Salvia has gain notoriety as a powerful entheogen and, although it is not a party drug, more and more users look for its insightful experience.
The most traditional way is the use of fresh or dried leaves but, nowadays there is also available salvia extracts with different levels of intensity. Fresh leaves are hard to come by, unless you are growing salvia yourself, or know someones who does. Dried leaves and extracts are wide spread and are easy to find.
There are three ways of consuming salvia: making a infusion, orally by chewing leaves and smoking, either leaves or extracts.
Orally - Infusion
This is one of the traditional ways of consuming salvia. It was used by the Mazatec people and it is considered a very safe way of consuming salvia.
The infusion should be done with fresh leaves by squeezing them to make a water based drink with the leave juice.
Part of the active salvorin is lost in the GI tract, so a really big quantity of leaves is necessary to make the drink effective. Also, the taste of the juice is unpleasant and fresh leaves are hard to come by so, this method is very rarely used by non-mazatec people.
Apart from the huge quantity of leaves and the unpleasant taste, this method does work and its effects last longer than any other method.
Sublingually
To chew the leaves a quid is made. This is kind of a cigar of rolled salvia leaves. The Mazatec would take 13 pairs of fresh leaves and roll them in a ball or a cylinder – the quid – and then chew on it slowly for around half an hour.
A chew should be made every 10 seconds and the quid kept under the tongue between chews. The juice that is formed inside the mouth should be kept for the whole half an hour (if you manage it) to let it be absorbed my the mucous membranes of the mouth. After this half an hour you can spit it all out.
Although the traditional way of making the quid is with fresh leaves it can also be done with dried ones by rehydrating the leaves. Making it with dried leaves will have a less bitter taste than with fresh leaves.
To make it with fresh leaves you will need between 6 and 25 larges leaves. To make it with dried leaves you can use 2 to 10 grams of dried leaves that should be soaked for around 10 minutes in cool water to rehydrate them. The leaves will double the size after rehydrated.
Effects of chewing will start around 10 to 15 minutes after chewing, the peak can last up to 30 minutes and they will wear off within 45 minutes to an hour.
Salvia extracts can also be taken sublingually. This means that you should take the desired amount of extract and chew it slowly, keeping the emerging juice under the tongue and mouth.
There are different levels of extract concentrations: 5x, 10x, 15x, 20x, 30x and even 40x. The higher the number the more concentrated is the extract,10x is stronger than 5x, 20x stronger than 10x and so on so, much less quantity is necessary to have a effect.
Usually between 70 to 100 mg of extract is enough for sublingual use but, since it it is unknown how strong were the leaves used for the extraction, you should test low dosages to see how you react and increased the dosage from there, if necessary.
The effects of taking extract sublingually will start around 10 minutes after chewing with the a peak of 20 minutes. However, most of users say that the best is to smoke the extract when one is searching for a intense trip, since they found the trip from taking salvia extract sublingually very subtle.
Smoking
To smoke salvia leaves they should be dry, as fresh leaves are not good for smoking as they contain a big quantity of water.
Most people find difficult to get any effects when smoking leaves. Smoking a salvia joint will almost have no effect because it should be taken in one hit. The best way to smoke it is by using a bong, since big quantities of leaves is burned at the same time and more heat can be generated.
As the salvinorin takes really high temperatures to vaporise, it is advisable to keep the flame over the leaves all the time a person is inhaling or, use a torch lighter, that produces much more heat.
The quantity of leaves that should be smoked to have a effect is hard to quantify, it varies from person to person, as it happens as many psychoactive substances, each person reacts differently to different substances/quantities. Usually 1 to 3 dried leaves is enough to produce effects but, start with low quantities and increased the dosage according to the desired effects.
Good trip results are obtained by smoking extracts. A lot of times a single hit from a salvia extract is more than enough to have a strong salvia experience. As with smoking leaves, it is advisable to smoke using a torch lighter.
For smoking extracts a lot of times 30 to 60 mg of extract is enough to create strong psychedelic effects but, it is advisable to test it first by starting with low dosages. As referred before you are not sure of how strong is the material used for the extraction so, start small not to be in hands with a unpleasant and out of control trip in a amnesic state (See Salvia Effects).
When smoking, the effects will be felt within the first 60 to 90 seconds after taking the hit. However they will not be long lasting, the peak will last around 5 to 10 minutes and after 20 to 30 minutes maximum the effects are completely over and you are back to normal.
Choose the way that fits you better and reach for your desired trip but, never forget that salvia is not a party drug and should be treated with respect. The strength of the effects will depend on the dosage, method of consumption and your own body chemistry.
We strongly advise to read the Safe Guide on the use of Salvia when planning a salvia trip.
SALVIA STORAGE AND DRYING
Salvinorin A is a stable compound so it will not loose potency over time.
Salvia extracts can be kept for a long time, almost indefinitely, as long as they are kept dry, as not to gain any mould.
Salvia leaves can also be kept for long periods of time, being the best way to store them in a glass jar, out of direct sunlight in a dry place.
If you are a salvia grower and want to dried it to keep it you can do it by:
Drying naturally: place the leaves on a plate in a dry place. Turn the leaves often and store them after they are completely dried.
drying with a food dehydrator: dry the leaves until they are crisp and the leave stems snap with pressure.
Drying with a oven: place the leaves in the oven at 90ºC until they are crisp.