Recently I decided it was time to explore Salvia again. It had been over a month since the last time I had smoked it and I was finally ready again to explore its unique terrain. I had been fasting in anticipation of a 2CB trip I had scheduled for that same night, which makes this the first time I had fasted before a salvia sojourn. I was somewhat nervous about the experiment due to the fact that I have moved around without being aware of it on other occasions with salvia. Also, I felt a presence earlier in the evening even though I was alone in the house.

I loaded my large salvia bowl about 3/4 of the way full. I sat down on the floor and got my lighter ready. I took a large hit and held it for thirty seconds or so. I exhaled and repeated the process a few times. On the third hit I felt the familiar onset of salvia and stopped to see if I could figure it out. I sat there feeling altered and unsure as to where I was. It wasn't nearly as deep or profound as a full breakthrough salvia trip. I looked around the room at the familiar objects surrounding me. They seemed alien and out of place. I was confused as to my location in space/time (ie I didn't know where I was). I had a sense of a number of presences around me. It felt as if they were watching me and I got the impression I was in some sort of contest. This is a somewhat familiar perception on my salvia journeys. I haven't been able to define it any more precisely than that. After a few minutes of this confused state I regained my normal awareness for the most part.

With the pleasant salvia after effects buzzing in my head I ingested 25 mg of 2CB. I had planned on going dancing that night, but my plans had failed to coalesce. Instead it was to be a quiet evening hanging out and tripping.

After ingesting the 2CB I went outside to await its onset. My porch is directly beneath my upstairs neighbor's porch and I could hear them up there chatting. I sat out there for 15-20 minutes at which time I went back inside. I decided to sit and do some meditation before I started feeling the bees.

I'm not very good at meditation. I am far too easily distracted. This time was different. I sat down and closed my eyes and began focusing on my breathing. My mind felt razor sharp. My focus was incredible. I was much less distracted than I usually am. I was able to meditate for around 15 minutes with only 3-4 stray thoughts. I'm not sure if it was the early effects of the bees, the remnants of the salvia, some combination of those two things or something else entirely but it was definitely one of my better meditation sessions. As I started to feel the bees I quit meditating.

Since my plans to go dancing had fallen through I wasn't sure what to do with my evening. I considered a number of options but nothing seemed to appeal more than anything else. I felt a tremendous amount of energy, even restlessness. I was experiencing energy tremors (twitches) as the 2CB energies aligned themselves in my body. They were distracting but not unpleasant.

I walked around my apartment quite a bit. I even spent a few minutes walking in circles and staring at the floor. I was feeling a lot of energies in my body, including a tremendous amount of sexual energy. This isn't unusual for my 2CB experiences. It definitely enhances sensual and sexual feelings. It even imprints a sexual energy on seemingly nonsexual sensations (touching the couch for example...). After a bit of restless wandering I sat down on the couch and looked up at the ceiling.

2CB can be very tricky. Its effects seem to come and go in waves. Not only that, but if you aren't paying attention, it is easy to miss the majority of the effects. It is only when you stop and really LOOK at something that the visuals become apparent, for example. And did they ever! My ceiling was divided into numerous channels of flowing psychedelic light. It looked like an electric river delta. I lay there with my mouth open in wonder at the tremendous visual feast over my head. I even slipped into a light trance (although compared to a mushroom trance, it was hardly worthy of the name). As I was grooving on all this I thought about spending all night just tripping on these tremendous visuals. About that time, they started to recede a bit. It was still visual, but less so. I decided this was a good excuse to go somewhere else.

I gathered up my things (which took longer than it should have, because I kept getting distracted) and walked out of the house. My neighbors were sitting in a van directly in front of my house so I smiled and waved at them. I always feel very open and friendly on 2CB. They waved back.

The short walk over to my friend's house was uneventful, but very nice. As I have mentioned before 2CB adds a lovely sheen to everything. The world just looks new.

I arrived at my friend's home and was invited inside. They asked how "it" was going (they knew I was tripping) and I told them "Very well". I mentioned I had smoked some salvia earlier and told them about that experience.

We all sat down and were hanging out. It was very mellow. I was engrossed with some of their posters (fractals, brain cells, and other groovey stuff like that). The light reflecting off of the posters seemed to form convex pools on the surface of reality. They looked like physical things rising off the surface of the poster.

We discussed a few different things, including 2CB and its differences and similarities to other entheogens. The general mood was very open and warm (not unusual, I have known these people for years)and was enhanced considerably by the 2CB. Usually I know that I love these people and that they love me, but on 2CB I KNEW they loved me and vice versa. I could feel it like it was a physical thing. Basically, it knocked me out of my day to day complacency and made me highly aware of how important the people in my life are to me. This was one of my more opening 2CB experiences, largely because I was simply sitting quietly with two people I highly value .

My appreciation of 2CB grows each time I experiment with it. My experiences with it are a little more rich each time. I don't know if there is a physical/chemical basis for this (conditioning neurotransmitters?) or if I am simply learning how to appreciate its subtle effects better. In any case, I am more impressed with 2CB every time I try it.

We listened to some music (Underworld's Dubnobasswithmyheadman). While LSD tends to add its own flavor to music, 2CB seems to simply allow one to get deeper into what is already there. It seemingly makes it possible to pay more attention to what is going on musically. This fits very much with 2CB's centering qualities. For me at least, 2CB brings everything into exquisite focus. It brings me fully into the present moment. I am disinclined to worry or look forward to anything while I am on 2CB. It is a very peaceful feeling.

While Underworld was playing, we decided to do a few balloons of nitrous. I have mentioned before how impressive nitrous is on 2CB so I won't go into a lot of detail here. They were very nice balloons and added another dimension to the experience in the visual, tactile and audio realms. Don't pass the opportunity to try nitrous while tripping.

One of my companions went to bed about this time. My other companion and I sat up and talked until the wee hours of the morning. After about four hours I smoked some cannabis. As usual, even though I wasn't really feeling the bees anymore it altered my high considerably. It's not a bad difference, but there is definitely a difference. Around 4:00 AM I went home and chilled for another hour before going to bed.

This was a fairly typical 2CB experience. It was warm, sensual and visual. 2CB makes me feel at peace in a way that no other entheogen does. In many ways it is like a halfway point between LSD and MDMA. It has some of the impressive visual qualities that LSD does with the heart opening and tactile enhancement of MDMA. Each time I use 2CB I gain new appreciation of it and I don't foresee that changing in the immediate future.