Salvia divinorum “sage of the seers”
Salvia divinorum has a long and continuing tradition of religious use as an entheogen by indigenous Mazatec shamans, who use it to facilitate visionary states of consciousness during spiritual healing sessions.[1] The plant is found in isolated, shaded, and moist plots in Oaxaca, Mexico. It grows to well over a meter in height. It has hollow square stems, large green leaves, and occasional white and purple flowers. It is thought to be a cultigen.
Its primary psychoactive constituent is a diterpenoid known as salvinorin A,[7][8] which is a potent κ-opioid receptor agonist. Salvinorin A is unique in that it is the only naturally occurring substance known to induce a visionary state this way.
Salvia divinorum has large green leaves, hollow square stems, and white flowers with purple calyces. The plant grows to well over a meter in height.[1] Unlike other species of salvia, Salvia divinorum produces few seeds, and those that do appear seldom germinate. For an unknown reason, pollen fertility is also comparatively reduced. There is no active pollen tube inhibition within the style, but some event or process after the pollen tube reaches the ovary is aberrant.[21]
Partial sterility is often suggestive of a hybrid origin, although no species have been recognized as possible parent species. The ability to grow indistinguishable plants from seeds produced through self-pollination also weakens the hybrid theory of origin, instead implying inbreeding depression or an undiscovered incompatibility mechanism. Salvia divinorum is mainly propagated by cuttings or layering. Although isolated strands of Salvia divinorum exist, these are thought to have been purposely created and tended to by the Mazatec people. For this reason, it is considered to be a true cultigen, not occurring in a wild state.
The known active constituent of Salvia divinorum is a trans-neoclerodane diterpenoid known as Salvinorin A (chemical formula C23H28O8).[22] This compound is present in the dried plant at about 0.2%.[23] Unlike other known opioid receptor ligands, salvinorin A is not an alkaloid, as it does not contain a basic nitrogen atom.[24]
When considered by mass alone, salvinorin A is the most potent naturally occurring psychoactive compound known.[25] It is active at doses as low as 200 µg.[13][22][25] Research has shown that salvinorin A is a potent and selective κ-Opioid (kappa-Opioid) receptor agonist.[26][22] It has been reported that the effects of salvinorin A in mice are blocked by κ-Opioid receptor antagonists.[27] This makes it unlikely that another mechanism contributes independently to the compound’s effects. Salvinorin A is unique in that it is the only naturally occurring substance known to induce a visionary state via this mode of action. Salvinorin A has no actions at the 5-HT2A serotonin receptor, the principal molecular target responsible for the actions of ‘classic’ hallucinogens, such as mescaline and LSD.[27]
Salvinorin’s potency should not be confused with toxicity. Rodents chronically exposed to dosages many times greater than those to which humans are exposed did not show signs of organ damage.[28]
Many other terpenoids have been isolated from Salvia divinorum, including other salvinorins and related compounds named divinatorins and salvinicins. None of these compounds has shown significant (sub-micromolar) affinity at the κ-Opioid receptor, and there is no evidence that they contribute to the plant’s psychoactivity.
Mazatec shamans crush the leaves to extract leaf juices from about 20 (about 50g) to 80 (about 200g) or more fresh leaves. They usually mix these juices with water to create an infusion or ‘tea’ which they drink to induce visions in ritual healing ceremonies.
Smoking
Dry leaves can be smoked in a pipe, but most users prefer the use of a water pipe to cool the smoke.[32] The temperature required to release salvinorin from the plant material is quite high (about 240°C). A regular flame will work, but the direct application of something more intense, such as the flame produced from a butane torch lighter, is often preferred.[32]
Many people find that untreated dried salvia leaf produces unnoticeable or only light effects. More concentrated preparations or extracts, which may be smoked instead of natural strength leaves, have become widely available. The enhanced leaf is often described by a number followed by an x (such as “5x,” “10x,” etc). The multiplication factors are generally indicative of the relative amounts of leaf used in preparation. The numbers therefore may also be roughly indicative of the relative concentration of the active principle salvinorin A, but the measure should not be taken as absolute. Potency will depend on the naturally varying strength of the untreated leaf used in preparing the extract, as well as the efficiency of the extraction process itself. Extracts reduce the overall amount of smoke that needs to be inhaled, thus facilitating more powerful experiences.
If salvia is smoked the main effects are experienced quickly. The most intense ‘peak’ is reached within a minute or so and lasts for about 1-5 minutes, followed by a gradual tapering back. At 5-10 minutes, less intense yet still noticeable effects typically persist, but giving way to a returning sense of the everyday and familiar until back to recognizable baseline after about 15 to 20 minutes.[36]
Chewing the leaf makes the effects come on more slowly, over a period of 10 to 20 minutes, the experience then lasting from another 30 minutes up to one and a half hours.[36]
When taken as a tincture the effects and duration are similar to other methods of oral ingestion, though may be significantly more intense, depending on the potency of the extract
Psychedelic experiences are necessarily somewhat subjective and variations in reported effects are to be expected. Aside from individual reported experiences there has been a limited amount of published work summarising the effects. D.M. Turner’s book “Salvinorin-The Psychedelic Essence of Salvia Divinorum” quotes Daniel Siebert’s summarisation, mentioning that the effects may include:[37]
An example of salvia-inspired visionary art
* Uncontrollable laughter
* Past memories, such as revisiting places from childhood memory
* Sensations of motion, or being pulled or twisted by forces
* Visions of membranes, films and various two-dimensional surfaces
* Merging with or becoming objects
* Overlapping realities, such as the perception of being in several locations at once
Cautionary notes
Dale Pendell expresses some concerns about the use of highly concentrated forms of salvia. In its natural form salvia is more balanced and benevolent, and quite strong enough, he argues. High strength extracts on the other hand can show “a more precipitous, and more terrifying, face” and many who try it this way may never wish to repeat the experience.
Brett’s law
A particular focus of many US media stories is the long-running coverage of the case of Brett Chidester.[75][61] Chidester was a 17-year old Delaware student who committed suicide in January 2006 by climbing into a tent in which a charcoal grill was lit. He died of carbon-monoxide poisoning. Reportedly, some months before this, Brett’s mother had found out and questioned him about his salvia use. Brett said that he had ceased his experimentation, but his parents do not believe that he was telling the truth. They have argued instead that salvia caused depression and must have been largely to blame for his death. Some of Brett’s earlier writings about his salvia experiences have been used to suggest that it made him think “existence in general is pointless”. Some media stories have referred to these earlier written experience reports as if they were part of Brett’s suicide note.
It is difficult to determine how much Salvia divinorum really contributed to the death of Chidester and the association with his suicide has been widely debated.
Contrary to some news reports, his suicide note did not mention Salvia. Chidester had written about his experiences, and some published accounts have invited the inference they were written just prior to his death.[3] His diary or journal entries said: “
Salvia allows us to give up our senses and wander in the interdimensional time and space. […] Also, and this is probably hard for most to accept, our existence in general is pointless. Final point: Us earthly humans are nothing.”
Its primary psychoactive constituent is a diterpenoid known as salvinorin A,[7][8] which is a potent κ-opioid receptor agonist. Salvinorin A is unique in that it is the only naturally occurring substance known to induce a visionary state this way.
Salvia divinorum has large green leaves, hollow square stems, and white flowers with purple calyces. The plant grows to well over a meter in height.[1] Unlike other species of salvia, Salvia divinorum produces few seeds, and those that do appear seldom germinate. For an unknown reason, pollen fertility is also comparatively reduced. There is no active pollen tube inhibition within the style, but some event or process after the pollen tube reaches the ovary is aberrant.[21]
Partial sterility is often suggestive of a hybrid origin, although no species have been recognized as possible parent species. The ability to grow indistinguishable plants from seeds produced through self-pollination also weakens the hybrid theory of origin, instead implying inbreeding depression or an undiscovered incompatibility mechanism. Salvia divinorum is mainly propagated by cuttings or layering. Although isolated strands of Salvia divinorum exist, these are thought to have been purposely created and tended to by the Mazatec people. For this reason, it is considered to be a true cultigen, not occurring in a wild state.
The known active constituent of Salvia divinorum is a trans-neoclerodane diterpenoid known as Salvinorin A (chemical formula C23H28O8).[22] This compound is present in the dried plant at about 0.2%.[23] Unlike other known opioid receptor ligands, salvinorin A is not an alkaloid, as it does not contain a basic nitrogen atom.[24]
When considered by mass alone, salvinorin A is the most potent naturally occurring psychoactive compound known.[25] It is active at doses as low as 200 µg.[13][22][25] Research has shown that salvinorin A is a potent and selective κ-Opioid (kappa-Opioid) receptor agonist.[26][22] It has been reported that the effects of salvinorin A in mice are blocked by κ-Opioid receptor antagonists.[27] This makes it unlikely that another mechanism contributes independently to the compound’s effects. Salvinorin A is unique in that it is the only naturally occurring substance known to induce a visionary state via this mode of action. Salvinorin A has no actions at the 5-HT2A serotonin receptor, the principal molecular target responsible for the actions of ‘classic’ hallucinogens, such as mescaline and LSD.[27]
Salvinorin’s potency should not be confused with toxicity. Rodents chronically exposed to dosages many times greater than those to which humans are exposed did not show signs of organ damage.[28]
Many other terpenoids have been isolated from Salvia divinorum, including other salvinorins and related compounds named divinatorins and salvinicins. None of these compounds has shown significant (sub-micromolar) affinity at the κ-Opioid receptor, and there is no evidence that they contribute to the plant’s psychoactivity.
Mazatec shamans crush the leaves to extract leaf juices from about 20 (about 50g) to 80 (about 200g) or more fresh leaves. They usually mix these juices with water to create an infusion or ‘tea’ which they drink to induce visions in ritual healing ceremonies.
Smoking
Dry leaves can be smoked in a pipe, but most users prefer the use of a water pipe to cool the smoke.[32] The temperature required to release salvinorin from the plant material is quite high (about 240°C). A regular flame will work, but the direct application of something more intense, such as the flame produced from a butane torch lighter, is often preferred.[32]
Many people find that untreated dried salvia leaf produces unnoticeable or only light effects. More concentrated preparations or extracts, which may be smoked instead of natural strength leaves, have become widely available. The enhanced leaf is often described by a number followed by an x (such as “5x,” “10x,” etc). The multiplication factors are generally indicative of the relative amounts of leaf used in preparation. The numbers therefore may also be roughly indicative of the relative concentration of the active principle salvinorin A, but the measure should not be taken as absolute. Potency will depend on the naturally varying strength of the untreated leaf used in preparing the extract, as well as the efficiency of the extraction process itself. Extracts reduce the overall amount of smoke that needs to be inhaled, thus facilitating more powerful experiences.
If salvia is smoked the main effects are experienced quickly. The most intense ‘peak’ is reached within a minute or so and lasts for about 1-5 minutes, followed by a gradual tapering back. At 5-10 minutes, less intense yet still noticeable effects typically persist, but giving way to a returning sense of the everyday and familiar until back to recognizable baseline after about 15 to 20 minutes.[36]
Chewing the leaf makes the effects come on more slowly, over a period of 10 to 20 minutes, the experience then lasting from another 30 minutes up to one and a half hours.[36]
When taken as a tincture the effects and duration are similar to other methods of oral ingestion, though may be significantly more intense, depending on the potency of the extract
Psychedelic experiences are necessarily somewhat subjective and variations in reported effects are to be expected. Aside from individual reported experiences there has been a limited amount of published work summarising the effects. D.M. Turner’s book “Salvinorin-The Psychedelic Essence of Salvia Divinorum” quotes Daniel Siebert’s summarisation, mentioning that the effects may include:[37]
An example of salvia-inspired visionary art
* Uncontrollable laughter
* Past memories, such as revisiting places from childhood memory
* Sensations of motion, or being pulled or twisted by forces
* Visions of membranes, films and various two-dimensional surfaces
* Merging with or becoming objects
* Overlapping realities, such as the perception of being in several locations at once
Cautionary notes
Dale Pendell expresses some concerns about the use of highly concentrated forms of salvia. In its natural form salvia is more balanced and benevolent, and quite strong enough, he argues. High strength extracts on the other hand can show “a more precipitous, and more terrifying, face” and many who try it this way may never wish to repeat the experience.
Brett’s law
A particular focus of many US media stories is the long-running coverage of the case of Brett Chidester.[75][61] Chidester was a 17-year old Delaware student who committed suicide in January 2006 by climbing into a tent in which a charcoal grill was lit. He died of carbon-monoxide poisoning. Reportedly, some months before this, Brett’s mother had found out and questioned him about his salvia use. Brett said that he had ceased his experimentation, but his parents do not believe that he was telling the truth. They have argued instead that salvia caused depression and must have been largely to blame for his death. Some of Brett’s earlier writings about his salvia experiences have been used to suggest that it made him think “existence in general is pointless”. Some media stories have referred to these earlier written experience reports as if they were part of Brett’s suicide note.
It is difficult to determine how much Salvia divinorum really contributed to the death of Chidester and the association with his suicide has been widely debated.
Contrary to some news reports, his suicide note did not mention Salvia. Chidester had written about his experiences, and some published accounts have invited the inference they were written just prior to his death.[3] His diary or journal entries said: “
Salvia allows us to give up our senses and wander in the interdimensional time and space. […] Also, and this is probably hard for most to accept, our existence in general is pointless. Final point: Us earthly humans are nothing.”