The Salvia divinorum Research and Information Center - Shroomery

Erowid Experience Vaults: Salvia Extract - A Total Mind/Body Trip
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A Total Mind/Body Trip
Salvia Extract
by Elfstone
DOSE : smoked Salvia (extract)
I took approximately 30 dried leaves of Salvia divinorum, crushed them by hand, placed them in a mason jar,
and soaked them in about 1/2 cup of denatured alcohol. I let this soak for about 2 hours, then decanted the
alcohol into a small rectangular dish, added about 5 crushed leaves, and then set a small fan to speed the
evaporation process. Since alcohol will absorb a small amount of water, the last bit of moisture was driven off
by preheating the oven to 250 F, turning it off and placing the dish within, completely drying the extract in
about 15 minutes. I scraped all material from the dish with a razor blade.
I made this extract to allow my good friend A. the chance to experience Salvia with the advent of the new
year. Prior to attempting this method, I had always used acetone as the solvent, with fairly good result. The
denatured alcohol (pure ethanol with a small amount of methanol added) seemed a good alternative solvent
as Valdez reported using aqueous methanol as a polar solvent to extract nonpolar hexane extracts,
increasing the concentrations of salvinorin-a before using chromotographic separation to obtain the purified
compound.
My wife, Evenstar, and I arrived at our friends' home, being received by him and his wife, A. & B. After
exchanging amenities and becoming comfortable, we proceeded to weigh whether he would like to try DMT or
Salvia. He had a slight cold and thought he'd go with the milder trip, opting for the Salvia. I placed about 1/2
teaspoon of the concentrated form in a small pipe, telling him he had to take at all in, in several huge
inhalations, while my wife recommended that he put a pillow on the floor so he could lay down afterwards
and really get into it. He fired up the pipe, finishing it in two inhalations, and lay down on the floor, becoming
very quiet.
Star, being an experienced Salvia journier, shared her observations on the state with us while A. remained
very quiet on the floor. However, he soon attempted to sit up and looking at his expression, it was quite clear
that he was having an overwhelming experience. About 4 minutes had passed and he was still deep into it. In
his attempts to sit up I could discern disorientation, and something I had never seen in my friends face
before, fear! We are all very experienced trippers, A. & I having begun over 25 years ago, and seeing his
expression of fear I was both amused and a little alarmed. I went by his side and told him it would pass. He
sort of crawled away from his resting spot and mumbled that he would like it to end now. His wife came
nearby and comforted him. After a few more minutes had passed, I suggested that he try to articulate the
experience to help himself come back and he said, 'Does crocodiles and bananas make any sense?' The
three of us found ourselves laughing heartily at the intensity of my friend's experience. We were all very
surprised and amused to see his bewildered reaction. As he finally began to come back he was able to
provide us a very interesing account of his experience. He stated that there was also the distinct perception
that this was all a big joke and that we were all in on it except for him. He was especially sure that Evenstar
was the engineer of the whole thing.
He said that after taking the last hit and laying down, that was the last thing he remembered for awhile: It was
just like being hit over the head with a baseball bat. As awareness resurfaced, he would perceive the room,
http://www.erowid.org/experiences/exp.php3?ID=2140 (1 of 2) [04.09.01 11:46:16]