Salvia Divinorum

Oooh, scary! People are ingesting an herb (Salvia Divinorum), related to Sage, that wasn't created in some large multi-national pharmaceutical's laboratory, and people deign to like the effects. How dare they! And some users report feelings of euphoria, or of an urge to have philosophical discussions, or of witnessing multi-dimensional visions - better get out the bonfires and the iron maidens!

Legal herb causing concern
A legal herb that produces a high when smoked or chewed is causing concern along one of the state's most popular tourist spots.

The Myrtle Beach City Council plans to vote on whether to formally ask the Legislature for a statewide ban on the plant. The herb Salvia divinorum is available at many ...stores...
The Drug Enforcement Administration has stopped short of a ban but labeled the plant as a “chemical of concern.”

The curious in spirit and mind should refer to this page for some more rational discussion, and here for some poetic description, or from the Salvia Divorum wiki source:

The effects of salvia are found by many to be highly spiritual and entheogenic, and useful for meditation. Consciousness is retained until the highest doses, but body control, awareness of externalities, and individual personality can disappear with even modest amounts.

At lower doses the user may experience spontaneous laughter, mild closed-eye visuals, stuttering or strobing visual effects, changes in depth perception, and a heightened sense of color and texture.

Moderate doses appear trance-like. Time distortion and open-eye visuals become increasingly apparent. Fractal patterns and geometric shapes may be noticeable with eyes open, and can be very confusing. Many people experience sensations of falling, similar to what is occasionally felt at the onset of sleep. The user may experience fully formed visions of other places, people, and events, especially with eyes closed.

At high doses, the effects become more powerful and shamanic, and may additionally include out-of-body experiences, perceptions of gravitational distortion, vertigo, sensations of wind or physical pressure, hearing voices, flanging of sound, significant open and closed-eye visuals, experiencing alternate realities, contact with beings or entities, and dissociation. The salvia experience is quite different from that of most other hallucinogenic drugs and may be overwhelming, even with the correct set and setting.

Dale Pendell'sbook in its entirety is well worth owning, as is this one:



“Pharmako/Dynamis: Stimulating Plants, Potions and Herbcraft” (Dale Pendell).

That is all.

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