Someone had posted this in another forum, but I felt that it would be best to share with everyone. Hopefully those people who think that Salvia is just "another high" might think different and have a little respect for it after reading this:
Quote:
Working at the Urban Shaman has placed me in the seat of a gatekeeper of sorts for Salvia Divinorum. There is so much hype about Salvia. I have had to ward off certain kinds of interest in this plant when it seems there has been misunderstanding about it. Over time the following things have become clearer...
Salvia is not a drug. When used as a drug the effects are wide ranging from nil effect to "wooo shit i ain't going there again." Occasionally someone has an enlightening experience.
Salvia divinorum is an entheogen that was first sought for its secret use as a divination tool by Mazatec shamans in Mexico by Gordon Wassan decades ago. Wasson took a cutting from which the majority of clones have been made ever since hence being dubbed "Wassan clones". It should be noted that the Mazatecs were extremely secretive about the location of wild salvia plants and to this day it is near impossible to find salvia in Mexico. The Mazatecs feared the abuse of their sacred plant not to mention persecution for its use after witnessing the Christian punishment for using other enthegens like Morning glory, mushrooms and peyote. Salvia is definitely resonant with the ancient Mexican geography with its rich colors, Earthy connection and intensity.
The term entheogen is a start of another thread but for this posting needs the clarification since it describes the use of salvia as a tool for the psyche and as a plant teacher. Rather than being a drug Salvia is a sentient consciousness that has been cross-referenced by modern users to be what the shamans have known her to be-a feminine plant consciousness. When approached with respect, asking permission, clarity of question and intent (questions are traditionally written 10 hours prior to a session) in the ideal sacred setting the results of a session have the potential to be quite different than other uses.
A traditional setting is quiet, usually a room in a house, where the lights can be darkened to pitch black. Copal resin smoke is the traditional scent familiar to the Salvia spirit and is said to be a male/female balancer of energies. Whatever one does to create this setting -which includes sitting in meditation prior to taking the leaves-is said to be foundations for accessing the "Dreamers Gate" WITHOUT taking Salvia after several ventures through the Gate have been made. This is perhaps similiar to the idea of the "acid flashback" which could well be a neural pathway made that is being reaccessed. In addition to gaining answers to questions with Salvia other reports i hear of regularly are increased intuition. Salvia is also known as a dream herb which can be used for dreamwork. Using a smaller amount of the leaf with lessened potency can be useful for this.
Other things of importance for SD experiences by the modern smoking method (traditionally leaves are taken orally as a quid with fresh leaves) include using a high temperature flame tho a lighter can still be effective if kept on the leaves while drawing the smoke into your lungs. 2 lungfulls of the smoke held for as long as possible to generally required. Of utmost importance, especially in the first forays is to have a SITTER who sits with you to provide support for your session.
Their main role is to hold space and help the partaker in feeling as relaxed as possible and at ease. I feel that having the cloak of darkness eliminates the potential of unconscious projection onto the sitter that can result in paranoia even when that person is familiar and trusted. The sitter will say nothing unless safety issues arise ie. the person tries to go for a walk (Bad idea. Enough people have been known to fall on their face when loss of body control has occurred. Some people have regardless taken salvia unassisted by a sitter after gaining familiarity with Salvia but only in a safe place with no sharp objects, flames, or heights) In some cases a sitter may rephrase the question of the querant to maintain that focus.
This brings up the contentious issue of extract vs leaf. The ideal method imo is to use the fresh leaves but this hard to come by for most people. Extracts are being sold in crazy dosage levels. Personally i am not an advocate of getting anything higher than 10x extract and even this is not something i feel to be always the best thing since it is often overtly intense and makes for a hard time retaining focus on the question being divined. Some places online are making salvia tinctures available which are closer in effect to using the leaves fresh. It is said that Salvonin is reverse tolerant in the body and therefore one need not do as strong a dosage as one progresses because the body is already super sensitive to it. Therefore leaves alone can produce an effect without needing to be made stronger by extraction. What many first time users will say is that they experience no effects with the leaves alone. They may need to continue to build up salvonin in their system to gain effect. But some people report no effects even with the stronger dosage amounts. This has revealed something very interesting about Salvia which i have recently had confirmed by people on a private salvia discussion group online which is that salvia screens her callers, something she is getting the hang of as she goes along.
Imagine being Salvia divinorum, a plant helper for many cycles in a small region of Mexico helping people with the unknown illness', finding lost objects, even solving crimes all the while being given a level of respect that is unknown to most modern people. Suddenly you are being contacted by a whole new wave upon wave of users in whole new regions on Earth. These people in general have no clue why they have called you up but they seem in search of something. With your scanning you see that the people are in some cases ready for your assistance but in many cases are not and seem to be just looking for kicks. How would you respond? This is of course a very human way of looking at her experience but what’s interesting is reports that give indication that Salvia is actually learning as much about the humans as we are about her as a plant intelligence. Nontheless she is perhaps one of the most elite of entheogens, allowing her subjects to pass through her gates only if she is prepared to let you and in many ways dependant on how ready one is to go in without hesitation. It seems as though she senses hesitation and will not allow people to go to a place that would freak them out.
Salvia Divinorum is presently legal in North America although the US is poised to schedule it as a banned substance. All they need is someone to ruin it for everyone. My fear is that there are an abundance of unconsious users out there not to mention suppliers who are just seeking to cash in on her gifts. To lose this plant to the war on some drugs would be a major loss and her preservation by entheobotanists and lovers of her wisdom is going to make a difference if laws are passed as they have been in a few countries already. I hope that Salvia Divinorum can be used responsibly and spread to make the plant/human bridge stronger for global awakening. In deepening our awareness of the plants intelligence we can also be aided by joining online communites of spiritual entheogen users who can cross refenence our intuitions and insights.
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<DIV style="TEXT-ALIGN: center">---Credit goes to "outwardjourney" of LadySalvia---
---Thanks---
</DIV>
Edited by: Alfa
05-06-2005, 05:44
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