Good Plant to Pray With...
I sporadically do Salvia...and have been doing so for about a year. Prior to using, I tried to read as much as I could.
I'm native american, and consider S. to be a 'sacred herb' and treat her as such. I only use in a ceremonial context...generally alone, though on occasion with others. Usually, I smoke the leaf. First, I do a prayer to the six directions and ask both for protection and instruction, while singing and playing a gourd rattle. I also use a copal or other herbal smudge while praying the four winds, and while doing the plant. I also offer tobacco to the S. leaves before smoking, and blow smoke on them. I use a candle while getting ready, but once I start to smoke, I blow the candle out...and generally I have my eyes closed while sitting on the ground or floor for the 'walk.'
While my experiences differ, there are generally some similarities. I often experience a twisting feeling, and sometimes this is accompanied by feelings of transformation into a plant, or other object. As for visuals, at the onset, I often get spirals...usually of a green variety with red highlights or interior designs. What happens next is what varies. Sometimes I see and meet different entities, and sometimes I experience myself as various things or entities. Sometimes I have full on 'journies' in which I am in various different places and settings. Sometimes I get the feeling that the universe as we generally know it is just an illusion and the end of this world is here... Maybe you could call this feeling/perception kind of apocalyptic. Sometimes I get very clear instructions about things...teachings. Often I feel like I have been destined to get to know this plant...and that circumstances have brought me to her... I not infrequently get visions of what I'd call 'other peoples lives'...
I have only walked with her at night and in the dark. I notice that afterwards, usually my vision improves and stays quite sharp for a while longer than the primary effects last. I usually smoke tobacco and pray when finished, and I find the tobacco grounds me pretty good and gives me time to think about some of the things I've seen/experienced.
