GOD a dit:
"Bo back a bit further, mate. Shamans would use Salvia for deep meditation."
Who says that ? Where is the evidence ? Please explain why it wasnt used in modern times by the mexicans and peyote and psilocybe mushrooms were / are . Those people are not called shamans , exept by modern peoploe who have read confused books and not understood them . You should go back a bit further and read books that were written before the modern "experts" copyed things that they didnt understand and added them together like adding 2 and 2 and getting 6 from original books by people who actualy did their own research and found original information on the subjects .The word shaman , or words very similar , is / was used in siberia , korea and israel . In mexico they are called curanderos . Shamans and curanderos have totaly different views of life and their worlds .
Those mexicans didnt smoke it they chewed it .
"I've experienced an ego death"
Please tell us exactly about it .
"Again, so little is known about Salvia that it's silly to make a generalization"
Thats what you are doing .
Most people who try it dont like it and dont do it more than a few times , for obvious reasons .
I'm aware of the term 'shaman' by the information I've gotten by research, and books I've read I learned that it was used by the Mazatec shamans; which was mainly centered around Oaxaca, Mexico, where the plant grows.
(Salvia divinorum: The Botany, Ethnobotany, Biochemistry and Future of a Mexican Mint plant by Robin Marushia.)
Which books have you read on the plant? What did you learn?
This is off-topic, but it's been said and thought that Salvia might be a hybrid. No evidence supports this, but the plant itself is unique as it does not operate the way most plants do.
So little is known about the history behind the plant that we really do not know. Documents of its use may have been burnt long ago to prevent it from entering the West. Who knows.
Other plants were used during that time, such as peyote and mushrooms-- Salvia might have been a substitute to these plants when they ran out, or a plant which they would start out with before going for a plant where the effects last for several hours.
The Mexicans didn't smoke it because they knew little of how to extract Salv. A from the plant. Chewing it was their only option. Had they known how to extract it, they might have smoked it.
'Most people who try it dont like it and dont do it more than a few times , for obvious reasons.'
I think it's safe to say that most people do not do it that often. Salvia produces a profound and unique trip unlike any other psychedelic. It's uncomfortable. Most people cannot handle it. I, however am very interested in it. I find it amazing that it bonds to a different receptor in the brain-- totally unlike most classic psychedelics. It's something that needs to be studied and understood.
'Please tell us exactly about it (the ego death)'
It took me a while to have a 'breakthrough experience' with Salvia. My body might be allergic to it, or very resistant to it. My first real experience wasn't an ego death experience. I was aware of my body and mind, but I had very heavy and intense visions. It was indeed uncomfortable. I imagines mostly profound rotating tubes 'wallpapered' with the same image. I kept going down the tube, and several times it would shift into some other object, like a roller coaster, or cartoon characters I've never seen in my life (strange robotic flowers, swinging animals that are virtually impossible to describe.
As far as the ego death experience, I was transported into space. I was not aware of my body nor mind. In a way, it was like dreaming. During the trip there were no spinning tubes, but space itself was spinning. After a bit of what I'd call 'flying', the trip shifted into a red slide. My spirit, or whatever, climbed inside it and went down. It was as if I was reliving a blissful moment in my childhood. What was amazing was even though the trip lasted 5-10 mins at the most, it felt like I was in this world for several hours. The slide image was slowly disappearing , but I did not want to leave. I wanted to sty there forever. Perhaps it's something in my subconscious that wants to be a child. Who knows.
I believe Salvia is more profound after the trip goes away. If you give yourself time to think what happened, and try to speculate as to why your mind drifted that way while the chemical was in your body the experience will end up meaning something.
I personally think smoked Salvia IS complete and absolute schizophrenia for 5 minutes..
