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Met a Friend In the Vortex of Souls
Salvia divinorum
Citation:   Mr Wonderful. "Met a Friend In the Vortex of Souls: An Experience with Salvia divinorum (exp29770)". Erowid.org. Jun 12, 2006. erowid.org/exp/29770

 
DOSE:
  smoked Salvia divinorum
BODY WEIGHT: 170 lb
I bought some quantities of plain leaf, 5X and 10X Salvia from a local head shop. Their suggested dose was ‘smoke yer brains out’ so I opted for a pretty low dose my first time, like around the recommended minimum amount seen online. I was a little on edge but knew this was something I had to try. I had been waiting a long time to try something like this, maybe forever.

First time:
I hit the bubbler with enough intensity to really get the salvia glowing hot. 3 rips in I took a look around the room and noticed a definite change. When I turned to the left or right, the whole space flattened into a 2-dimentional plane, to the left a wall, to the right my cat snoozing in the window. My head felt like it was being sucked into the direction I turned, like I was melding with the wall. The view out the window seemed really, really close, like I could touch the pines outside from my couch inside. Things were brighter out there, very green with a faint leaf-like pattern over everything. I started to laugh, then laugh my ass of at the cat, at my physical heaviness and lack of coordination, at the planet in general. Holding the bong was impossible. Tunnel-like vision with a central vortex loomed before me and I experienced a trance state that only broke me loose in 4-second counter-clockwise intervals.

I closed my eyes and saw the entire circle of my sight slowly flatten and stretch into a vague Saturn-like shape. The oddest part of this first experiment happened when I turned to look at a wall parallel to the couch and felt myself falling into the wall. Pulling away I had a faint image of 3 children riding a merry-go-round ‘behind’ the wall, and distinctly heard an excited girl’s voice yell ‘come on!’ in the distance. I immediately ‘knew’ they were from a space outside my physical space. All in all it was a good beginner’s threshold experience.

Second time:
Some days later I hit the bubbler with extract only, hoping to achieve a full-on experience. I thought the set and setting were perfect: 1 A.M, indoors, my partner and I quietly chillin’, excellent mood, etc. Something strange happened though and it scared me a bit. At onset I felt the tunnel-vortex and flapping Salvia space I had experienced before, along with the CEV of my entire circle of sight flattening into infinity. It felt like I suddenly passed through a bright flash and into a vivid but dark room. More like a synthetic cavern of enormous (infinite?) size.

I felt a dark presence behind me but ignored it to ‘see’ more of the cavern. I could see through ‘time’ in there. It’s very difficult to describe and it happened very fast, but I was able to see myself connected to my present self by a thin line floating out there beyond normal sight. It felt like there were dark secrets there as well, and I got the distinct impression that I was trespassing. The presence behind me made itself known and I visualized it as a pure black pile with yellow or red eyes. No pupils, no expression, just eyes. Picture a pure black Jabba the Hut (Star Wars) with no arms, no movement, just eyes. The presence was not welcoming or inviting, it was just there, menacing and hugely powerful. I felt unwelcome and freaked out, and was disappointed that this realm was apparently ruled by such a being. I felt like I should not come back. Minutes later as I looked around the dark room of (consensus) reality I could still feel it’s presence in the corner behind me. Reminded me of a dark spirit. I wondered if my house was haunted by an angry dead guy. It took about an hour for the willies to wear off.

Third time:
Hit the bubbler aggressively in an effort to see more. It was light out this time, set and setting were blissful, mind open wide. Looking out the window I saw the pines get closer again, I saw a face in one that I hadn’t seen before. The Salvia vortex was all around me this time, instead of just swirling in front of my eyes as usual it was laid flat, quickly rotating around my body in segments like a shapeless model train. I could sense it caressing me and moving with me. It was my force field. After about a minute I could sense entities and objects moving around me. Some were quite distant, some were vague and almost unnoticeable, but one stood out far more than the others. She was a middle-aged, rather uninteresting looking Mexican Indian female. It sounds like such a Salvia report stereotype but she was absolutely there. She moved around me in the procession of souls and objects with a kind grinning purpose, like I had summoned her and it was her job to do this dance while I watched. It was amazing. The detail of her face, clothing and emotional expression was perfect. This was my new friend, not sure if she was Sally’s spirit per se but we definitely interacted for several minutes.

At this point I couldn’t tell if my eyes were open or closed which was a little unnerving for me. A couple of times I reached up to touch my eyelids and noticed they were closed even though my headspace ‘looked’ as full as seeing though open eyes. It also felt like I was standing up the whole time even though I was seated. That will take some getting used to. The next set of visions emerged slowly but vividly, materializing at their own pace and seemingly directed from elsewhere.

First I saw moving trees and shrubs through a rectangular box. Then I saw a man and a boy seated in front of me with their backs turned, the man in a derby hat smoking a cigarette and the boy looking on. Suddenly I realized I was in the back seat of a car, speeding along looking out the window at the passing foliage. Unreal! This was sometime in the past as well, I could tell from the styles, the car, the attitude. The feeling was euphoric even though I wasn’t sure how the other two would react to me suddenly appearing in their car. The next vision featured a similar theme, speeding along in someone’s car, except this time I was the driver. It was a short roller-coaster ride of hills and turns, always through dense foliage, and is at best a vague recollection. Near the end I remember standing in a kitchen opening a cupboard door, then zooming out and seeing myself opening the cupboard as an old man. Lightening fast, then it was over. Ended with a few tokes of cannabis for a nice touchdown.

Words can’t describe how these visions materialize and play out. It’s almost as if they were projected into my head from somewhere else, the emotion was pleasant but alien, and they were definitely not memories of -my- life. I was someone else, or had at least tapped into someone else’s memory. It almost ‘felt’ like a relative(??)

I should mention that I’ve had another Salvia ‘experience’ since but it really doesn’t count. The mint was smoked impulsively after a drunken evening out and I don’t remember much of anything. It was speeding colors, falling and spinning through space, and basically a mistake. I woke up at 4am on the couch two rooms away from where I had smoked. I will never do that again.

As a final note I’ll just say that one of the best things about the Salvia experience are the after-effects. I didn’t expect such an elevated mood, efficiency of thought and energy in the days since smoking. I think I may have experienced a couple of Salvia ‘flashbacks’ as well. Yesterday morning I found myself giggling and mumbling goofy stuff in a voice that was not mine. My wife thought I was just being nutty but for those moments I swear I was channeling someone else’s thoughts. I’ve also had faint visions of myself connected by the time-line from the first trip, and of basically feeling like I could close my eyes to become anyone, any time. Even myself, in which I have decided to stay.

Exp Year: 2003ExpID: 29770
Gender: Male 
Age at time of experience: Not Given
Published: Jun 12, 2006Views: 15,262
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Salvia divinorum (44) : Entities / Beings (37), Retrospective / Summary (11), Alone (16)

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