It’s nothing like marijuana.
That’s like saying tobacco is like marijuana.
The high is not related to that of weed one iota, and furthermore the trips that you experience whilst under its influence are fascinating to say the least.
Read up a bit.

Simon H.

Psychedelic plants and mushrooms have been utilized purposefully and in a ritual manner by human beings for millenia. Many cultures all over the world have used them for healing, spirituality, for enhancing creativity and for introspection and contemplation. A big body of cros-cultural, archaeological, psychopharmacological and neurobiological evidence points to the fact that the use ot this plants by human beings represents more than just a curiosity of moder human culture. As a matter of fact, this ecological interaction between human beings and certain plants and mushrooms that alter conscioussness, may be as ancient as the archaic origins of our hominid lineage, reaching back as far as 7 million years. These plants and mushrooms have been considered as “sacraments”, “plants of the gods” and “plant teachers” by many indigenous cultures and ancient civilizations, having a considerable impact in the origin and development of many of the great religious and spiritual traditions of the world. These remarkable substances might have also been involved in the process of human evolution, acting as enhancers of creativity and catalizing the emergence of our symbolic and linguistic capacities.
I believe it is truly irresponsible and precipitated to dismiss this substances as mere drugs (in the sense of the hedonistic and recreational use of some young people) without taking into account what history tells us about the central role this plants and mushrooms have had in cognitive evolution and sociocultural development (shamanism, language, religion, art, music, etc.), in healing and spirituality; and more recently in psychology and psychiatry, in cognitive neuroscience, and in modern scientific breaktroughs (for example nobel prize winners Francis Crick and Kary Mullins; the discoverer of the structure of DNA and the creator of PCR genetic techniques respectively; both of them attribute their scientific discoveries at least in part to insights gained with the help of psychedelic tools.) Furthermore, recent studies done at John Hopkins University (doi:10.1177/0269881108094300) have shown that when administered under supportive conditions, psilocybin (the active compound found on “magic mushrooms”) occasioned experiences identical to spontaneously occurring mystical experiences that, at 14-month follow-up, were considered by volunteers to be among the most personally meaningful and spiritually significant of their lives. Therefore, the suspicion and disdain of the writer of this article toward the validity and long term benefits of psychedelic mystical experiences is both scientifically unfounded as well as theologically and historically inacurate.

I have no doubt that there are people (you mentioned scientists as well as various cultures) out there who take the use of salvia seriously.

However, for most of the people who take this, chances are, they are not looking for spiritual revelation or some supposed process of human evolution. They are looking to get high, or to trip, or to see something different and feel something different. Their intentions aren’t as… purposeful, I guess is the word.

I don’t harbor any “suspicion and disdain” towards salvia itself, only to those people who use it to make funny videos on Youtube.

Please visit http://www.club13.com for all the latest salvia news and to buy the best salvia. You should try salvia before you talk about it..

I think people typically use the term “spiritual” to distinguish an experience from “religious” experiences, such as visions of saints. Call it what you want, but many drugs-induced experiences that are quite different from anything that most people have every experienced (except perhaps for experienced bought on by insanity, sleep deprivation, or starvation). The scientist in me says that if an experience is different from what I am used to, then there is something to learn from it.

In my view, the main value of these psychedelic drugs is that they cause our minds to behave differently, but still leave us aware enough to observe these changes. In contrast, the more common drugs have minor changes (tobacco, alcohol) or severely inhibit our awareness and recall of the situation (alcohol).

If you are interested in how modern intellectuals interpret these “spiritual” events, I recommend (in this order):
1) “LSD 25, My problem child” by Albert Hoffman, the chemist who discovered the psychoactive properties of LSD
2) “The doors of perception” by Aldous Huxley
3) “Island” by Aldous Huxley
4) “Flashbacks” by Timothy Leary- Leary’s personality is quite different from Huxley and Hoffman, and you may prefer this book if you want an impressionistic and dramatic memoir about the impact of these drugs on humanity.

Most people who do this sacred plant, never do it again. Some steer clear of entheogens and harder drugs altogether. Still, this is all a red herring. Its really about the state attacking the non-sanctioned religion of shamanism.

Salvia is completely misunderstood by the masses, and if America cannot handle this experience then legislation should illegalize its use. It is a sacred experience that should not be abused or ridiculed by the likes of ignorant one-time users. On the other hand, if honesty and patience are used, Salvia can be used for deep introspection and a recollection of the senses allowing its follower the benefits of the scent of the roses, the age of the trees, and the release from the illusion of time.

- Like in Aldous Huxleys, Brave New World, America is on a fast track to social engineering and massive conformance to ideals that are set by the wealthy elite because they require a stable workforce to further their dominance. Perhaps, it is the evolutionary drive in all of us, of course the fit will survive, but maybe we should consider alternatives to our daily ritual of 9 to 5. I suppose it depends upon your values.

Ultimately, as far legislation is concerned, is the plant dangerous? Of course, we know that reason does not always dictate our laws — alcohol, a very dangerous drug responsible for tens of thousands of lives per year and billions of dollars for the corporate gods, is legal while marijuana, a relatively safe experience, is not. Salvia is not dangerous, but caution should be exercised in its use.

Try before you criticize, but honestly, if you prefer restrictions and a simple reality, then you may die in bliss.