridiculed by these things. Perhaps it was my conscience?

Staring out at the deserted main street I notice as each object in my expanded field of view separates, along its outline, only to rotate away from me as a 2-D object. Once the objects turned completely on edge to my sight, they would vanish as if looking at the side of a piece of paper. The space behind them was blacker than any tone of black could relate to. Staring into the nothingness would make me lose sense of myself, so I frantically stared at the remaining objects. Soon enough, as I had feared, my last object was turning away from me… with that gone there was no thing, there was no me to relate to any thing, there was no where, there was also no when. And why was this so, I couldn’t remember for the death of me. The concept of ‘me’ was so farfetched at this not time.

This failed attempt to recollect anything coherent made me feel bad. A voice asked “What’s the matter?” I thought, what is the matter? Nothing was the matter. This question bewildered me to the point of insanity. More nothingness for as long as anyone could remember…the matter…what’s matter? Then out of nowhere, there was light. I was amazed at the pallet of colours being revealed to me. In the background, I could hear faint voices whispering “…….because you forgot to…..” this sent me into a panicked mania in which my eyes, mind and heart raced. Feeling these sensations from inside my body were new somehow. A body seemed such an obvious form to enclose everything that was me…a realization that made me laugh…ahh humour…I was human again, and alive too!

Then piece by simplistic piece, I (the idea of which was still new) started to remember all the ‘5 W’s’, who, what, when, where, and finally why. Why is when I realized how much my life was interconnected with even the most simple of things around me. And that we all take their help for granted, because ‘things’ after all are used and just thrown away. Things, things had to have shape right? Ss soon as I thought that the colours were tamed into rigid forms that were distinguishable from one another. Shape and colour alone is not all that ‘things’ are made of, I wrestled with the idea of picturing things in my head. What do things look like? ’Things’ need to have features in order to look like something. And with that, all the coloured forms had features and details. They looked just as they did in the reality I was beginning to remember but something was awkwardly different.

I can see ‘things’ but what are those things??? I desparately thought of words for these things…that’s it! ’Things’ need ‘names’. A thing’s name implies it’s function. Purpose, function, use…all the things I saw were now ‘normal’ again, simply because it was not enough to observe things, those things had to have names, names that imply a function. All ‘things’ are ever there for is to serve us for some purpose. Kind of a strange notion to start to snap back to reality with. Everything around me had its own ‘personality’ now, if you will. Then the thought that that is what explains the things I was being watched by previously enters my skull at light speed, stopping with the force of pure energy condensing into matter. And what by the way is matter? At one point, I was told by some unknown playful voice in Sally’s land that “Matter does not matter”. This statement is so ridiculous that it makes even the voice speaking it laugh in ridicule. I know that we both know that matter is all that matters, but that’s all that we know anyway.

The comedown came gradually as the strange sensations subside over about half an hour. I try to get up and go inside which proves difficult. My body is uncoordinated with unfamiliarity of use. Soon, this too fades, and what’s left is the vivid memory of when I first met Sally, and the endless thinking of how what she showed me, fits into the big picture of life. Treat her with respect, that’s what matters…

Exp Year: 2006	ExpID: 62611
Gender: Male
Age at time of experience: Not Given
Published: Nov 3, 2007	Views: 11,448
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Salvia divinorum (44) : Music Discussion (22), Entities / Beings (37), First Times (2), Alone (16)