alright so i've noticed that salvia is really different from other psychadelics. using lsd properly, i would say consists of a proper set and setting, and then taking an ample amount of time to integrate the experience into your life. salvia however, seems to be a whole lot more than 'set and setting'. for example you could be with people that you are very comfortable with, in a safe place, in a great mood, with no overwhelming life stressors, and still have a horrifying experience. so what gives? what is the secret to having positive salvia experiences? i have heard a great deal about this salvia deity. perhaps there is a third factor required supplementary to set and setting: a good standing with the deity. but what constitutes a good standing with the deity? the native cults that used to plant seemed to be extremely anti-smoking, and have made it known that smoking the plant is offensive to her. but at the same time i have also heard of people that have had positive experiences and interactions with the deity after smoking salvia. so maybe this isn't the case. ive done alot of research about this deity, and she seems to come up in several different cultures in varying forms. in christianity she is the virgin mary, in hinduism she is shiva. now shiva seems to fit very well. shiva is the spirit which people connect to in the act of kundalini awakening. she is very receptive to those who are ready and have made the proper preperations, but has also been known to be extremely wrathful to those who acheive kundalini awakening prematurely, or are not ready to connect with her. this seems pretty much spot on to what the salvia deity does. so maybe these are archetypes for the same spirit essence: 'god' -- in a pantheist sense of the word. so is it that you just have to be ready to connect with god, and if you aren't then she will unleash her wrath? that sure is kind of what salvia feels like. i'd compare it to connecting with god during the peak of an acid trip, but without the comeup and comedown. they also have very different manners through which you connect. i'd really appreciate some advice here. i'm not sure what is needed to be able to positively connect with this plant, and i don't want to take another ass beating.
I just kept taking it. The first time I took it was the most mystical experience of my life. I was sloshed at the time which made it all the better I think. I literally met the Shepherdess on her farm. Then the next couple times I took it I took a beating and she made me work for my wisdom. As I went to her shop to work more and more I moved up in position and had power in her shop. Now I know the secrets of salvia. It was truly a journey to be told but I guess my advice is keep taking it with vigilance and she will teach you. Will your spirit to work until you think you can't work anymore.
if you are getting ass beatings it's because you need ass beatings. no one can tell you why you have the trip you are having, that's for you to figure out. but if I had to guess, if you are consistently having negative experiences, I would say that your ego needs to be taken down a few notches.
well ive only used it once, and it was just extremely overwhelming. the wisdom i gained was incredible, but the experience itself... ugh.. way too much. maybe because it was my first time i was just entirely not ready for what was about to happen(and i wasn't). i'm going to give it a few more tries before i write it off completely. i just thought i would ask for some help in how to use this plant in the most positive way.
I think "overwhelming" is a very good word to describe the experience... I think that if you gained insight to your experience, then that's all you need. With Salvia, overwhelming is just the nature of the beast. It can be horrifying to be confronted with the illusory nature of existence and our true identities in a matter of mere seconds. This is definatly not a plant to be taken lightly, but if you are gaining wisdom from your experiences, then I don't think you should write it off, regardless of how scary the trips might be.
yeah, i have just heard of people that have had very blissful experiences on salvia. the mazatecs regarded her as extremely nurturing to those that were 'worthy' or 'ready', and wrathful to those who weren't. obviously what we are seeing is the wrathful side. i want to figure out what is needed to achieve this. there has to be a way for it to be less overwhelming.
It's overwhelming to me, but I wouldn't say negative or wrathful. Even positive nuturing experiences can be overwhelming. I'm grateful for the experience that I had, but I definatly don't consider it wrathful. but if you are looking for ways to ease your trip, I still would give you the same suggestions I did in the LSD forum. Try to let go. Release control, and realize that it is only going to be negative or overwhelming if you want it to be, b/c the trip is showing you want you need to be shown, it's your projection and it's up to you.
i am grateful for the experience, but it just wasn't serene and peaceful. there has to be a way to achieve peaceful experiences. which leads me to beleive there is a third factor complementary to set and setting -- standing with the deity, or one's place in spiritual evolution/karma. like i can gain wisdom from a bad lsd trip, but i also gain wisdom from a good lsd trip and it is a whole lot more beneficial. it just seems like what we are getting are 'bad' or on the wrathful end of the salvia experience scale. EDIT: and what's the deal with this portal that i keep hearing about? i've read a number of trip reports about some kind of portal, sometimes with elves guarding it. my friend reached the portal upon his first trip, he didn't go in though.
I don't think it's meant to be peaceful, to be honest. At least not truly peaceful. When I think of serenity, I think of our natural state, that which comes before any emotion or thought. If you add a drug/chemical/plant into that equation (Salvia) you are automatically disrupting your natural state of being. I'm sure if you had acheived a certain level of peace it wouldn't matter, but it's obvious none of us have. Wisdom comes from experience, and if you are using salvia as a teaching tool, then you should expect some pretty big shake ups.
maybe your right, and if that's true im probably going to swear off salvia after a few more trips. but i'm going to try to find the serene side of salvia first. just like how now i can always have a good trip on acid, with the proper precautions. <knocks on wood> because it too certainly has an extremely overwhelming and hectic side, but i have learned how to avoid that. that's exactly what i'm talking about. a certain level of peace, a good standing with the deity, a certain point in our spiritual evolution, a readiness to connect with god: the third factor, complementary to set and setting. maybe this is what is needed to be able to cross over into the serene, peaceful threshold of salvia. but maybe i'm wrong, and salvia is always going to be overwhelming. but it's worth trying to find out if it's possible for it not to be. i was wondering if there were any people out there that have acheived this; and if there are, how they did so.
i know what you mean, ive taken salvia twice and had a very similar, very terrifying trip both times, despite the fact that they were almost a year apart. I basically get thrown into another existence, so much so that i even forget about the "real" world and everything that ever happened to me, including the fact that i just smoked salvia. I then realize that i am stuck to something and moving inevitably to my death. There are people around me in the same position but they seem content with the situation as if thats all that ever was. At least that's what i can remember that is explainable with words in this consciousness/world. I don't know why the trip was almost identical both times, and i dont know why it had to be so horrifying. If someone does know how to have a good and not "omg im about to die" trip, then please let me know. If it was more comfortable i might do it more often.
I can tell you how to do it right now. Dark room + lying back + just fully and completely accepting whats about to happen to you with closed eyes. It will be like watching a movie. You have to just accept it, that's your main goal.
hah. accepting. isn't that easier said than done. your right though, thats what im going to try to do next time. i guess that since it was my first time there was really just no time to 'accept' because i was just totally unprepared for what was about to happen. and yeah i was planning on tripping at night in my room, then lying on my bed.. last time it was daytime and i was listening to music. i'll have a friend ready to put some music on just incase i need my trip to be redirected though.
yeah i was thinking eyes closed would be a good idea, even though i wasn't really seeing the real world last time i think that visual input had a huge effects on what i saw and experienced.
You can get quite a mellow trip from salvia if you smoke a low potency extract (around 5-10X) mixed with weed. I find this makes the effects of the salvia last much longer too. A few weeks ago I smoked two fat bowls of 5X and some really nice bud and I spent about an hour lying on the floor in a state of deep relaxation. There were some nice visuals too, some dirty marks on the ceiling turned into silhouettes of birds and were flying around the room. Although, at the peak of the trip I started getting the usual salvia uncomfortable body sensations, they didn't last long though.
