Salvinorin A Journeys
My own experiments with salvinorin A began in December 1994, following
a
highly coincidental meeting with Daniel Siebert. I first learned of
salvinorin A when a copy of The Entheogen Review arrived
in the mail
containing Siebert's article. The following day I went to Los Angeles
on
business matters and to visit friends, and quite out of the blue was
introduced to Siebert by someone I'd just met that day. The occasion
of
this unlikely meeting gave me assurance that I was meant to work with
this
powerful entheogen, despite Siebert's numerous reports of those who
found
the journey harrowingly unpleasant.
My journeys with salvinorin A (hereafter called salvinorin) are more
varied
than those of any other psychedelic I've used, and include both my
best and
worst psychedelic journeys. My understanding and the content of these
journeys has evolved with repeated use. Certain ideas and perceptions
have
become clearer as I've become familiar with the territory, although
the
entire experience still remains largely incomprehensible, and there
exists
a feeling of having just stepped over the threshold into an immensely
vast
dimension. A description of the general framework of most of my salvinorin
journeys is given below. followed by excerpts of notes from my journeys.
Also presented are reports from other experimenter's journeys, which
will
assist in offering a more comprehensive view of the realms available
through Salvia divinorum.
My experiences with salvinorin can be divided into three phases or periods,
the onset, trance, and return. These periods closely match the unfolding
of
a smoked DMT experience. Initial effects are felt within 10-20 seconds,
with the peak being reached in another 30 seconds or so. I usually
stay at
this peak, in trance, for 3 to 10 minutes, after which there is a 10
to 20
minute decline to baseline. When used with another psychedelic the
duration
of a salvinorin experience can be increased several fold.
Salvinorin comes on with an irresistibly powerful, spiraling force
which is
much stronger than that felt on any other psychedelic. During the onset
I
quickly fall into a trance, while my body feels permeated by "needle-like"
anesthetic sensations. Both of these sensations are quite similar to
what I
feel during the onset of smoked N.N. DMT. Within seconds of this first
phase, the salvinorin separates my awareness from my body, similarly
to
what occurs with 5-MeO- DMT or Ketamine. Salvinorin is quite distinct
from
Ketamine. however, in that like DMT, salvinorin exudes a strongly
life-positive energy, where Ketamine does not necessarily have this
predilection.
Following this, I go on an internal journey while my body is lying down
in
trance. My experience. or recollection, of this second phase varies
greatly. Sometimes I perceive the most cosmic, wondrous, and detailed
of
universes. while at other times I recallabsolutely nothing- In these
moments of recalling nothing, I've often felt as though I only smoked the
salvinorin a few moments ago and have retained consciousness the entire
time. I then look at a clock and realize five or ten minutes have passed
that I can not account for. I've developed a theory for this vast difference
in the experiences which I'll discuss later.
The amount of time I spend in the trance, and how high I am upon returning
to bodily awareness, varies with each journey. It seems that I am normally
pulled out of the trance by some type of sound. At home this may be
a car
passing by, while out in nature it seems that a bird will chirp or
a bug
will fly around my head. In most instances, the sound which pulls me
out of
the trance seems like a distraction which is interfering with the
experience. It is not surprising that the Mazatecs recommend that it
be
done in quiet. There is a tendency for awareness to lock onto individual
perceptions during the return phase, and for these perceptions to appear
to
fill the entire universe. This has been particularly noted by Siebert
and
myself when music was being played during the trip. The portion of
the
journey immediately following the trance is often the most intense
and
leaves the strongest impressions.
While coming out of the trance the bodily anesthetic sensations often
persist, and are stronger when I come out of the trance prematurely.
These
feelings can be compared to the "needles and pins" sensation of trying
to
move an arm or leg which has fallen asleep. Following one journey I
wrote
"I must have willed myself to move, and felt the anesthesia sensations
gripping me firmly, with an almost cutting sensation. It was not exactly
painful. It felt as though I was tightly gripped by millions of sharp
fingernails applying minimal pressure, but if I moved I would be cut
to
shreds." This can also be experienced as a "tearing" sensation over
the
entire surface of the body. Siebert has described intensified feelings
of
this type as "various sensations of motion, or being pulled or twisted
by
forces of some kind." On occasion these sensations have been very pleasant,
closer to Pendell's "like soft cat paws pressing, or like a bunch of
bird
tongues lapping the mind. Or like tiny fingers, the way ivy fingers
reach out to climb a wall..."
The most constant internal experience in my salvinorin journeys is a
drastic shift in my sense of identity and conscious perception. At
the
onset of the experience my identity is completely dislodged from
my body and familiar self. Following this I experience myself as existing,
but not as a body, human, or personality. I usually find myself in
some
alternate dimension, which can either closely resemble earth, or be
entirely alien. Quite often the worlds visited under the influence
of
salvinorin do not obey the laws of physics which we are typically
accustomed to. The action of the forces of gravity and momentum, the
dimension of time, and the geometric construction of these worlds,
can be
rather bizarre.
There is also an apparent reduction in boundaries, and the sensation
that
my "being" can literally enter and inhabit various objects, including
inanimate ones. There have been numerous reports from people who have
had
quite vivid and convincing experiences of becoming objects such as
a
dresser drawer. As I begin traversing these unusual dimensions I feel
driven by forces which I don't fully understand, but which I believe
to be
influenced by my set and setting. At the point I come out of tile trance,
external reality begins making an imprint on my experience and accelerates
the return to normal awareness. Some of my more interesting journeys
are
described below.
8. D.M. Turner - 30 mg. N.N. DMT (subsequent to smoking Salvinorin)
9. D.M. Turner - 650 mcg. Salvinorin with 30 mg. N.N. DMT
10. D.M. Turner - 750 mcg. Salvinorin with 600 mcg. LSD
11. B. Schuldes - 2 "bong hits" Salvia leaf with 350-450 mcg. LSD
12 . Daniel Siebert - June 6, 1993: The Breakthrough
13. Mantid - one water-pipe hit of Salvia divinorum leaf
14. D.M. Turner - Salvia divinorum leaf, smoked outdoors
15. D.M. Turner - unspecified quantity Salvinorin with LSD
16. D.M. Turner - 10 chewed Salvia divinorum leaves
