Arthur - Salvia divinorum: doorway to thought-free awareness

Special thanks to Daniel Siebert for his encouragement.

SALVIA
DIVINORUM

Fascinating. Salvia Divinorum is a clear, inspiring, and insightful account of meetings with a powerful teacher plant. In the spirit of the classical psychedelic explorers, J. D. Arthur kept a meticulous record of his work with Salvia divinorum. In this easy-to-read book he provides others with a road map for their own explorations, as well as a detailed guide to the territory. After reading Arthurs book I am inspired to look again at salvia.

ROSS HEAVEN,AUTHOR OF
PLANT SPIRIT SHAMANISM AND
THE HUMMINGBIRDS JOURNEY TO GOD

CONTENTS

A NOTE TO THE READER

ON THE USE OF SALVIA DIVINORUM

S alvia divinorum is a fairly recent addition to the visionary pharmacopoeia of the modern world. As such, it offers unexplored benefits, as well as dangers. The long-term consequences, both physical and psychological, of the ingestion of salvia and its concentrated extracts are, as yet, unknown. This, of course, doesnt imply that there are any adverse effects in the long run, but does indicate that one should proceed with caution, and that these unknown elements must be factored into any mature assessment of salvias ultimate safety.

The experience of salvia ingestion is not necessarily a pleasant one. Many people have tried it once or twice and sworn off. In all probability, salvia will never be a popular pursuit. The disorienting nature of the trance is not the type of experience that people generally find entertaining.

These writings are in no way meant to encourage the use of salviato do so would be irresponsible. Although salvia is a legal visionary plant in most of the United States at this writing, many states have wisely limited its purchase and use to those over eighteen years of age. Unfortunately, some states as well as countries have banned its use altogether. Before considering any experimentation with salvia, one should check its legal status in ones state (or country, if outside the United States) to make sure no laws are being broken.*

The fact that much salvia experimentation occurs among younger people is disturbing. While salvia can be a valuable adjunct to sincere analysis of ones own perceptual relationship to the world at large, it also can be a source of disorienting delusion for those unequipped, due to the poverty of their life experience, to approach it with the proper balance of respect and skepticism. It should, therefore, never be used by those under the age of eighteen.

Due to the sometimes bizarre and overwhelming effects of salvia, those with any history of mental health issues should also avoid it.

The future legality of salvia on a national level is still unknown at this time, but based on our general cultural view of genuine visionary pursuit, salvia will no doubt go the way of other mind-altering plants.

INTRODUCTION

I n the fall of 1962, two aging gentlemen, sitting on crude wooden saddles, rode on donkeys through the mountains of Oaxaca, Mexico. Their journey, arduous by any standards, was undertaken for one reason: they were in search of a treasure. The surroundings they encountered, though often beautiful, were daunting at times, and their travels were not without peril, but they were on a quest.

One of the two men was the renowned chemist Albert Hofmann, whose experimental work had led to the discovery of LSD-25. His companion, R. Gordon Wasson, was the author and amateur ethnobotanist who, years earlier, was instrumental in revealing the mystery of Teonancatl, the Mexican hallucinogenic mushrooms, to the modern world. The treasure that drew them to these mountains was the elusive plant known as Salvia divinorum. The plant had been used for centuries by the Mazatecs for healing and divination, particularly when the sacred mushrooms were not in season. Along with the mushrooms and the hallucinogenic morning glory seeds, Ololiuqui, salvia completed the triad of plant allies so valued by the curanderos.*

After finally locating samples of the legendary plant, as well as ingesting a preparation of its leaves under the guidance of a curandera during a divinatory ceremony, they succeeded in bringing back the first specimens for identification to arrive in the United States. Within months, other researchersSterling Bunnell, accompanied by poet Michael McClurejourneyed to the same areas in Mexico, this time retrieving live plants that would later be propagated, with samples eventually spreading to many parts of the world, thus offering, for the first time, a newly unearthed doorway that would open into the unknown.

In years to come, salvias unique psychoactive component, salvinorin A, would be identified by the pioneering researcher Daniel Siebert, who would be the first to unravel the mysteries of its absorption through diverse preparations, as well as to delineate the mechanism of the various forms of ingestion.

With time, others would follow in their footsteps, providing additional genetic varieties and enlarging the scope of knowledge about salvia, while attracting adherents throughout the world and assuring salvia a prominent place in the hierarchy of hallucinogenic plants.

The following account is a record of my personal experiences ingesting that same visionary plant over a period of several years. These are, of course, subjective experiences. This journal is not meant to either encourage or discourage anyone from exploring the effects of this plant for themselves. There is no implicit suggestion that these types of results are either accessible or inaccessible to others who might decide to experiment. People who explore such avenues will have their own motives, expectations, and predispositions, and no sweeping generalizations could or should be ventured. It is my personal belief that the perceptual transition herein described could be duplicated and surpassed by others of like mind.

To accept the following journal of experiences as true, without ones own experimentation and possible validation, would be counter to the spirit in which they were recorded. The experiential nature of visionary exploration is in itself a counterbalance to the all too common mode of faith that often seems to aim toward the limiting rather than toward the expansion of awareness.

To reject the following account based on skepticism is understandable. I myself would have considered much of it as either nonsense or delusion, had I come across it under different circumstances; and were it not for the relative ease of personal verification of many of the psychological states engendered by salvia, this would probably be the most rational conclusion one might reach.

The events described, although often quite remarkable in themselves, were not the ultimate transformative mechanism; rather, the changes that took place in my own perception, essentially redefining the identity of the perceiver, continue to hold the most significance. Regardless of the visions encountered, certain undeniable characteristics of perception and mentation have become apparent and have been uniquely pivotal in altering the way the world is subsequently viewed.

Ive tried to avoid reading any meaning into the occurrences that unfolded, but have endeavored to report an accurate account of both the events witnessed as well as any resultant psychological responses or changes that could be relevant. When speculation has surfaced, its been in the interest of communicating some of the more subtle feelings that would have been irretrievable by any other means.