Observations placeholder
Arthur, James D - 12 If the experience lasted much longer, it would be psychologically devastating
Identifier
011329
Type of Spiritual Experience
Background
Just like LSD, if you enter the state with objectives and preconceptions you will face an almighty battle with the composer and the plant spirit, it will not be a nice experience, your ego will be battered to pieces – not a bad thing in itself of course, but it will be traumatic
A description of the experience
Salvia Divinorum – J D Arthur
After returning to normal awareness, I noticed that the effects of salvia would linger for about an hour. This was, at the time, another interesting development. In the past, after a hallucinogenic experience such as LSD, the 'after-glow" state was a very enjoyable transition. Everything appeared in a new and meaningful light that one would endeavour to savour and prolong.
Salvia, on the other hand, was a different experience for me. The ordinary world was a relief. After the induced 'madness" of salvia, the mundane elements of normal life were a restful balm. It was as if the salviaic experience was so disturbing, at such a depth, that any distraction was welcome and refreshing.
Although this characterization of the salvia experience can appear to weigh heavily on the negative side, there was, at the same time, a growing excitement fuelled by the all-encompassing reality of the experience. I'd never come across anything like this before.
The short time that one is actually in the salvaic state is, in the beginning at least, a merciful benefit. I remember thinking, at the time, that if the experience lasted much longer, the prolonged intensity would be psychologically devastating..
The more I entered this state, the more I was becoming familiar with this terrifying foreignness…. At the same time, I was beginning to adapt to the state that had been foreign initially. I was beginning to let go. The fear that I was losing my mind, in my first experiences with salvia, had loosened its grip a bit. I was unconsciously becoming more willing to relinquish, for a few moments, the fierce clinging to the psychological framework that defines and stabilises the world