Disregard Everything I Say

Onset : 30-180 seconds
Duration : 5-30 minutes
Normal After Effects : 30-60 minutes
(smoked)

Onset : 10-20 minutes
Duration : 30-90 minutes
Normal After Effects : 30-120 minutes
(sublingual)

Salvinorin A is technically classed as an a-typical dissocitaive. It is unique in the fact that it is the most potent natural hallucinogen and it is not an alkaloid but a terpenoid. The molecule is structurally distinct from other naturally occurring hallucinogens (such as DMT, psilocybin, and mescaline) because it contains no nitrogen atoms.  

The only natural source of salvinorin A is Salvia divinorum, a Mexican plant which has a long history of use as an entheogen by indigenous Mazatec shamans but was first described and named by Alfredo Ortega and colleagues in 1982.

The reason it is so unique in terms of its subjective effects is because it has no action at the 5-HT2A serotonin receptor, which is the principal molecular target responsible for the actions of the classical psychedelics such as LSD, mushrooms and mescaline. Salvia is instead a kappa opioid receptor agonist with a method of action tied into interrupting Kappa-opioid tactile sensory pathways; these pathways mediate pain, gravity awareness, and feedback for determining physical orientation in space. This explains a few of the subjective experiences found on salvia which based on the predefined potential subjective effects index found here, I will now begin to breakdown and describe…

Physical effects:

The physical effects of Salvinorin A can be broken down into nine components all of which progressively intensify proportional to dosage. These are described below and generally include:

• Changes in gravity - the most prominent physical sensation of a Salvinorin A trip is known by many people as “Salvia Gravity”. This is at least partially present during the mildest of trips and increases proportionally with dosage until it is all encompassing. It begins with a heavy sensation that pulls and tugs at the body. As this increases, it inevitably becomes so powerful that it swiftly lifts the tripper up and out of their body at extremely high speeds and over vast distances in a direction that often doesn’t quite make sense. This feels as if you are being pushed or pulled into a space vastly different from anything found on the classic hallucinogens.
• Changes in felt bodily form - this effect often accompanies the onset of powerful Salvinorin A gravity and can be described as non painful sensations of being stretched horizontally or vertically into infinity, splitting into two halves and a variety of other sudden changes.
• Spontaneous tactile sensations - for some unlucky people this is sometimes accompanied by the sensation of intense, sharp and cold pins and needles all over a persons skin, which can quickly become very uncomfortable. Most people however will never experience this feeling.

Cognitive effects:

The cognitive effects of Salvinorin A can be broken down into eight components all of which progressively intensify proportional to dosage. The general head space of salvia is described by many as one of extreme cognitive suppression and strong feelings of confusion.
The most prominent of these cognitive effects generally include:

• Extreme laughter - the average first time salvia user generally experiences a mixture of extreme gigglyness and confusion.
• Ego suppression, loss and death - this substance is particularly intense in its cognitive effects due to the near instant transition from sobriety into ego death which can occur very suddenly at moderate to high dosages. Throughout the experience, this feels as if you are receiving the sensory input of your trip, but are not fully conscious enough to process the implications of it until the offset.
• Thought deceleration
• Suppression of information processing
• Suppression of language
• Anxiety - general paranoia, anxiety and panic are very common for the unprepared and this can be accounted for by the fact that k-opoid antaganists have been shown to cause such feelings in people.
• States of unity and interconnectedness
• Amnesia

It’s these effects which create for an experience devoid of personal introspection. This substance is best described as a drug that does not create profound personal insights, just profound and interesting experiences.

Visual effects:

Distortions

When a user of this substance keeps their eyes open throughout the duration of a moderate - strong trip, a number of open eye distortions and alterations are usually present. These are significantly more simplistic from that of open eye distortions found with other classes of hallucinogen. They seem to play heavily on different sections of your vision and generally include,

• Depth perception distortions - this effect is usually characterized by a total loss of depth perception and a complete flattening of the visual field into a 2-dimensional image. It can also make objects seem further away or closer in distance than they actually are.
• Size distortions - this effect can be described as specific objects with the external environment or the surroundings as a whole changing in physical size and becoming impossibly huge or small in size.

Structures

At moderate to high dosages with darkness or closed eyes, once the user has become disconnected from their body, a full array of level 1 - 4 hallucinatory structures becomes present. This is an effect which is most commonly found within dissociatives such as ketamine and DXM. They are distinctively different in style however and significantly more likely to be based on mathematical constructs such as vast and elaborate fractals.

In terms of stylistic appearance they also tend to contain significantly more detail to their style, with a greater variety of materials and abstract detail which comprise the structures.

Another key difference between the manifestation of this effect within salvia and those found within dissociatives is the extremely prominent sense that you are the structures that you are visually perceiving. This can be described as the sensation that you have become the structure itself and can physically feel every detail and moving part across itself. In comparison this effect is only present at level 4 within the classical dissociatives but is often present across all levels within salvia.

These constructs and structures are often so huge that they appear to expand across hundreds to thousands of miles and gradually change by means of panning, zooming and rotating slowly into view as more and more detail is gradually revealed. As dosage increases, so does the level of detail and intricacy of these structures. This continues until level 4 when the sensation of seeing the entire universe condensed into an infinitely vast and intricate self transforming machine form becomes present.

Machinescapes

At high dosages with darkness or closed eyes, once the user has become disconnected from their body, a component which is currently only known to occur with salvinorin A manifests itself. This effect can be described as the experience of vast and complex landscapes comprised of ever changing and interlocking mechanical parts which move between each other in a variety of way.

These machinescapes are comprised from an infinite variety of potential materials and parts which often comprise impossible arrays of cogs, gears, pulleys, conveyor belts, levers, panels, hydraulics and incomprehensible moving parts.

During this experience the extremely prominent sense that you have become the perceivable machinescape is present. This can be described as the sensation that you can physically feel every detail and moving part across itself.

Hallucinatory states

Salvia produces a full range of high level hallucinatory states in a fashion that is just as consistent of that of any of the classical psychedelics. These effects include:

• External hallucinations - in comparison to psychedelics, the transformations found within salvinorin A are significantly more solid, believable and realistic in appearance. They are commonly manifested as objects within the external environment coming alive or changing in some way and can only occur when the eyes are kept open.
• Internal hallucinations - The imagery on salvia is described as more solid than psychedelics and does not seem to be composed of condensed visual geometry as with imagery found within psychedelics. It is often embedded within and across structures which often become solid fractal representations of the original image. At higher dosages this particular effect commonly contains a full array of hallucinations with plots, settings, autonomous entity contact and scenarios. They can be described as internal in their manifestation but occasionally external with open eyes. They are both lucid and delirious in their believability, fixed in style and often ominous or sinister in style. A unique aspect to the hallucinatory scenarios found within salvia are how commonly they are manifested with a 2nd person perspective in comparison to other classes of hallucinogens. This is commonly described as suddenly becoming a random object with common examples often include a conveyor belt, a wall, a book or a specific part of a building.

Auditory effects:

The auditory effects of Salvinorin A are common in their occurrence and exhibit a small range of effects which commonly includes:

• Distortions
• Hallucinations

Classification:

At the present moment the scientific literature is currently classing Salvinorin A as a hallucinogen which fits the criteria as either a dissociative or an A-typical dissociative.

I personally feel that although salvia shares states of hallucinatory structures and out of body experiences with dissociatives. This is not enough to argue that it falls under the same classification, for example the hallucinatory structures, although similar are vastly different in their style and complexity. Along side of this, out of body experiences with dissociatives are triggered by the way in which NMDA receptor antagonists block signals to the conscious mind from other parts of the brain and quite literally disconnect the user from its body. This is accompanied by a distinctive feeling of dissociation, disconnection and detachment which is simply not present on salvia as it works on an entirely different set of receptors.

The effects of salvia have a completely unique subjective style and pharmacology that is not found within any other category of hallucinogen and is thus an entirely new class of its own.

Health effects, potential addiction and tolerance:

Salvia is non-toxic: although it’s not known what the overdose (LD50) of Salvinorin A is, it is known that there has never been a death attributable to Salvia or Salvinorin A, this is especially reassuring because most doses do not exceed 25 milligrams, though doses of 2 grams of salvinorin A have been recorded.

The biggest danger with Salvia is paranoia and bad trips which have on rare occasion been known to cause people to accidentally harm or even kill themselves. This can be combated in just the same way that the paranoia induced with any hallucinogen can. Simply take Salvia in a safe, comfortable environment away from noise and groups of people, brush off all negative thoughts as irrational paranoia before they can even begin to develop themselves. If you are not experienced with the substance, be sure to have a close and trustworthy friend to reassure, calm and prevent you from getting into danger.

Salvia exhibits a reverse-tolerance effect - The effects of the substance become stronger with each use. It may take several uses before a user “breaks-though” into the full effects of the substance.

Legal issues:

At present Salvia divinorum remains legal in most countries. Countries where salvia is controlled in some manner include: Australia, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Italy, Japan, the United States, Russia, Spain, and Sweden.

The prohibitive degree of Salvia divinorum legislation varies widely from country to country. Australia has imposed its strictest ‘schedule 9’ (US Schedule I equivalent), and Italy has also placed salvia in its 'Table I’ of controlled substances (also US Schedule I equivalent). In Spain, there are controls focusing only on the commercial trade of Salvia divinorum, personal cultivation (i.e. for non-commercial use) is not targeted.

Salvia legislation may prove difficult to enforce. The plant has a nondescript appearance; unlike many other drug plants, the leaves are non-descript, and without a detectable odour. Salvia divinorum can be grown as an ordinary houseplant without the need of special equipment such as hydroponics or high-power lights.

If you want to try this substance for yourself it is freely available through Google and local headshops with a search for the term “salvia leaves” or “salvia extract” coming up with many legitimate vendors on the front page.

Reader submitted trip reports:

• 20x Extract - a tall humanoid figure wearing a white cloak by Anonymous
• 40x Extract - Bastard Wizard and his miserable little witch by Gregasaurus
• Unknown dosage - states of unity and interconnectedness by Anonymous

Conclusion:

In my opinion Salvia is perhaps one of the most confusing experiences a human being can possibly go through. Making it by far the most difficult of all substances which I have attempted to explain. 

Salvia may well be a difficult drug that is not for the faint hearted, but it is an extremely fascinating and very worthwhile experience that is worthy of exploration. 

Click here for a more comprehensive breakdown.

I’m writing this article because the general consensus online seems to be the exact opposite of what all of my personal experience has led me to believe. Many people (including myself at one point) around many psychedelic communities on the internet hold quite strongly the opinion that Ayahuasca is serious business and not a sensible option for a person’s first trip, stating that it is extremely difficult to handle, with some even going as far as saying that you need to be guided by a genuine shaman to avoid being crushed. I’d like to suggest the exact opposite, as it seems to me that Ayahuasca is a much better option for most beginners than even LSD or mushrooms – providing the tripper cares enough to have a very basic understanding of how an Ayahuasca trip plays out beforehand. This really isn’t a very difficult thing to achieve.

The reasons that this isn’t considered to be the case are based on three different factors and people’s inability to find some basic solutions to them. These problems are:

1. The Nausea, 
   Ayahuasca is very famous for its painful nausea, violent vomiting and the diarrhoea that it generally causes during the first 45 minutes or so, but this is not an effect caused by Ayahuasca – it is an effect of poorly brewed Ayahuasca, and can be avoided by some simple steps that completely remove this problem. All of them are found in the Ayahuasca recipe right here.
    
2. The Exponential Enhancements of all Emotional and Physical States, 
   One of the biggest characteristics of all Ayahuasca trips is the way in which it enhances your present state many times over in a unique and often overwhelming way. This can be either incredible or horrifying, as it works in both negatively and positively, but most people seem to completely miss just how easy this is to control. If Ayahuasca starts to loop and enhance a simple but negative state, such as being irritated or exhausted, you can stop it by changing your state to something else by simply acting the way you want to feel. If you begin to act out and force an emotion or state it immediately becomes genuinely felt; moving in an energetic fashion will cause you to feel extremely pumped, and smiling will cause you to feel extremely euphoric. This is a completely unique effect and once you understand how this works it no longer becomes a problem.
    
3. The Sacredness of it all,
   I don’t need to go into depth with this one as I’ve spoken about it here already, but I will say this: even if Ayahuasca truly is a divine connection to a sacred and infinite universe, it’s pretty arrogant to assume that it would give two shits about small petty things such as which humans are using it, where they are doing it, and how they are preparing it, especially when I have yet to see any evidence of Ayahuasca being angered by such things beyond “but it’s sacred, bro! These substances are a calling!” With these problems gone it’s pretty difficult to find any reason stopping people from moving straight to Ayahuasca and skipping the so-called ‘starter’ psychedelics altogether, and after taking many people on multiple first trips with Ayahuasca, with all of them having positive experiences, I am completely confident in my position and would go as far as saying that it might even be a better option than LSD or mushrooms since this is something that anybody can be self-sufficient in producing – providing they have access to a kitchen and the internet – and it also has many properties that are simply not found with other trips.
    

The first of these is that judging by personal experience, Ayahuasca does not seem to increase a person’s HPPD as the visuals behave completely differently to that of other psychedelics; instead of the constant stream of visuals being fired into your face, Ayahuasca visuals only appear when you are paying attention to them, and disappear as soon as you concentrate on anything else. This is extremely practical as it allows you to do anything during an Ayahuasca trip that you could do sober once you have a feel for it, and combined with the light sensitivity of Ayahuasca visuals, an Ayahuasca-based hppd is rendered near-impossible to become any kind of nuisance in your day to day life.
The second thing that Ayahuasca really has going for it is its extremely rational head space that is surprisingly less of a mindfuck than more common psychedelics, and how it seems to completely reorganise your brain in a way that lasts so much longer than anything found elsewhere. Not only does Ayahuasca leave you with the sensation that your cultural filter has been destroyed, that your hard drive has been defragged, and your thoughts completely reorganised – for sometimes weeks after a single trip – but it literally forces you to become a better person with regular comments, such as:

• Stand up straight!
• Stop being an idiot!
• Eat more fruit!
• Spend more time with your family!

These comments feel like spontaneous thoughts popping into your head and are often snide, but envelop everything from the big things in life to the small things and force you to follow them by making you too self-aware to be capable of rationalising any other options. It is extremely difficult to fight what is best for you when it’s clearly the most reasonable option, and it’s this head space that removes your cultural filter quicker and more efficiently than any other psychedelic I have found.
Lastly, a small but very practical thing I have found is that you really can have an Ayahuasca trip on any work night with no problems. Its shorter duration allows you to fall asleep feeling absolutely pumped for the next day, and upon waking up you’ll feel extremely refreshed, clear headed and reorganised. This shorter duration, combined with its lack of tolerance, allows you to take many people on life changing trips throughout the week.
So, this drug is a great option for a first-timer – you just need to be sensible and understand how it works – but not only is Ayahuasca perfectly fine for a first timer, it can even be used in situations outside of the usual chilled-out bedrooms and nature. Many people would tell you that it would be completely irresponsible to use such a powerful/sacred psychedelic outside of a traditional environment, but as a person who makes a hobby out of taking a wide variety of psychedelic drugs in completely random places I can tell you that not once did it suddenly go wrong for no reason at all, or show any signs of doing so. For example, here are some of the things I have done and the places I have been whilst on Ayahuasca:

• At the cinema.
• At multiple bars with live and very loud music.
• During a game of Dungeons and Dragons (holy shit the immersion was intense).
• In very public places such as town centres, fast food restaurants and supermarkets.

None of these places are where I would prefer to trip, but in all of them I was tripping balls yet not once did it feel any different from being on any other psychedelic in a non-traditional environment, and the same goes for my friends – some of whom were literally on their second-ever trip. I am not saying Ayahuasca is a party drug, so go take it at a rave, but if you already have a feel for the substance and want to do so there is nothing stopping you. You just have to know your limits, and you also have to know that due to Ayahuasca visuals being so light sensitive, you’ll want to take at least double the usual dose that you would take in an environment without so many disturbances to compensate for them. People might think this is dangerous but I’ve yet to find a real reason why – providing the person doing it is comfortable doing so, are familiar with the drug and aware of their limits. Nobody is selling this drug on the street to random people, so it’s safe to assume that if somebody has gone through the effort of learning to brew their own Ayahuasca, they must have done some research.
If I had to choose a single substance for society to base its values on it would be Ayahuasca, not LSD, and certainly not alcohol. At some point this year we are going to work on a guide that would let people brew Ayahuasca and extract DMT using the extremely common Phalaris grass that grows all over the northern hemisphere. It probably grew in your school field, and it might already grow in your garden – it should be easy to do this long before our governments start to notice Mimosa Hostillis Rootbark, and once this is done there would be literally nothing that they could do from preventing Ayahuasca and DMT from being available to the masses. This is going to be so goddamn hilarious you have no idea.