If you're hanging out in some sacred space, and someone comes along with a smoldering stick of sage and smudges you, it is very likely you will experience the feeling of being "cleansed"...a distinct shift in consciousness which I would claim is evidence that the plant is "psycoactive". But ok, I believe our inquiry is about something different...so here it is:
Of course many of us have jumped at the opportunity to experiment with any plant even rumored to be "psycoactive"....so it was with me and sage...i tried smoking, tea and tincture in various doses, only to conclude that "it doesn't really do anything".
It wasn't until I got into brewing meade, (primarily medicinal and psychoactive brews, rooted in the Stephen Buhner tradition), that I discovered the secret:
Putting sage in the fermentation vessel *as it's fermenting* clearly brings about psychoactive effects that are not present in either tincture, tea or combined fractions.
For a long time I would make a batch of meade by creating an infusion of herbs, then add honey and yeast, creating a fine brew....tho one time I added a bunch of sage and mugwort to the carboy and left it there for 4 weeks as it fermented....I later served this brew at a party and just about everyone was coming up to me and asking what i had "dosed" them with :twisted:
I have prepared many batches since then, sometimes using only sage, or only mugwort or only wormwood...the effects are all very similar...again...with tincture or tea...none of these plants seem "active" to me...but left to the wiles of the fermentation process we get a whole new product. I would love to hear if any chemistry-savvy folks out there have an explanation for how activity might be released through fermentation.