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hajimumtaz
11-11-2007, 08:14 AM
I must first say, I have absolutely fallen in love with Psychonautica. Thank you so much for an interesting, educational and enlightening podcast.

Some background: After a long hiatus from illegal (in the US) drug use (and ergo, as I thought at the time, most readily available psychedelics), I was introduced to salvia divinorum. And what a wonderful surprise it has turned out to be! In the last few weeks I have tried many different extracts (15x Ecstasy brand and Red and Purple Salvia Zone) and one grade of leaf (unbranded low-grade Hawaiian). For the record, if one wants to get the most possible enjoyment out of the leaf, buy a standard tobacco pipe. I am tremendously enjoying my renewed life as a novice psychonaut.

The main point: I wanted to share some advice for maximizing your enjoyment of salvia divinorum. I have never been one to have vivid, memorable -- and certainly never lucid -- dreams. If you are interested in enjoying salvia in a new way, smoke a large dose of salvia immediately upon laying down for bed. As soon as you finish smoking, turn off the lights and turn off your music*. Let the salvia take you away. Once you've returned from the initial journey, struggle to stay awake for a few minutes and think about the trip you have just experienced. Focus on your trip and introduce any idea that you are interested in experiencing or understanding (for instance, contemplating the love you have for your wife) and allow yourself to drift slowly to sleep. It's certainly not guaranteed, but I've often found myself able to dream vividly, memorably and to a varying extent, lucidly, when in this state. I'm not sure why, but the same effect can be sometimes be enhanced by beginning the experience in the early evening, before I would normally be going to sleep. Other times, the higher state of alertness prevents me from beginning to dream. I wake up from my usually 1 hour "nap" with vivid memory of an amazing experience both in dreaming and in waking, followed by an afterglow lasting more than an hour. For instance, yesterday, while dreaming, I was able to fly through the sky over forests and rivers and mountains, by invoking technomagick similar in nature to that shown in trailers for the video game Tabula Rasa. Note, this was not a spiritual experience in theme, though the sense of exhilaration was unbounded!

Have you any interesting tips or experiences to share regarding salvia and/or lucid dreaming?

best, haji.

*Max Freakout is right when he says that music is an integral part of the psychedelic experience. salvia divinorum is the only psychedelic the use of which I find more enjoyable and enlightening without the help of music. For comparative purposes, I have heavily used LSD, pure MDMA, ecstasy, mushrooms, DXM, mescaline, cannabis and ketamine in many interesting combinations: I've found that listening to music rendered them all far more interesting.

max_freakout
11-11-2007, 03:42 PM
that's an interesting view, that salvia is better without music, i have had some great experiences with music on salvia though, there are a few tracks that now sound just completely different to me, that i hear on a totally new level, ever since i heard them while i was in salvia space, but each to his own......

And a great idea about doing it before you go to bed, i made a similar recomendation about DMT, if you can be totally relaxed and meditative you can more fully experience the effect.

I hardly ever have lucid dreams, although i think the psychedelics opened the doorway in my brain to them because i had never had any before i got into psychedelics, the way i get lucid dreams is if i go to sleep lying on my back with some lights on in the room, it's harder to get to sleep for me that way but when i do drift off i sometimes get lucid dreams, and sleep paralysis, it never lasts long but it's a very amazing experience, not always comfortable though

hajimumtaz
11-11-2007, 04:21 PM
Greetings Max Freakout. I am definitely interested in music recommendations specifically for use with salvia. The only tracks I've been able to enjoy are from Phillip Glass* and listening to them led to a completely different and amazing experience wherein I literally felt and saw the music. But during it I kept thinking "I am on salvia". When I am seeking a spiritually deep experience, the music grounds me too much. In any case, I definitely interested in continuing to pursue the pretty, awe-inspiring musical landscapes of salvia, so please do share any tracks you think I might enjoy.


best, haji.

*This is strange for me, because on psychedelics I generally enjoy various forms of electronica