The Salvia divinorum Research and Information Center - Shroomery

Ps94amay99
we drank the infusion, he took it also, so he could "watch over us."
For my first encounter with las hojas de la Pastora, I was given a beginner's dose prepared from 20 pairs of leaves. I had a few
minor experiences at first, but 45 minutes after drinking the preparation I felt myself flying through pitch black space past
various brightly colored objects. I came to one of them. It turned out to be a Mazatec village and I viewed it from above, as if
from a hill. It appeared to be almost real, although the colors were somewhat emphasized. There were shapes like pillars of
kaleidoscopic smoke at the sides of some of the houses. Then I began to recede from the apparition. I did not speak out as I
was instructed to. An hour after we started, Don Alejandro went outside and vomited, indicating it would stop his visions. For
the next hour he listened to what we had seen and then related his visions while commenting on ours. He told me it was
necessary to speak out. We then went to sleep and arose the following morning at 4:30 am in good spirits.
My second experience occurred about six months later. Again, Díaz also took the infusion, while Paul tape recorded the
session (Valdés, Díaz & Paul 1983). Don Alejandro's preparations were much like that for the earlier session, except that my
drink was made from 50 pairs of leaves. This time the curandero felt he did not need join us. He was a maestro, one who could
journey to heaven and talk to God and the Saints without resorting to the psychotropic plants (Incháustegui 1977). Felipe told
us that his father had a direct access to God in Heaven. It was the spiritual version of a long-distance telephone call. We drank
the infusion at 9:00 pm. Unfortunately the village was extremely noisy that evening, especially the continual barking of the
dogs. After about 15 minutes, we began to have visions. This time I spoke mine out, alternating between English and Spanish,
which helped to fix them in my mind. Díaz spoke first and mentioned flowers. I then saw eidetic images that evolved to plants
and flowers. These later became giant fruits and seeds. At the same time I felt that I was twisting inside my body as well as
spinning around. I saw a burning cross with two horizontal rays. It stopped flaming and began to emit light. Suddenly I seemed
to be very heavy, as though something were pushing me into the bed. My arms felt sore. Later I saw what looked like a
darkened picture in black and white. Díaz apologized to Don Alejandro for our inability to see the religious figures the
curandero had described. My vision then changed back to color, with praying figures resembling those seen in Mexican
churches. They were faceless and their clothing was covered with gold. The image of a jewel-encrusted single-rayed cross
appeared. It converted itself slowly back and forth to a sword. In the center of the image I could see animals, plants and people.
If the vision started to change or disappear, I could concentrate and bring it back. The last image was that of a castle that was
transformed into a Byzantine church. Hooded, faceless, monklike figures marched around it.
About 50 minutes had gone by and Felipe suddenly stopped the session. Don Alejandro told him that there was too much noise
for a meaningful experience. As we left the bedroom, Díaz and I staggered and stumbled. The tape recording later confirmed
that our speech was slurred and we spoke in awkward patterns, although we both felt quite alert. Díaz said that it was as if the
body were intoxicated, but the mind wasn't. Don Alejandro spent an hour discussing our visions with us. He said that once we
returned to the motel where we were staying, they would come back and last throughout the night. With more experience, we
would begin to understand the use of the plant and the ways of healing. We could continue "studying" on our own. The
curandero cautioned that Paul should drive back. During the return journey, in the quiet darkness of the car, the imagery
returned. I saw the Virgin of Guadalupe. If the vision began to fade, I could will it back. We returned to the well-lit motel
where there was music and noise. I thought the experience was over and things had returned to normal. Díaz felt cold and
wrapped himself in a sarape (he noted that this had happened on other occasions when he took the infusion). We ate a light
supper, showered, turned out the light, and went to bed. It was 11:30, some 2.5 hours after I first drank the potion. In the motel
room, the imagery came back stronger than ever. Even though I didn't speak out, I saw a pulsating purplish light that changed
to an insect-like shape, perhaps a bee or a moth, and then into a pulsating sea anemone. It expanded into a desert full of prickly
pear cacti, and remained so for several minutes. During the first session and throughout the night, my visions had all appeared
to be something like a cross between a silent moving picture and a cartoon. I felt myself to be an observer of these mute
visions, rather than being an actual part of them. Suddenly, however, I was in a broad meadow with brightly colored flowers. I
had just crossed a stream by way of a small wooden bridge. Next to me was something that seemed to be the skeleton of a
giant model airplane made of rainbow colored inner tubing. The sky was bright blue and I could see a woods in the distance. I
found myself talking to a man in a shining white robe who was either shaking my hand, or else holding on to it. It was an
amazing hallucination, as I truly believed I was in the meadow. It was not like a dream. After a few moments the desert
landscape returned and I slowly went to sleep after an hour or so. I rose early the next morning, feeling no adverse effects.
It is important to again emphasize that quiet and darkness are essential to a complete visionary experience with the Salvia
infusion. This is probably true with all methods of taking the plant, including smoking the leaves. Only on inhalation of the
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