A considerable amount of time had passed since my last Salvia Divinorum experience. In that time I had considered doing it several times, but something had always stopped me. It wasn't fear exactly, but something like it. Part of it was that the whole experience was just so damn confusing. I wasn't sure it was worthwhile to go in to the Salvia space if I couldn't bring anything back. On the other hand, I have always had a strong intuition that the Salvia experience holds something worthwhile. So, approximately seven months after my last voyage with it, I finally tried it again.

I crushed and loaded roughly two and half leaves into my large Salvia bowl. I said a quick prayer to Salvia and started smoking it. The first hit was harsh, and I almost coughed it out. As I exhaled it I began feeling a sort of "buzz". The second hit was easier, as my lungs felt somewhat anesthetized. As I took the third hit, the experience was already coming on strong. I set the bong aside and laid down, holding the smoke. I don't clearly remember exhaling.

There was immediate sense of familiarity as it came on. Along with this sense of familiarity is a sense of disappointment or frustration: "Back here, again?" before I remember not to be disappointed. The sense of familiarity was deep, as if I was not just having a familiar drug experience, but something deeper, as if it evokes some primeval or archetypal experience or state of being.

My perception, or perhaps space itself, seemed to fold around me and flatten at the same time. I felt I became merged with my daughter, who was sleeping in the next room. This was a little disconcerting and I was afraid we might remain merged, melded permanently into one composite being. Upon reflection, I remember having vague impressions of being melded into a composite being from my first few Salvia experiences.

There was a sort of throbbing sensation, like a current of some sort. There was also the impression that space or reality had become ridged. Behind my closed eyelids I saw a yellow and blue star shaped pattern that looked like some sort of tunnel or doorway.

As on previous trips, I had the distinct impression that reality had been divided up into three sections. Usually I feel like I have entered into the first of these sections. On this trip, I felt I entered the second section, perhaps indicating I have "advanced" to another level of the experience.

Although many of the feelings were familiar, the experience remains completely bizarre. The Salvia experience is completely convincing, it literally "sucks you in" to its reality. Upon return to baseline, the details of the Salvia space fade away, leaving me with vague impressions of what I experienced. It is very dreamlike in the sense that even very vivid dreams often evaporate upon return to waking consciousness, leaving one with only impressions of what has transpired.

The whole experience lasted fifteen or twenty minutes, from liftoff to baseline recovery. It actually felt like even less, a sort of time compression as opposed to the more typical psychedelic time dilation effect. I was left with a feeling that the whole thing is a sort of "cosmic joke".

Salvia seems to be beyond my ability to either comprehend or describe. I have the distinct impression that there is far more content to my Salvia trips than what I bring back. I hope that with further exploration and increased familiarity with the effects, I will be able to recall a greater portion of the experience.