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.

I feel bad for the writer of this article and to any other person who agrees with it likewise. Of course, everyone is entitled to their opinions, and I completely agree with the fact that seeing a hallucination of the Virgin Mary on an acid trip might not be classified as a “spiritual revelation”, but I do believe that plants such as marijuana and salvia can indeed open the mind to different, even better realities for humans to live in. Let’s face it, every single person lives in their own reality whether they will agree to that or not. Has anyone ever read “The Iceman Cometh” by Eugene O’Neill? Societies standards and laws state that it is illegal and wrong to partake in smoking of marijuana, and soon maybe even salvia, but to what extent do these laws and standards effect the fact that throughout history human beings all over the world have used such sacred plants as gateways to realms which may not be entered in a “normal” state of mind? All I am saying is that the world today really could use a new face. A new state of mind if you will, because let’s face it, the way the world is working today, very few are completely happy with how humans today are running things. Just a thought, it seems that the only people who are completely happy with the world are completely ignorant American citizens that follow blindly to what the “virtuous leaders” and the media have to say. Humans are spiritual creatures. With spirituality comes tools to help dive into the human spiritual psyche, just as math comes with tools to help dive into solving a problem. Marijuana, nor salvia should be considered “drugs”. Leave the term for killers such as Heroin, Cocaine and ALCOHOL that really can damage human society and leave it broken and beaten. These two plants, graciously given to us as gifts by the Earth have been put here for a reason. There will always be the teenagers who want a quick giggle, a laugh, a good time, but hey that’s just how we work! This country and many other countries will not be able to save everyone in the world (not like they actually want to anyways). Let people live. Let people decide what is right for their life. Let people be people. Spirituality is a wonderful thing, and I believe that criminalizing such sacraments only shows the further downfall of the human race, the close mindedness of the human race today and the utter failure of the human race to live and learn for the sake of living and learning. America is no longer the land of the free. Culture has changed for the worse and it seems only a miracle can save us now. All we can hope for is change. For peace. For humanity. For a dream that maybe, one day, the ones who criticize people who reach for further meaning in life and the Earth we live on will see things a little greener. I can bet that if an important leader one day openly spiritually smoked marijuana and salvia, and preached of its helpfulness to human kind rather than its destruction, most of the population would follow after 25-50 years. Please don’t criticize and incriminate the people who wish to partake in these ancient practices for the right reasons. We only wish and envision the world to be a better place for everyone.

This article is horrible. Mr. Rodriguez knows exactly what he is talking about, and this piece is honestly very juvenile and ignorant. I use psychedelics pretty regularly, and though sometimes it is quite a trip and a big fit of laughter, more times than that it is meaningful to me, and i grow spiritually as a person with each use. The author clearly cannot distinguish between spirituality and established religious practice, displayed in the segment referencing ’seeing mother mary’. It leaves me speechless…disgusted that people look at shamanism and the use of psychedelics as ‘drugs that fuck you up’
.
its all been propagated by the government and the media. its fucking nonsense.salvia, on another note, is completely different from anything. extremely powerful, but short-lived trip, with the frankest hallucinations i’ve ever had. it does not benefit me in the way lsd or mushrooms do, and i think this is mostly because of the fact of how short it is.

Salvia is nothing like marijuana. The effects are much different. And you referred to a marijuana high as “lethargic”. Nowhere near.

Many ancient civilizations and cultures have used marijuana as well as other plants (peyote, tobacco, brugmansia, mimosa, datura) for spiritual purposes and have had spiritual revelations whether you believe in them or not.

With all due respect that was easily probably one of the worst articles i have ever read. On a damn good topic that i plan on doin for my 3rd time (in my life today). Salvia and marijuana are 2 totally different things, both being naturally growing plants but both giving totally different types of experience. and im like 99 percent sure when most people say hey lets smoke a bowl, or lets do salvia again today…its not for reasons of “just getting fucked up.” its so we dont end up like idiots like you who see things only from their perspective and think that their way of living is the most indefectible. fuck you i kno doctors, lawyers, teachers, who did and still do take trips here and there and enjoy smokin out with me as well. If anyone agrees with this ridiculous article you must really be out your mind. I thought it was ridiculous when i saw the dumb heading pop up on my google when i was trying to find a good blog on salvia experiences. Get ur facts together use yahoo answers, google, or fuckin askjeeves and regather your facts and maybe actually go out and try some drugs as you might call them (because to me and my friends they are herbs bro.) and see if you dont look at your pathetic life at another angle and fix your dumb druggy thoughts immediately. its all moderations man and as i get older and so do others we learn that.