My First Spirit Quest

[PapaSmurf]

my experience with salvia was both good and bad. part of the reason is because we could've picked a better place to do it (NOT in a motionless car) and i could've picked better trip-sitters.

we got some of the "purple sticky stuff," 20x, which i thought would cost more. i've researched salvia a LOT prior to this experience, and i was still surprised when the ladies working at the headshop told me cautions involved with salvia intake, which i was in the dark about.

after the first three hits (out of a long pipe, not a bong), i started feeling the effects. i kind of felt that tingling sensation you get in your foot when it's "asleep," only it was all over my body and it was faint and painless. i also felt warmer. the music (techno...perfect!!) sounded better (louder, yet farther away).

the only real hallucinations i had were thinking that a yellow-and-red carpet on the floor was a monopoly board, and that everything was made up of very tiny, very faint blue-and-red dots. these colored dots kind of looked like the dots that make up an image on your tv screen. i call this my "dot vision."

i had difficulties telling what time it was. things happened quickly, but time seemed non-existent.

i also had strange insights. everything, living or not, had a "soul". i imagined that these souls engineered the object/creature and took on distinct physical forms. human males were mushroom stalks w/ heads, human females were cirlces. they had 2-4 colors on them. technological communication devices, such as computers and televisions, had slowly rotating neon-wire frame spheres in them, and other objects had monochromatic blocks in them. plants and animals had strings...i think. i remember all of this because i wrote it down when i was still coming down. my soul was white, with a baby-like head, worried eyes, rosy cheeks, and strange golden plates. my primary trip-sitter (and friend) was orange with a bitter face and a frankenstein's monster-shaped head and green eyes and hair. it was all very vivid, but it was all in my head, not hallucinogens. i call this my "spirit vision."

i also forgot to mention that when i toked for the third time or so, i imagined i was a glass figure containing water, and that the smoke went inside me and became distorted, looking like disturbed underwater sand. i could only picture my self like that. i call it my "glass vision."

THE BAD PART

the people i was with were assholes. after our mini-trip got over with, my secondary trip-sitter started driving and i thought he was going to get us killed. he wouldn't pull over, no matter how much i begged and even yelled. they kept calling me an idiot and told me to stop worrying. then they said that i should never try ecstasy, even though the trip is probably nothing like a salvia trip. i seriously thought we were going to die. i was trapped in the car. i was very alert, panicking when there were other cars around. i thankfully made it to my bedroom without being interrogated (my eyes were bloodshot and all).

next time, i'll have a better friend with me. i've certainly learned something from this experience.

what "level" would you say i was at (one being lowest and five being highest)?

[Synchronium]

Hey PapaSmurf, interesting write-up!

There's actually a pre-existing de facto scale by which to measure salvia trips:

Level - 1 "S" stands for SUBTLE effects. A feeling that "something" is happening, although it is difficulty to say just what. Relaxation and increased sensual appreciation may be noted. This mild level is useful for meditation and may facilitate sexual pleasure.

Level - 2 "A" stands for ALTERED perception. Colors and textures are more pronounced. Appreciation of music may be enhanced. Space may appear of greater or lesser depth than is usual. But visions do not occur at this level. Thinking becomes less logical, and more playful; short-term memory difficulties may be noted.

Level - 3 "L" stands for LIGHT visionary state. Closed-eye visuals (clear imagery with eyes closed: fractal patterns, vine-like and geometric patterns, visions of objects and designs). The imagery is often two dimensional. If open-eyed visual effects occur, these are usually vague and fleeting. At this level, phenomena similar to the hypnagogic phenomena that some people experience at sleep onset occur. At this level, visions are experienced as "eye candy" but are not confused with reality.

Level - 4 "V" stands for VIVID visionary state. Complex three-dimensional realistic appearing scenes occur. Sometimes voices may be heard. With eyes open, contact with consensual reality will not be entirely lost, but when you close your eyes you may forget about consensus reality and enter completely into a dreamlike scene. Shamanistic journeying to other lands--foreign or imaginary; encounters with beings (entities, spirits) or travels to other ages may occur. You may even live the life of another person. At this level you have entered the shaman's world. Or if you prefer: you are in "dream time." With eyes closed, you experience fantasies (dream like happenings with a story line to them). So long as your eyes are closed you may believe they are really occurring. This differs from the "eye candy" closed-eye imagery, of level 3.

Level - 5 "I" stands for IMMATERIAL existence. At this level one may no longer be aware of having a body. Consciousness remains and some thought processes are still lucid, but one becomes completely involved in inner experience and looses all contact with consensual reality. Individuality may be lost; one experiences merging with God/dess, mind, universal consciousness, or bizarre fusions with other objects--real or imagined (e.g. experiences such as merging with a wall or piece of furniture). At this level it is impossible to function in consensual reality, but unfortunately some people do not remain still but move around in this befuddled state. For this reason a sitter is essential to ensure the safety of someone voyaging to these deep levels. To the person experiencing this the phenomenon may be terrifying or exceedingly pleasant; but to an outside observer the individual may appear confused or disoriented.

Level 6 - "A" stands for AMNESIC effects. At this stage, either consciousness is lost, or at least one is unable to later recall what one had experienced. The individual may fall, or remain immobile or thrash around; somnambulistic behavior may occur. Injuries can be sustained without pain being felt; on awakening, the individual will have no recollection of what he/she did, experienced, or said in level 6. People cannot recall what they experience in this very deep trance state. This is not a desirable level, because nothing can latter be recalled of the experience.

Your experience sounds like it might be a level 2 or 3 out of a possible 6. What would you say?


Also, your story highlights the importance of having a reliable sitter! A lot of people seem to think needing a sitter is childish/stupid/wimpy. Let's hope everyone who reads this takes heed of your warning.

[PapaSmurf]

thanks man