Salvia Divinorum (or "
Diviner's Sage") is truely an amazing plant, with an equally amazing
history.
As noded above, it was used by the Mazatec culture for healing and spiritual purposes. The plant itself, actually, was regarded literally as a deity that directly influenced the culture through its use by Shamans.
In modern times, the plant Salvia Divinorum was nearly extinct until ethnopharmacologists discovered it (believing it to be the mysterious "pipiltzintzintli" used by the ancient Aztecs, although others believe that this was Cannabis sativa) and cultivated it back from the brink.
Perhaps the most interesting thing about Salvia is how it works in the brain: nobody knows. It has been theorized to somehow affect the limbic system in the brain, and possibly the somatosensory (parietal lobe), cerebellar and vestibular functions. Beyond that, however, the mechanism by which Salvinorin A causes it's entheogenic effect is unknown. It does not react with any of the known neuroreceptors in the brain, nor any precursors. By all observations, the chemical simply floats up into the brain and dissolves. Even still, it is the most potent hallucinogen found in nature (threshold dose is 200 micrograms. LSD-25's threshold dose is more like 20ug, but then, it's not found in nature like LSA), as the above trip reports testify.
Salvia is perfectly legal to grow, possess, and consume, and will STAY THAT WAY until dumb kids popularize it and give it bad press, and then it will fall under the Controlled Substance Analogue Enforcement Act of 1986 and get scheduled.
I have been told by many people who study the Mazatec culture that it is considered taboo to engage in sexual intercourse while under the influence of Salvia, anecdotal evidence points to several cases where the drug somehow no longer effected that person afterwards.
Many people (again, experienced Salvia users who have studied the ethnopharmacology a great deal) have told me that it doesn’t always work the first time it is consumed (although I know many people who felt the full effects the first time). The explanation I am always given for this is the same.
"The plant takes you when you're ready, not the other way around"
The experience of Salvia is not so much of someone taking a drug, but a drug taking someone. You do not hallucinate; rather, you become the hallucination of a much larger, much older entity. When confronted with this sort of metaphysical “bullshit”, I was predictably skeptical and haughty…
…but no longer.