Questions on Chewing Salvia Divinorum

[desertrat]

Hi all,

as the title suggets, I am new to Salvia Divinorum and have been doing a lot of research on the herb and am facinated by it. But still have a basic question to ask:

I have orderd some dried leaves of the 'mazatec gold' variety, and am looking to chew them as this method appeals to me more than the qucik, intense sensation that smoking it seems to bring.

From what I have learnt, it's best to bathe the dried leafs in cold water for about 10 minutes before chewing I believe? If anyone can correct me on that, please do.

My question is; how many leaves will I need to chew to get a light experiance? I want my first experiance to be very mild - I don't want to jump in at the deep end with something I don't know - I've always aproached things cautiously like this, I learn better this way.

Will I get anything if I chew just a couple of leaves? I've heard of people saying you need 20-30 leaves to get an effect which sounds like a crazy ammount to me..

Thoughts and reply's would be appreciated

Many thanks