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Ross Heaven's new book on salvia..

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I agree, so little out there concerning Salvia...

I feel it deserves much more exploration. It has been the absolute most influential psychoactive plant in my life thus far.

I'll be pre-ordering for sure. Thanks for the heads up! ;)
 
I agree, so little out there concerning Salvia...
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Have you checked youtube?

All kidding aside, Salvia Divinorum is of great fascination to me and i hope i'll have another experience in my lifetime. I guess the reason why it isn't fashionable to write about it is the fact, that real "work" with this plant seems to be somewhat difficult, bizarr and disphoric at times.

Dioxippus, could it be that we had a conversation at the old edot forum (RIP) about the little white salvia men? Or rather boys...animals whatever you call them... ? Someone on there had the same avatar.
 
Oh right! I forgot about the plethora of research those youtube kids did! :lol:

obliguhl said:
Dioxippus, could it be that we had a conversation at the old edot forum (RIP) about the little white salvia men? Or rather boys...animals whatever you call them... ? Someone on there had the same avatar.
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One and the same :) I had many a conversation there about Salvia beings and the Salvia experience in general. I didn't realize my avatar was that recognizable.

It has been resurrected, the old EDOT. It's not the same as it used to be, but one of the old mods saved ALL the old threads and merged them into the new forum. Such a great guy to put that much time and effort into keeping information like that readily available. It's called the entheogen-network now.
 
Thanks for turning me on to this book - I'll definitely have to pick up a copy. I enjoyed JD Arthur's book and approach, though his experience with Salvia was extraordinarily different from my own. He describes blossoming gently into the breakthrough state. Ye Gods! Blossoming gently??

This is particularly interesting to me, from the summary to Heaven's upcoming book:
"Providing the first practical guide to the shamanic, spiritual, and therapeutic uses of salvia, Ross Heaven shares his in-depth quest to connect with the spirit of this plant teacher."

The key words being "practical guide." Salvia's so unique in its effect, in the way each trip seems to pick up where you last left off. It really does seem to suggest that an ongoing PRACTICE, a building of a support structure for understanding and navigating the experience itself is possible. Anyone who does work in recording their own personal maps of salvia space is providing something very valuable to the greater community of psychonauts, so I look forward to learning from his work.
 
Just finished reading this book. Definitely worth a purchase for Salvianauts, though there's not a whole lot of new information or studies to be gleaned for anyone who's ventured in. I have to admit, some of Ross Heaven's recurring insights and seemingly favorite bits of prose kind of got on my nerves after a while (he LOVES describing 'Lady Salvia' as a slut-nun, which is great the first time, not so much after the twelfth).

Heaven focuses a lot on the events around a brief but blazing love affair he had during the events of his induction into Salvia knowledge. He fell in love; got married; experienced sudden marriage problems; and she left him. Throughout the book he keeps bringing her up, and while he wishes her well, also seems to go out of his way to call her out for bruising his sensitive parts. Frankly, I think this book was written with a bit of butt-hurt heat and this aspect was very awkward for me to read by the end.

There's also a tendency toward the pseudo-science and nowhere is the neuro-activity of Salvia really discussed, in spite of a small but incredibly interesting body of learning available.

Another thing that bugged me a bit was the near-obsession with "meeting the spirit" of the plant, as if you have not properly experienced or known Salvia until you have met the "figure" of her in the other realm. This is pretty common with the traditional shamanistic approach to entheogens, and it's my belief that if you go in with such a solid intention of "meeting the spirit" so that she may "become your ally" a la Casteneda's Little Smoke, then you've already set yourself up for a self-fulfilling prophecy in that regard. Salvia is an experience in which anything is possible. To put so much emphasis on this one aspect is to, I personally think, miss a bit of the point.

Where this book is really fantastic is in the experience reports of people who, in recurring ceremonies and by "dieting" the plant, stuck with Salvia for a while in order to learn to navigate its peculiar language. We hear from members at Ross's retreats who did group ceremonies with him. Most interesting to me were the users who work in psychotherapy and use the plant to aid their sessions - Not by giving the plant to their patients, rather by taking it themselves in the morning BEFORE a session. They say it greatly aids in their ability to intuitively read their patients' needs and attempts to express. It's the empathy effect in practice.

One of these reports particularly struck me for its salience and ability to approach the feel of a Salvia experience. I'd like to share it here - if quoting such a hearty excerpt from a new book is a no-no, please bring the hammer down and edit me down, otherwise I'd love to share this bit of wisdom, what I think is one of the best pieces of Heaven's book - a Salvia trip report written by a psychotherapist and shamanic healer in the UK named Martin.

To give this some structure I am going to split the experience into several topics:

Onset: This is fast with sage, from inhaling the smoke to tripping in around ten seconds. I always have a tray at hand and make sure I'm sitting down before I take a toke on the pipe so I can drop it safely; the first time I was standing and fell over as if I had been poleaxed!

Bodily sensation: Is the same with any strength of sage I've tried. It feels as if someone has grabbed you by the shoulders and pulled you hard backward - only you don't stop falling - receding away from your body at lightning speed; the higher the strength of sage, the more vicious the pull. From then on if I concentrate on a body part it feels as if it is churning inside out constantly in a rotating fashion.

Visuals: At first this is nearly always a thin strip a bit like a zipper being undone, and I'm riding along it (being unzipped as well). The best image to describe this is like the one you sometimes get at the beginning of films at the cinema where you are going along a big dipper ride made of acetate film. The strip is made up of simple bright-colored bars; the colors remind me of the ones you get with licorice allsorts.* [Heaven footnotes this with a statement on Salvia's hyper-neon color motifs.]

Sage world: Eventually the scene changes, and I am in sage world. It reminds me of middle world at Mardi Gras in some ways but all the spirits inhabiting it seem to have an edge, a bit sarcastic and manic at the same time. They do talk but nearly always when I'm just arriving, they say, "Wuurp! Here he comes again."

At first I was happy to just look around and be there, but eventually I tried to use the experience as a journey - setting up an initial intention and so forth - and this is where the experience becomes more like navigating dreams. The first time I tried to call up my lower world guides I just couldn't think straight, I couldn't even form the notion of a "guide"; there I was trying to think (it felt like when you have someone's name on the tip of your tongue but can't quite recall it) and all the while the sage spirits are standing around taking the piss with me going shush at them: it was hilarious.

Eventually I worked out that sage world is a distinct world separate from the three we shamans usually use when journeying. Once I worked that out I found a sage world guide and operated as normal within it. For example, once I went there to get assistance with healing for a friend [who was] in the hospital to recover from an operation: it was beautiful, the sage spirit and I traveled to the hospital, and the spirit blew a greenish smoke over her body while she slept. Later she asked me if I had visited her while she was asleep as she had a strong feeling of my presence; her recovery was swift and without complication.

Back in the "real" world the sage experience lasts around ten minutes for me during which time my body is completely immobile. Once I come around, there is a period of about an hour where I'm still under a subtle influence of the sage, and other activities such as divining or shamanic healing are greatly enhanced. The overall "spirit of sage" is seductive, and I often hear a woman's voice calling me back. "Just one more, just a little bit further," she coos. If I give in and go again the experience is usually a little harsher the second time around. The most rounds I've done in one go is four, and the fourth wasn't any worse (or better) than the third. Usually though I just do one round, as this is enough to achieve my purpose for the journey. My preferred dose is 50x.
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Another wonderful account comes from a pscyhotherapist in Spain, a woman named Bobby who has worked with LSD and entheogens in her practice. Her account is long, so I will only copy over a few excerpts. This comes from 20x smoke.

I was not limited to my body but within a field of energy that could expand as far as I wanted it to. I was sitting outside and could hear some people talking across the valley. My attention went there, and I seemed to literally be pulled to them. It was a completely physical sensation; I could feel an elastic stretching of my (let's call it) energy field extending to where they were so it seemed as if I was standing with them. I could hear them as if they were right beside me and to all intents and purposes I seemed to be over the other side of the valley with them. I wondered if I was actually there with them when what I took to be my honeysuckle said quite clearly, "You're right here right now."

...

I had a vision of an old-fashioned Bakelite radio, which was one I remembered from my childhood. I didn't feel as if I were that radio but the symbol of sound waves, transmission, and reception all seemed to fit with what I was experiencing. The analogy seems quite good for the experience; the radio is a casing with component parts for translating waves into sound. Sound was somewhat visible as the air was so dense that you could watch it rippling and moving as the sound waves moved through it. I remember now once hearing a cannon fired at close range, and the sensation was similar; the sound was visibly moving the air as it passed.

The air felt as solid as the table or any other object, and the plants around me were alive with a vital intelligence and recognition of me; actually it was two ways, I guess a bit like transmission and reception. Again it felt intelligent, as if my mind was expanded to include everything, and if I chose I could know anything and expand anywhere. Or perhaps it's better put that "my" mind didn't exist except as a part of The Mind; that feels more accurate. Overall I felt bliss. The sense of being a part of everything was complete. Time was paused. I was not separate.

...

The sense of boundary-less participation in the mind of the universe was ecstatic.

I do feel Salvia to be a very wise teacher but one that needs a lot of respect. As a therapist I think it would be fairly extreme for many clients who have long lived within the safety of their boundaries. In the context of shamanic use and healing I think there would be more acceptance of the experience as the shamanic world does not work within the limits of ego; nor does Salvia. "I" ceased to exist in the way I usually do. For me this was exstatic; for others perhaps frightening. Most people who seeks therapy want to "mend" their egos, not lose them.

...

I particularly think of it as Zen, since from my knowledge of Zen practice there is recognition of the inherent paradox within a human, and that the practice of Zen is to learn to hold both sides of the paradox simultaneously. The be both within and without your body. To recognize the void as also the fullness from which all comes and returns. Zen also has an acceptance that here and now is all there is; enlightenment is the recognition that this is not something to be sought after but known as being present right now. This is certainly something that seems to be true of Salvia.

...

I will continue to work with Salvia as I feel that perhaps it is better than anything I have so far tried to bring theory into practice. The theories of shamanic thought, the theories behind meditative practice, the ecstatic visions of God as perceived by mystics and saints throughout time, as well as the theories whithin quantum physics - the wave/particle phenomenon. The percepiton that the world is of our own making and is much more fluid than initial appearances suggest. That from nothing we come and from nothing we return, and yet as in all good paradoxes, nothing is not nothing.
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Salvia is awesome in its effects!
Talking about the spirit of the plant!...I once became a salvia plant swaying back and forth surounded by thousands of other green salvia plants..!
Durring this trip.. the experiance apeared and felt like a far away field tucked away between some far away mountains on the other side of the world...
It was an awesom experiance.. as i felt the suns rays and swayed in the gentle breeze!
It left me with more respect for the medicine and that respect increases each time I meet the sheperdess..
Still trying to break through with DMT ..i never have a problem breaking through with Salvia D ..it hapens instantly every time!:)
 
I forgot about this thread. I just recently read this book and it was very interesting. I plan on 'dieting' Salvia in the near future to see if I can strengthen my relationship with the plant further.
 
I still have not read the book..waiting till I can afford to order it. I have, however continued eating salvia leaves :)

Has anyone here read "confessions of a salvia sorcerer"? It sounds interesting.
 
Salvia just boggles my mind. For me the salvia experience is way harder to even begin to explain in words than the dmt experience. I'm always in awe when people can actually wrestle some of it down into the domain of language in a way that really resonates.

I feel way more trepidation before diving into smoked salvia than before smoking dmt.
 
"I feel way more trepidation before diving into smoked salvia than before smoking dmt."

It's the opposite for me, even though I smoke DMT far more than I work with salvia.
 
Yeah I would say I get more fear before a DMT journey than a Salvia journey. I have worked with Salvia for many years though. I still feel the fear, but DMT isn't such an old friend like Salvia is. Actually, it's not really smoked DMT that triggers the fear as much as right before I drink the Ayahuasca brew. I've literally been shaking while I gulp it down. That doesn't happen to me on that level with any other psychedelic. But once it's down, there's no turning back, and the fear dissolves.
 
I really wish there was more Salvia related stuff being made :/

You know what would be a great idea? Is if a few people from this forum could team together and create a well written Salvia Book/Magazine. I'm sure we could all contribute in some shape or form. We all have experiences to add.

It could include trip reports from salvianauts on various forums, interpretive artwork, salvia growing techniques, pictures, educational information, news about the plant and maybe even written interviews..??
 
bemeda, did you copy that text by hand? If so...respect :surprised

I fear salvia because it does seem to cause some people to get moving and i also felt the urge one time and almost banged my head against the wall. That's why i don't do it anymore.

There is a dreamlike quality to it and knowing this, does not make me fear it that much. What i fear more is the content. Not the melting with organic gel dropping down a grassy cyclinder. Not the spiraling or the tunnels ...but the entities. The little white men can't behave and you're their toy. The master entity seems to be more than brutal and there is this condescending vibe at times. I've also encountered these confused beings living in this chamber....they carried HUGE christian crosses waiting for their salvation, in some kind of afterlife. A salvation which would never come; but they could not let go of it.

Perhaps i just got a ton of prejudice, but the beings i encountered where all ...let's say "difficult".
 
i purchased a copy of this book,
& would just like to second/confirm bemeda's thoughtful review.

it's worthwhile & definitely recommended for Salvia freaks, but certainly not a definitive or classic text.

always a pleasure to read about this great & elegant Lady nonetheless.
 
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