Salvia is currently a drug being debated on the legislation floor. With salvia divinorum potentially becoming illegal, the number of You-tube video’s of people on salvia trips is sky rocketing. From the thousands of daily posts if people on salvia trips in appears from the comments that users would rather not publish the salvia trip and increase the risk of the drug being illegalized. Often those on a salvia trip appear to act “stupid” and this leads followers of the salvia trip experience to believe the chances of salvia divinorum being
illegalized can increase due to bad publicity.

Salvia (Salvia divinorum)

History:

Salvia divinorum is a perennial labiate used for curing and divination by the Mazatec Indians of Oaxaca, Mexico. The psychotropic effects the plant produces are compared to those of the other hallucinogens employed by the Mazatecs, the morning glory, Rivea corymbosa L., Hallier f. and the psilocybin-containing mushrooms.
A discussion of the role of ska Maria Pastora in the native pharmacopeia is based on previous reports and fieldwork by the authors, with a Mazatec shaman.


Introduction
Salvia divinorum (Epling & Jativa-M.) is a perennial herb in the Labiatae (mint family) native to certain areas in the Sierra Mazateca of Oaxaca, Mexico.
It is one of about 500 species of Salvia in the New World subgenus Calosphace (Epling and Jativa-M., 1962).
The plant grows in large clones to well over 1m in height and its large green leaves, hollow square stems and white flowers with purple calyces are characteristic taxonomic features.
This sage has been found only in forest ravines and other moist humid areas of the Sierra Mazateca between 750 m and 1500 m altitude (Diaz, 1975a).
Carl Epling, who first described S. divinorum, reported the newer as having a blue corolla, and it has been illustrated this way in the literature (Epling and Jativa-M, 1962; Schultes, 1976). However, this description has been shown to be an error, as all living specimens of the plant have had blossoms with white corollas and purple calyces (Diaz, 1975a; Emboden, 1979).
S. divinorum is one of several vision-inducing plants employed by the Mazatec Indians, one of the native Peoples living in the mountains and upland valleys of northeastern Oaxaca.
Unlike other Mexican tribes, there is little information concerning their existence before the arrival of the conquering Spanish, who reduced the Mazatecan population through exploitation and disease (Weitlaner and Hoppe, 1964).
The 1970 census estimated their number at 92,540 (Cortes, 1979) and the language of the Mazatec Popoloca family is one of the many non-Spanish dialects spoken throughout Mexico (Weitlaner and Hoppe, 1964).
The Mazatecan ritual use of hallucinogens, such as mushrooms containing psilocybin and morning glory seeds containing lysergic acid amide, has been widely publicized through the investigations of R. Gordon Wasson and Albert Hofmann, among others (Wasson and Wasson, 1957; Wasson, 1963; Hofmann, 1964; Hofmann,1980).


Mazatec Healing
The following report is based on fieldwork with a Mazatec curandero, or healer, living near the Alemin Reservoir in the Mexican state of Oaxaca, about 100 km from the port of Veracruz.
Although a study based on in- formation from a single source is open to criticism, the jealous and secretive nature of native shamans works against statistical methods of survey.
Visiting many shamans in a single area can actually lessen the amount of information gathered, as each curandero may fear the visitor is telling their secrets and giving their power to a rival.
To them magic can hurt or kill. Wasson and 'Richard E. Schultes have both commented on the difficulty of making contacts with the curanderos of this region (Wasson and Wasson, 1957; Schultes, 1941). Don Alejandro, the informant, spoke only a Mazatecan dialect.
One of his sons served as an interpreter, translating from the native tongue to Spanish. The information they provided the authors was gathered in frag- ments over many visits during the summer of 1979 and spring of 1~980.
Mazatec healing and religion are united in a manner common to tradi- tional cultures. This is somewhat foreign to Western scientific medicine which is isolated from religion except for the times when it no longer serves to cure.
A brief description of Mazatec healing, based mainly on the work with Don Alejandro should help to explain the use of ska Maria Pastora and its relationship to other healing plants.
The Mazatecs (the name, taken from the city of Mazatlan, was actually imposed on the natives by the Spanish) are nominally Catholic Christians, but they have incorporated many features of their traditional beliefs into their conceptions of God and the Saints, whom they consider to have been the first healers.
The most prominent among them is San Pedro, or Saint Peter, who is said to have cured a sick and crying infant Jesus through the ritual use of tobacco (Nicotonia spp.).
Tobacco is considered to be a health problem in the United States and many other countries, and its acute pharmacological effects are due to the alkaloid nicotine (Larson et al., 1961). Yet for the Mazatecs, as well as for almost all Mesoamerican Indians, it is the most important curing tool in the pharmacopeia.
The fresh tobacco leaf is ground, dried and mixed with lime to form a powder known to the Mazatecs as San Pedro (Saint Peter); the best is prepared on the Saint's day, June 29th (Inchaustegui, 1977). This preparation is more familiarly known by its Nahuatl name, picietl @piciete).
It is worn-in charms and amulets as a protection against various diseases and witchcraft, but its most important use is in limpias, or ritual cleansings. It may be used alone with a prayer and copal (an incense prepared from the resin of Bursera spp.) (Diaz, 1975b), or in conjunction with herbs such as basil (Ocimum spp.) or marijuana (Cannabis sativa)*, eggs or various other substances.
Anyone who comes to Don Alejandro to be treated usually gets a : limpia This ritual cleansing may be the cure in itself, or it may be accompanied by other medicines. The patient is given a pinch of the San Pedro powder (wrapped in paper) to carry with them and use during the healing period.
One learns to become a shaman through an informal apprenticeship, although the Mazatecs will insist they are taught by a progression of visions from and of heaven, rather than by people.
Psychotropic plants are inti- mately associated with this training, which can last up to two years or longer. in this area of Oaxaca, as well as the highland region visited by Diaz, +Don Alejandro does not use marijuana, as it is illegal.
The vision inducers are taken systematically at intervals of a week to a month. Once one becomes a healer the hallucinogenic plants are ingested much less frequently.
The process begins by taking successively increasing doses of S. divinorum for a number of times to become acquainted with the way to Heaven. Next comes mastery of the morning glory (Rivea corymbosa (L.), Hallier, f.) seeds and finally one learns to use the sacred mushrooms.
There is a very rigid diet to follow during this time, Hot foods such as garlic and chili peppers are restricted and there must be abstinence from sex and alcohol for extended periods.
However, many Mazatec shamans incorporate alcohol into their training and drink during their ceremonies (Wasson and Wasson, 1957). Breaking from this dieta, or ritual diet could make one crazy, according to Don Alejandro and since I such obligations require maturity, one should be at least 30 years old before becoming a curandero.


A Comparison Of Mazatec Hallucinogens
Ska Maria Pastora is, pharmacologicaly the weakest of the three hallucino- genic plants. Following its ingestion the Virgin Mary is supposed to speak to the individual, but only in absolute quiet and darkness.
The relatively mild experience is readily terminated by noise (such as a loud voice) or light. Don Alejandro says the effects of tu-tu-sho, the flower seeds (R. corymbosa), are similar to those of the Maria (S. divinorum) as both plants are siblings (son hermanos) under the protection of the Virgin Mary and San Pedro.
A dose he provided weighed 9.6 g and consisted of about 350 R. corymbosa seeds. A brief report on another morning glory (Ipomoea purpurea Both) noted that the ingestion of a large number of seeds produced effects similar to LSD, but with an additional narcotic component characterized by drowsi- ness and torpor (Savage et al., 1972).
Humphry Osmond also noted a narcotic effect on dosing himself with R. corymbosa seeds (Hoffer and Osmond, 1967).
The activity of morning glories appears to be due to d-lysergic acid amide (ergine) and related alkaloids (Schultes and Hofmann, 1980).
Interestingly, the authors discovered a woodrose (Argyreia spp.) growing in the vicinity of the village where Don Alejandro lived. Argyreia spp. contain LSD- like compounds (Chao and DerMarderosian, 1973). When asked whether he used the plant, Don Alejandro said that he did not, since it caused people to become crazy. The curandero also had several horticultural specimens of Coleus spp. growing near his house.
Wasson has reported that the Mazatecs believe Coleus to be a medicinal or hallucinogenic herb closely related to S. divinorum (Wasson, 1962). However, Don Alejandro said the plants were not medicinal and his daughter had bought them at the market because they were pretty.
According to Don Alejandro ni-to, or the mushrooms-that-one-takes (hongos para tomar, probably not a literal translation, see Wasson, 1980) are unlike the other two plants. The fungi are delicado (delicate), nervioso (nervous), una cosa de envidia (a thing of envy).
Unfortunately the English translations of these terms do not convey the Indian-Spanish concept of magic that has a dangerous and sinister side. Santa Ana and San Venanzio, the Saints the curandero associates with the mushrooms, were not as good at healing as San Pedro and the Virgen Maria, the patrons of the Saliva and the morning glory. Eating too many of the fungi can leave one crazy and the visions are often trucos (tricky).
Other Mazatec informants have attributed such characteristics to the visions, saying that one has to separate the true from the false (Inchaustegui, 1977). Wasson has reported that misuse of the mushrooms can lead to madness (Wasson and Wasson, 1957). Munn and Wasson have given complementary descriptions of shamanic use of mushrooms among the Mazatecs (Munn, 1979; Wasson 1980).
Psilocybin and psilocin, the vision-inducing compounds in the fungi, were isolated by Hofmann, who used himself as a subject to assay for their activity. He reported that a dose of 2.4 g of dried Psilocybe mexicana Helm (an average amount for a curandero) produced effects he could not control or resist.
A colleague was transformed into an Aztec priest and at the height of the experience Hofmann felt that he would be torn into this whirlpool of form and color and would dissolve (Hofmann, 1980).
This powerful experience was quite unlike the mild one produced by S. divinorum. As Don Alejandro stated it, The Maria, on the other hand accepts you (la Maria, en cambia, te acepta).


A Salvia Trip Recorded by a Doctor:

Session 2, March 6, 1980
During this much less formal session Diaz and Valdes took the infusion of S. divinorum and were monitored by Don Alejandro and his son, as well as by Paul, who tape recorded events throughout the afternoon and evening.
The researchers arrived at the village around 17:00 h and the shaman spent the entire afternoon and early evening talking with them about his visions of Heaven and the office (escritorio) he had there, near God and Jesus.
He recounted many tales and legends, including one about the origins of healing. It was a very enjoyable afternoon which provided an excellent set and setting (Weil, 1972) for the visitors' experience with la Maria Diaz and Valdes received infusions prepared from 60 and 50 pairs of fresh S. divinorum leaves, respectively.
They drank the prepared potions at 21:00 h and lay down in Don Alejandro's bedroom while the curandero's son and Paul sat on a bed next to them. Don Alejandro remained in the other room. The two researchers spoke in turn and were questioned by the younger Mazatecan whenever there was a lull in their speech:
Paul -- Nine o'clock, Leander and Jose Luis are drinking (the Salvia infusion). . . (indicates a pause in the recording)
Diaz -- Nueve doce (he looked at his lighted watch).
Empiezo a sentir olgunos de 106, de los efectos de la planta. Me siento muy relajado. Y he tenido en los ultimos minutes muchas imagenes de plantas y flores. Mucha, muchos tipos de flores diferentes. . . . . olgunos de ellos desconocidos para mi... De muchos colores. Siento mi cuerpo muy suave, como ligero. En los ultimos momentos empezaba a se... vei algunas imagenes come de puntos de luz.
(Nine- twelve. I am beginning to feel some of the, of the effects of the plant. I feel very relaxed. And I have had, in the past minutes, many images of plants and flowers, Many, many different kinds of flowers . . some of them unknown to me . . . Or many colors.
My body feels very mellow, as if it were light. In the past moments I began to see some images like points of light.) That's all for now. Valdes ...plants and flowers. I think they were what people call eidetic images, cause I saw them when I first closed my eyes.
They've disappeared. I feel like I'm being twisted around inside of my body. Very, very strange sensations, like I'm being... twisted. Boy, like I'm spinning. (Spanish deleted from here on - All translations are in parentheses)
Diaz - translation- (Nine-twenty. The. . . the sensation of lightness of the body is more intense. In a given moment I felt as though . . . as though I were floating through a root and the images of plants have changed and now I have had sensations like floating in the night full of stars and I realize that it isn't... it isn't easy to have... that it isn't easy to have the, the faith that he. . . that he asks of us. That he asks of me. I feel very. . . very, like very moved. All these things. That's all for now.)
Son -- Jose Luis?
Diaz -- (yes?)
Son -- (Do you see any more images?)
Diaz -- (Yes, a little. I have seen more, but it has not been very intense, no? I have seen.. as though I were floating in the sky, as though I had entered a large boat or something like that. And. . . and as if all the things inside were all very mechanical like a machine that was very... very precise and very geometric. And in.. . and curiously, as if in some cases there were again flowers inside the place. And again I began to see like many flowers, but as if they were all mechanical, as if they were not...real.)
Son -- (Christ? Didn't you see him?)
Diaz -- (Well... no. At times I thought about him, but he didn't appear as an image, no? At times I thought about some of the images which. .. which Don Alejandro described to us. Of the offices and.. .But, but nothing else.)
Son - (They didn't show you everything.)
Valdes -...down. It's very very hard for me to talk. Like something's pushing me down into the bed. My arms are very, very sore. (Dog barks) I see things but there's no, no (lost to dog barking). They just overwhelm me. Very hard to describe. I see things that look like fruits. Very strange, I can see the seeds. I can see the (dog barks) oranges and yellows and colors. Strange. Like giant fruit.
Son -- (What is Leandros saying? What did he see?)
Diaz -- (dog barks throughout this section of the recording). (He says that it is hard... it is hard for him to talk. That his body teels very heavy.)
Son -- Mm-hmm.
Diaz -- (That the images are not... they are weak, no? They aren't very'...
they aren't very intense, no? At times he succeeds... he succeeds in seeing some colors. He describes some flowers, and like fruit.)
Son -- (Yes.)
Diaz -- (But there aren't. . . there aren't images that are very.. . very.. .)
Valdes -- (There are many of seeds, no? Those of melons, no?)
Son -- Si.
Diaz -- (You fee... you feel very content, no?)
Valdes -- (Very heavy.)
Son -- (Didn't you see anything else?)
Valdes -- (sic; sounded somewhat intoxicated at this time.) (Things, but I can't describe them.)
Valdes -- . . (Cross With two arms) (. ..it seems to be burning, no? That it bar two rays instead of one, no?)
Son -- Mm-hmm.
Valdes - (This thing seems to have fire.)
Son -- Mm-hmm.
Valdes -- (dog barked throughout). (That there is like a wrapped body.)
Son -- Mm-hmm.
Valdes -- . (dogs barked throughout). (of a cross. Now, (lost to dogs) now there were many things but now they are disappearing. Everythng is like a very black. . .)
Son -- Si.
Valdes -- (It looks like a picture, but everything in black and white.)
Son -- Mm-hmm.
Diaz -- (I saw, I saw something like the flower of the... the newer of the... of the seed of the Virgin. Buite clearly with its purplish color. I... Ipomea violacea, no? I see many, many images if... if I concentrate on them, no? They move a lot, no?)
Son -- Si.
Diaz -- (However the... the state of feeling content left me a while ago.)
Son -- Mm-hmm.(the dog quieted down for a while)
Son -- (Can my Father explain now?
) Diaz -- (Yes. Look, I had. .. I think it is.. . it is also important that you tell him that. .. that he shouldn't feel bad because, because we... didn't... didn't see what he saw.. .)
Son -- Mm-hmm
Diaz -- (. . .exactly, because we come from. . . from a very different manner of... of looking at things, no?)
Son -- Mm-hmm.
Diaz -- (Then, because of this we have more difficulties in order to... in order to put ourselves in... in contact with Christ.)
Son -- Con Cristo. (With Christ.)
Diaz -- Y con lo Sagrado, no? (And with Sacred things. no?)
Son -- Mm-hmm.
Diaz -- (To us... to us other things happen, no? He shouldn't see this as a failure, no? Yours or even less, of the plant, no?)
Son -- Mm-hmm.
Diaz-- (Only it's that our experience is very different because.. . well, we see things differently, no?)
Son -- Si.=B7
Diaz -- (It is important tor him that... for you both that you understand this, no?)
Son -- Mm-hmm.
Diaz -- (I feel very content, no? For... for the experience just as it is, no?)
Son -- Si.
Diaz -- (Well, that's all.)
Son -- (You, Leandros, do you see more images? Or is that all you have seen?)
Valdes -- (I see images and they look a little but... like the images of the church but they don't have faces, no?)
Son -- Mm-hmm.
Valdes -- (They have... one sees this, their clothing, no? Of, of gold and everything but there is no image. There aren't any faces, no? That one recognized the...)
Son -- Mm-hmmm.
Valdes -- (lost; figures were praying). (They have their hands like this... like the...)
Son - (Is that all you saw?)
Valdes-- (I am looking at it now. I still... still am looking at it.)
Diaz -- (I continue to see, if I pay attention I continue seeingimages.)
Son -- Mm-hmm.
Diaz -- (Like flowers again, very luminous, no? As if they had an interior light.)
Son -- Si.
Diaz -- (I think it has a lot to do with the... with the Heaven that.. . that you described to us a while ago, no? Of how Heaven is.)
Son -- Mm-hmm.
Diaz -- (Full of music. Full of flowers, no?)
Valdes -- (I see something between... between a cross and a sword which is all covered with gold, very... it has many jewels.)
Son -- Mm-hmm... (Do all the images continue, or is it still there?)
Valdes -- (Yes, yes, it... it continues, it continues. But it changes, no? It continues and it changes, no?)
Son -- Si.
Valdes -- (Now it is.. . now it is surely a sword. .. Now it has disappeared.)
Diaz -- (Now I raw like a light...like a light. These, these flowers that I said had like a. . . like very illuminated in the middle. Now it has changed into a light. . . strong, no?)
Son -- Mm-hmm.
Diaz -- (Which comes as though from above.)
Valdes -- (lost to truck noise).... (lost).... (It is...is a shape between a cross but it has everything inside. It has everything... lights and animals.. . of... of people, of plants. Everything. ...of many colors, like a picture.Very, very vivid colors. Of animals.)
Valdes -...to collect this. .: this image of a cross I could seem to be able to, when I really concentrate on it, pull It back out. It disappears and recedes into the things around it, and if I'd lose it in. .. in all the things that are happening. But if I work at it I can concentrate and bring it back (It's that I can..; I, I lose the image of the crews. But if I think about this thing, it comes back to me again, no?)
Son -- Si.
Valdes -- (It returns to me again and I can pay attention to it and concentrate on it. But it is fairly difficult. But that. . . one can. . . maintain this thing.) I think that's something about this state that you learn to work around in. Pull images out as you need them.
Diaz -- . ..images of... like flying from a certain.. . (lost to noise). (Of... of flying as though at a certain altitude. And there are like fields planted with. . . and full of plants. Planted with all the plants that produce... produce grain that if used for food. Fields that are very, well cared for.)
Valdes -- tilted on its side? (dog starts again) (...which seems to be between a castle, or like a... a Byzantine church. I'm quite far from this thing. Not at its side, no? It isn't as it should be. It seems to be a little, how does one say, tilted on its side? I, am very far away and as though I'm very high above this thing. Now it looks more like a castle. I see it from the... from very far away as though it is from there. As though it is below me. But I don't see anybody of peo. .. of people. There isn't anybody. There are banners. Of all colors.)
Diaz -- (That's interesting. When you mentioned a castle I also began to see one.)
Son -- Un castillo. (A castle.)
Valdes -- just covered by robes? (Still. .. I still see it. I see like shadows, shapes, but they don't have... I don't see faces on there things, no? They are like... how does one say, covered by robes? They make... and march but these things are very, very serious.)
Son -- dEs todo lo qUe ues (Is that all you see?)
Valdes -- (I'm still looking at it, no? This thing is new to me. This thing.)
Fifty minutes had elapsed. The curandero's Son cut the session short, saying; that the village noises, especially the dogs, were too loud for worth- while experiences.
As Diaz and Valdes left the bedroom they staggered and stumbled. Although they said their minds felt clear, the tape recording showed their speech to be slurred and their sentence patterns to be awkward and broken.
Diaz commented, It is as though the body is intoxicated (borracho) and the mind isn't. Don Alejandro spent the next hour discuss- ing their visions in detail with them, saying that with more experience what they saw would become clearer and more meaningful.
He told the visitors that Paul should drive when they left, as the effects of la Maria would last the entire night.
As the car traveled through the late Oaxacan darkness, Valdes saw more icon-like images. Among them was the Virgin of Guadalupe amidst red, white and green streaming banners.
Whenever the vision began to fade, he found that he could recall it at will. Arriving at their destination, the three researchers ate a light meal. Diaz wrapped himself in a sarope (poncho), for he had a chill.
He remarked that this had happened to him on previous occasions when he had taken the Salvia infusion. His heart rate, when measured by Paul, had slowed from its normal 60 beats per minute to about however, he found himself standing in a bizarre, colored landscape talking subjects eyes and both had a normal pupillary response.
Valdes felt heavy and sore, especially in the shoulders and upper arms. After a shower, all went to bed.
When the lights went out (about 23:30 h or 2.5 h after ingestion of la Maria), Valdes began to have more visions. He saw a purplish light that changed into a bee or mothlike shape which became a pulsating sea anemone. The imagery expanded into a desert landscape full of moving prickly pear (Opuntia spp.) shapes.
During the first session the previous summer and throughout this evening Valdes felt the visions appeared to be like looking at a cross between a moving cartoon and a silent motion picture. Suddenly, however, he found himself standing in a bizarre, colored landscape talking to a man who was either shaking or holding on to his hand.
Next to them was something that resembled the skeleton of a giant stick-model airplane made from rainbow colored inner tubing. The reality of what he was seeing amazed him. After a brief instant the desert scene reappeared and Valdes then slowly drifted off to sleep. The three researchers rose early the next morning and all were in good spirits.