All Aboard!

pulled magnetically through the vortex

Substances: Salvia divinorum

I did not heed the advice to have a sitter present for the experience. I felt like I would be able to handle myself for the few delirious minutes the plant was to have a hold on my consciousness. My wife was going out with her friends that night, and I waited for them to leave. I chained the door shut after they left, fearing I might try to walk outside and I should make that as hard to do as possible.

I darkened the room, set up some pillows, lit a small candle, and proceeded to prepare myself. I crushed the leaves into a shake and loaded a glass blown bowl full to the brim. I meditated on what I was doing, and my reasons for doing it before I lit the bowl. I took a long, extremely deep bong hit, held it, and exhaled. I distinctly felt a rumble. This did not seem to scare me. It felt as though it was to be expected. (Earth shaking rumbles are common you know...) Wanting to be sure to get a full dose, I took another long pull. The Salvia burned bright orange and the smoke was voluminous. The rumble grew louder. The remainder of the unsmoked crushed leaves were perhaps eight inches away from me on a sheet of paper. I thought I should try to smoke one more bowl but found myself unable to reach the paper because the "train" I was on was slowly pulling away from the station! Somehow everything had dramatically changed! I was quite plainly on a train leaving a station. The train had low sides and no windows or roof. I could actually smell the environment change around me as the train left this reality. The train was moving faster an faster up a vortex, towards an entity I can only describe as "death" or "the great hereafter." The feeling of being pulled to my death was rather comforting. There was no fear, but I felt certain that this was what the dying process felt like. The pulling grew more and more forceful and I reached and stretched as hard as I could, trying desperately to reach the crushed leaves that lay a few inches away. It was nearly impossible to reach them. It took several dramatic attempts, but I was finally successful. The rumble I heard had begun to overtake my physical body and I was only able to pack a pinch into the bong with my shaking fingers. I managed to pull a little smoke through (I think) but was unable to find a place to put the bong down, due to the fact that the "train" I was on had left the station and there was no floor to put the bong on. I stretched for what seemed like minutes and finally put the bong down safely. I was totally, completely, and thoroughly removed from this reality. I was travelling now.

Every cell of my body was being pulled magnetically through the vortex. The cells on the front of my body were pulling, those on the back of my body were pushing, hard. For some reason I never looked at the center of the vortex (it was blindingly bright.) Instead I was looking at the world through the side walls of this unbelievable powerful tractor beam. It pulled me up off the floor and straight towards the front door. I held on to a wall to keep from being pulled outside. I had read over and over again that I was supposed to lay down and let the Salvia pull my soul away, but I was incapable of doing so. I felt like my body had been grabbed instead of my consciousness and I was helpless to change the nature of the trip. I tried to move across the force of the pull, to see if the direction of the pull stayed constant. It did. It was pulling due west no matter where in the house I managed to crawl.

After a few minutes (which seemed much, much longer) the pull subsided and I was allowed to walk freely. I lay on my bed and marveled at the large, geometric closed eye visuals. Large triangular constructions and swirling detailed spiked pods rotated before my eyes. I saw pairs of smiling eyes and continued to hear the faint rumble. I fell asleep on the bed about an hour and a half after I smoked. I was woken up later that evening by my wife and her friends returning from the bar. They couldn't get in the front door because I had chained it from the inside. They were a little confused, and a lot drunk "Why's the door chained?" *laugh*laugh* "Who were you afraid of?!" *giggle*giggle* "Who did you think was going to try and get in?"

"I was afraid I might get out." I said.

They stopped laughing.

In retrospect, the lessons I learned related to being comfortable and aware through the dying process- being totally aware of the condition of my soul and my readiness to meet whoever was on the other side. I tried smoking Salvia again several days later, but rolled a joint of the crushed leaves this time to eliminate the difficult bowl loading problem. I'm sorry to report that I was only minimally affected by the Salvia, and I only experienced a very light mushroom tea intoxication that lasted for an hour or two. It appears a bong is necessary. Salvia is powerful and I feel as though I have only scratched the surface of what lies ahead.