Salvia Divinorum - How Is It Taken?
How Is It Taken?
The shamans, or medicine men, of the Mazatec Indians collect Salvia divinorum to use in their work. Shamans are spiritual leaders who seek to cure the sick and uncover hidden truths. Shamans use the plant for their rituals of healing and divinationThe mystical experience of seeing into the future, witnessing a hidden truth, or gaining a deep insight.. Once the leaves of the plant are removed from the stalk, they are prepared in a variety of ways. Sometimes they are ground up, or they are crushed or squeezed. At times they are brewed as a tea, while in other instances the leaves are simply chewed.
The dosage varies, according to the desired effect. Four or five pairs of fresh or dried leaves are the usual treatment for minor ailments. This treatment would be given to cure headaches; to treat constipation (the inability to have a bowel movement); or to serve as a general tonic for someone feeling weak or achy. A similar amount is considered to be an excellent cure for a mysterious illness that the Mexican Indians call panzon de barrego. This illness causes a swollen belly, and legend says it is caused by the curse of a sorcerer—a being with magical powers given to him by evil spirits.
Ritual Uses of Fresh Leaves
There are other reasons why a shaman, also called a curandero (KOO-ren-DAH-roh), would use the plant. Low doses cause mild effects, but when the leaves are taken in much larger amounts, the results are much more noticeable and unusual. Doses of perhaps twenty to sixty leaves of Salvia divinorum cause hallucinations and a trance-like state. A trance is a sleep-like state in which important body functions slow down. In a trance, users will usually talk, and the words spoken are thought to reveal some sort of hidden truth.
If a person is suffering from an unidentified illness, Salvia divinorum may be used to try to determine the nature of the problem. In this case, the curandero climbs a mountaintop to obtain some leaves; kneels and prays before harvesting the plant; then returns to the patient. A dose of perhaps fifty leaves is prepared for the ill person to consume. However, if the person is known to be an alcoholic, twice as much of the plant is used.
Continuing the ritual, the curandero, the patient, and a third person, who acts as an assistant to the shaman, all proceed to some quiet spot. Once there, the person being treated drinks a preparation of water, into which the leaves have been squeezed. Soon, the person
becomes intoxicated, like he or she has been drinking a lot of alcohol. The person then enters a trance state and begins speaking. It is believed that whatever is said will reveal the true problem causing the illness. When the experience is over, the patient tosses aside all clothing in a symbolic gesture to free himself or herself. Then, the person goes to sleep. The final phase of treatment takes place the following morning, when the curandero gives the patient a bath, which completes the ritual cleansing.
Chewing
The chemical makeup of salvinorin A is such that it is quickly broken down by the human digestive system. Therefore, simply eating it immediately makes it almost completely inactive. This is why the substance is usually administered in some other fashion—one that allows the body a chance to absorb the compound. In the traditional medicine of the Mazatec Indians, Salvia divinorum is usually taken by means of chewing the leaves. The leaves are not, however, quickly chewed and swallowed as if they were food.
Taking four or five fresh leaves, the user instead holds them in the mouth for quite a while. The user chews the leaves thoroughly without swallowing them, in a manner similar to that used on a plug of chewing tobacco. This method causes the active ingredients to be absorbed through the tissues of the mouth. After many minutes of thorough chewing, the user finally swallows the mass of leaf material. The taste of the leaves is extremely bitter, so chewing them may be quite an unpleasant experience. Curanderos, however, consider this the best method for taking in the salvinorin A and the most effective way to bring on long-lasting visions.
Drinking
Other methods of ingesting the leaves are sometimes used as well. The fresh leaves are squeezed, and the juices are consumed as a beverage. Because of the action of the digestive tract on the salvinorin A, if this method is chosen, the liquid must be held in the mouth for some time before swallowing. This is done in order for the substance to have a noticeable effect. As with the chewing method, the longer the liquid is held in the mouth, the stronger the effect will be, because the salvinorin A is absorbed through the lining of the mouth. Still, the effect from this method is typically quite mild, as it is difficult to hold the liquid in the mouth for very long.
In yet another method, fresh leaves are crushed and soaked in water to create an extract. A solution made with four or five leaves is said to act as a mild tonic (a substance that energizes or refreshes) to increase general well-being. A solution made with twenty to sixty leaves is required to bring on hallucinations.
Smoking
In addition to eating or drinking Salvia divinorum, users occasionally smoke it. The leaves are dried and rolled up into cigarette form. In this method, five or six deep puffs will produce a mild euphoria (yu-FOR-ee-yuh), a state of extreme happiness and enhanced well-being. This feeling is somewhat like the high produced by marijuana. The feeling will rapidly reach a peak but then linger for an hour or two. The most powerful effect comes from vaporizing the crystalline form of salvinorin A and inhaling it. When taken by means of this method, a dose of 200–500 micrograms will produce very intense hallucinations.
Experimentation with Various Forms
In the early 1990s, Daniel Siebert, a researcher who has studied the effects of Salvia divinorum, coordinated an experiment using twenty human volunteers who took the substance in a variety of ways. Those participating in the experiment reported that no effects at all were noticeable when they took 10 milligrams in a capsule, which was swallowed.
However, as little as 2 milligrams produced effects when prepared as an alcohol extract and sprayed on the tissue of the mouth. Yet, the results from this method were unreliable. When participants in Siebert's trial took 200–500 micrograms of crystallized salvinorin A, vaporized over heat and inhaled, hallucinations were experienced reliably, with an intensity that was very much like that brought on by the use of fresh leaves.
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