If all environmental dangers are taken care of, other factors of safety then come into play. Don’t use physical force to move the person or make them do something, and only guide them if they begin to move about, without forcing them with any sudden or hard movements. Salvia is a an amazingly powerful psychedelic, and although its trips are short, they can be quite intense. Some psychonauts will even go as far as to say that Salvia divinorum is the trippiest of all.

SIDE EFFECTS OF SALVIA

I could feel my vision being pulled towards my window, as if I was being pulled in that direction. The only source of light in my room was from the window (the French doors), which is where I feel this power was coming from. Anything that happened was at the mercy of the light coming through the window. When I felt like I was being pulled, I was being pulled towards this window. As soon as I felt the effects, and could register them in my brain, I almost instantaneously forgot that I was under the influence, and I panicked.

Effects

1. The trip is short, but potent… with out-of-body sensations, hallucinations, and a detachment from reality.
2. But when large doses or strong extracts become involved, the trip reaches a new level, and even the heaviest of Salvia users will still come to a time when they’re glad they had their sitter around (or furious they didn’t).
3. DMT often creates visuals described as geometric or fractal, while salvia constructs more of a cartoon visual sensation.
4. Using salvia this way involves taking a deep inhalation and holding the smoke in the lungs for as long as possible.
5. I looked around while I still had this perception of my body being a tool that I was using, and I saw how things are just so empty, so impermanent, so fleeting and passing.
6. It seems as though the shift in focus around salvia is leaning more towards the side of unfavorable regulation than not.

In minutes, the person should be approaching baseline again (knowing this can keep you calm and somewhat relieved during intense trips; remember it!). I would 100% not recommend salvia for anyone not seeking an entheogenic experience. I would not recommend it unless you can handle your psychedelics. I would not recommend it if you’re scared of having your worldview radically changed. However, because I took it in the form of an extract enhanced smoking herb, it had to teach me the lesson in a hurry and had to yell it. I can see how someone who has the wrong dosage, mindset, and setting would trigger their fight or flight line the videos you see on YouTube.

Spend at least 2 hours researching Salvia and Salvia safe use before using it.

It seems as though the shift in focus around salvia is leaning more towards the side of unfavorable regulation than not. However, this is countered by other changes to decriminalize or even legalize the use of non-addictive, non-toxic psychedelics. This herb is unique in the plant kingdom, both in its chemistry and mechanism of action. It makes you feel light and euphoric, but you remain in the “real world”. However, the hallucinations you experience are based on the real world. It doesn’t cause you to see objects that aren’t truly there — it merely changes the way you perceive existing objects.

One of the things I felt while tripping on Salvia was that it was inevitable that I would trip on Salvia. It felt like my whole life was leading up to the moment I placed by lips to a bong and sucked in the bitter smoke, revealing that my entire life was a lie, and that nothing was like I thought it was. I’ve seen numerous trip reports where people describe this same sense of inevitability, that no matter what they did, they were destined to smoke Salvia and change their lives forever. Many people report having intense, frightening experiences on Salvia. The level of intensity can vary depending on the exact form of the Salvia — such as dried leaves, extract or tincture — and the exact experiences vary according to each individual person. During my trip I had the distinct feeling like my hands were tools that were no different from the pipe I was holding.

While salvinorin A—the psychotropic molecule in Salvia divinorum—binds only to the dopamine-reducing kappa-opioid receptor, most psychedelics increase serotonin by binding to the serotonin 5-HT2A receptor, among others. I would absolutely categorize the trip as a near-death experience, but not in the sense that you see the light and go towards it. It felt like what would happen if you died and your life flashed before your eyes but all you knew in life was fear and loathing. Animal studies injecting rats with salvinorin A at doses several hundred times the normal dose didn’t produce any physical harm. When you take a high dose of ketamine, it induces a dissociative state referred to as a “K-hole”.

After a few weeks of reflection on the experience, it’s made me realize the importance of considering the context when discussing the regulation and use of psychedelic substances. At a certain point, the diamonds in the harlequin pattern began to stretch larger and larger until the entire world was brown, which eventually faded to black. At the same time I began to be aware of my body again and could feel Clifton’s hand resting on my leg. I didn’t feel any sort of panic or unease, but I found myself taking long, deep breaths as I came down. Starting in the late 90s, concentrated extracts of the salvia divinorum plant started cropping up in smoke shops throughout the United States.

I’ve had out of body experiences before, and in that, I was still aware of the presence of a body. In this trip, I would consider it more akin to an out of existence experience. Unlike magic mushrooms, acid and other psychedelics, salvia may not as commonly produce a sense of euphoria, so consumers hoping for a fun and uplifting experience might feel disappointed. Using small amounts of salvia leaves brings on a calm, glowing, slightly psychedelic experience, akin to marijuana.

Onset starts 10 to 15 minutes after ingestion and peak 20 to 30 mines in, lasting half an hour to an hour, and taking the same time to descend. When the Mazatec method was first used, it was carried out as a spiritual ceremony inside a dimly lit room, with a tripsitter watching over the ones who were about to trip and expand their minds. The Mazatec method of taking Salvia is a traditional method with historical roots. It’s safe and reliable, but takes up more leaves and raw Salvia plant than other methods. When a Salvia user is in a relaxed and calm environment with few distractions, he/she can reach a state of near “ego salvia trip explained loss,” or a so-called divine state of selflessness. The plant’s use by humans has been documented for hundreds of years, and our history with it probably dates back even further.