Salvia divinorum teks by Sphere AKA Twilight and medium to high resolution .jpeg images of crystalline salvinorin. A collection of my favorite photographs of salvinorin crystals selected out of over 1000 taken from 2002 to 2006. Once this page is opened click on each photo to see a larger picture. Look for the "original" link under the photo if you want to see the photo in its highest resolution. Also, at the bottom of the page are a few .pdf articles I wrote about extracting Salvia divinorum leaf. All photographs and documents copyright owned but feel free to make them available on pro-entheogen forums and web sites, others must ask permission to use them.
Regarding the extraction techs which can be viewed at the bottom of the page:
I am not a chemist or a professional in botany but have worked many hundreds of hours to find and hone simple methods for extracting and refining salvinorin without the need for special equipment and have placed everything I have learned over the years here. These methods were worked out in a place and time where and when legal to do so. Please observe all local laws.
Disclaimer, use this information at your own risk, I will not be responsible for either the proper or improper use of the information provided. Also, these documents were written to share what I have learned and not meant to be viewed as completely accurate and or safe, they are only a documentation of my own experience and views on the subject and use of Salvia divinorum and its active principal salvinorin, however flawed. See further disclaimers in the documents. Salvia divinorum should only be used by adults who are of sound mind and clear intent... along with some common sense!
What Salvia divinorum is not:
Not a substance to use without first fully studying its possible effects and then only with serious intent. If you are looking for a thrill please seek elsewhere because few people genuinely desire to experience Salvia more than once, often one time is too many for some. Salvia divinorum with its active principal salvinorin A is far too powerful for anything but serious uses, salvinorin A is not something to extract and refine into the pure form for use as a drug (or even anywhere near pure). The average amount of salvinorin-A naturally found in the raw leaf is approximately 2.5 milligrams per dried gram of leaf. That's 2.5 thousandths of a gram of the active principal per gram of dried raw leaf, on average. Due to the extremely small amount of this material required for psychotropic effect, as small as one quarter of a milligram or less for individuals who are extremely sensitive to salvinorin, 2.5 mg of this substance would be far more salvinorin A than most individuals would want or should ever try to endure. Salvia is not something to use in public places or prior to going to one, as with any psychotropic substance which can have strong side effects to either consciousness or your body, you should never use them while out or prior to going to a public place, doing so is a sure way to invite trouble for yourself and others.
Mostly, my advice is that Salvia divinorum should never be used as a toy, if at all. Salvia is not right for most individuals but some find its use to be very rewarding to their understanding of self. Salvia divinorum can be used as a philosophers stone for introspective journeys within one self which can be very spiritual but from my experience nothing more profound than what is potentially within ones self to begin with. On the more practical side Salvia can sometimes help bring long forgotten memories and even dreams from years before back to the surface of ones consciousness and has been used by some to increase the peak of sexual orgasm ten fold plus when used in small amounts just below a vision producing psychotropic dose. That last reference to the use of this plant for sexual pleasures is upsetting to some individuals in the entheogen community because they believe Salvia divinorum is a sacred shamanic plant which should never be used for such purpose as to increase the peak intensity of an orgasm. My opinion is that all things in heaven and earth are sacred on some level, even the things which many of us might dislike have a larger function in the overall scheme of reality but as human beings we each decide what is wrong or right and this is how it should be, freedom of choice is more important than the choices we make, right or wrong for one or the other. We all pay for wrong choices but sadly, all too often it's the innocent who pay a terrible price for our freedom to be able to make choices which affect one another in sometimes terrible ways... something I hope to better understand someday (soap box is being put away now).
No doubt about it, Salvinorin-A does act as a psychedelic which for a few short minutes will allow the brain run on a kind of closed loop back upon itself through your visual center sometimes creating a vivid and awesomely beautiful world upon the mirror of your minds eye, visions which doubtless contain who we are and what we have experienced which through the use of this substance can synthesize a new kind of mind-reality. However, the inspiring beauty of some of these visions leads me to believe there must be more to them than just the affect of a drug alone. Perhaps Salvia somehow allows or produces some kind of inner connection which can induce a spiritual experience from beyond our individual selves, if a drug can loosen a knot within us which ordinarily prevents us from having that kind of connection to a spiritual path, even if to only a very small degree, then the question becomes how deep does the rabbit hole of our beings really go? Perhaps every bit of spirituality we can experience in the universe of our existence called the human brain is already part of all of us, maybe the internal release or experiences induced by Salvia might in fact be much more than just synaptic firings producing unusual patterns and or experiences. Perhaps those firings are being influenced by something more with the drug acting as a key to unlock our brains access to an unseen force buried deep below normal means of detection? For most people who can only believe in what they can see in front of their face (using only everyday cognitive abilities) the idea there might be a spiritual realm is completely absurd. I can understand that thinking, I've thought the same thing for years when it comes to the use of psychedelics, that these experiences were just in the heads of the person experiencing them but when I really look at the question a simple answer starts to become a slippery slope. Since I believe we are spiritual beings having a human experience it very well may be Salvia divinorum may actually allow us access to parts of ourselves which link into a wider spiritual realm.
Salvia is certainly effective for meditation and spiritual contemplations. I know first hand about the extraordinarily wonderful spiritualistic experiences which can sometimes be found through the use of Salvia and personally hold them in extremely high regard when properly used, but I still don't know for sure whether most if not every vision experienced through the use of Salvia is any more than our thoughts are real (that's a loaded statement, in some respects, the effects of thought upon quantum are more real than matter). Regardless of whether these psychedelic experiences are anything more than chemical reactions in our heads or not the only real problem I can see with believing the effects of this plant are a doorway to a hidden spiritual plane is when some individuals believe that the visions received while under the influence are some kind of "higher" level reality or "truth" when in fact, as reported by many individuals such visions can be completely flawed and only reflect what you already believe and in some cases fear. If you have a spiritual bent the mind-loop created by Salvia can sometimes produce spiritual experiences and if you believe that the world is filled with some kind of evil it is likely you might find that evil in some of your visions because the concept and belief in it as a reality is already in your own consciousness.
Here is what I know for sure about Salvia divinorum: What Salvia can do, for some individuals, some of the time, for a few short minutes is to reveal their own subconscious thoughts through a kind of plant induced vision quest and well worth the journey to better understand your inner being if used properly but what is proper? Much depends upon your own maturity, your own sensitivity to the active principal and the place and setting used. Some individuals are extremely sensitive to salvinorin while others have no effect at all much less a vision. Also, salvia will sometimes have no effect until after repeated uses requiring many attempts before the first vision is produced. Because of this, especially when new to Salvia, always have a trusted and responsible clear minded sitter with you before attempting its use and above all, do not travel, drive or try this in a public place or share Salvia with anyone who has not done their own in depth research on this plant first. Some individuals, especially adolescents who somehow get a hold of Salvia are so immature that all it takes is a mild affect and they act out in ways which can shed a very poor light upon Salvia divinorum. Above all my advice is not to share Salvia with someone who has not done their own research first. If I were completely unprepared and knew nothing about Salvia and the possible effects they have and had tried this entheogen without knowledge of its sometimes earth moving scenery, I would have probably been scared by the unexpected effects, even if only fairly mild.
Negative effects? Unfortunately for most individuals the side effects of Salvia divinorum are somewhat similar to alcohol intoxication, although much briefer lasting. When smoking small to mid sized amounts of strongly enhanced Salvia divinorum leaf, of 5X or higher concentration of salvinorin-A, most individuals will feel a light to moderate reduction of fine motor control to their body while their mind may seem to be as sharp and discerning as ever. For myself, when smoking an amount of enhanced leaf which is between a medium and large amount of the material (relative to my own sensitivity) the effects are in some ways similar to having quickly downed three to four shots of high proof alcohol which all take effect at once requiring me to immediately lay or sit down before the visions begin to kick in or I become too unstable to stand.
In my experience when smoking a mid sized plus amount of enhanced Savlia leaf (artificially strengthened 5 to 10X the natural concentration of salvinorin-A) the visions produced, if they happen at all, rarely last more than 10 minutes with most of the effects to balance wearing off within another 10 minutes and up to an hour to completely wear off. When smoking far too large an amount these effects can be physically similar to having become "legally" intoxicated by a few too many shots of high proof drinking Alcohol for a few minutes but for most people the effects of having used far too large an amount will still usually only last 10 to 20 minutes with another 30 to 45 minutes to fully recover without any noted lingering effect to fine motor control.
If you are especially sensitive to Salvia divinorum and foolishly smoke an amount which is several times more than is useful for a vision the effects come on fast and can be very frightening, especially when you are new to this plant or know little about the possible effects. When I foolishly did this in an effort to hasten my first vision I ended up being unable to walk due to its strong intoxicating effects at that level and felt like the whole room was twisting in on me, all of this without the reward of any kind of vision. It was a terrible experience as I was clutching the chair I was sitting in fearfully waiting for the twisting and crushing feelings to end which took a very long five minutes. I quickly learned never to do that again just from the awful twisting sensation alone. I experienced first hand that fools who play with Salvia without respect for it usually end up punished for doing so by such an experience and often refuse to try Salvia again. It seems that you must slowly introduce yourself to its effects over time or you can get slapped down as if the guardian of the "Salvia space" has refused you entrance. Still, for some individuals they can have a vision in a short amount of time. It's a fickle thing how some have visions right away and others require many attempts, I supposed it is chemistry, how sensitive you are to salvinorin to begin with.
Due to having been completely new to the use of any kind of entheogen or psychedelic having taken far too much could have turned out much worse for me if I had not prior studied up to know of the possibility of this kind of fearful effect when having smoked too much material. If I hadn't first known to just sit still and wait for it to pass I might have t tried to run or get away which, of course, is impossible, especially with the strong intoxicating side effects. The worst case of a bad reaction I have heard of is a story about someone who used several fold the amount needed who went completely unconscious for a few minutes and ended up unconsciously thrashing around the room and then later coming out of it to the surprise of finding some of the furniture in the room pushed around with no memory of having done so. While I have only heard of this kind of story as passed around on the net by an anonymous individual I believe it is possible although probably rare. However, such nameless reports are always in question with me because there are several anti-freedom individuals who have been busy writing false horror stories about Salvia over the years in an effort to influence the scheduling of this plant. Personally, I've never had contact with anyone who has had that kind of thing happen to them (out of hundreds I've been in contact with, perhaps thousands) I believe it can happen if you are extremely foolish with Salvia, especially when using highly enhanced leaf which is over 5 to 7X strength which requires careful measurement to minimize the amount of salvinorin ingested for the desired effect.
When chewing dried or fresh Salvia leaf my experience is that the effects are very weak and require at least 20 minutes of chewing before much is felt at all. Because of that and the terribly sour taste of the leaf whether dried or fresh, I have not explored very far with that method of imbibing but a few times and each time only achieving a very light state of influence from the leaf. I found that chewing leaf was just enough to put me into a calm meditational state of mind but not much more. Perhaps if I had chewed far more I might have had a vision, as reported by some, but for the most part I have not read much or heard from others that just regular leaf was very useful for more than weak effects. Again, if you happen to be especially sensitive to Salvia chewing just plain leaf could be enough for a full blown vision but few are quite that sensitive.
I might as well touch on the subject of Salvia divinorum tincture while I am at it. I've tried both commercial made and home made Salvia divinorum tincture and found that the only way I was able to use enough to produce a vision with either was through what is called the staggered method. How this is done is by loading an eye dropper with close to a single ml of tincture made from high proof ethanol (drinking alcohol) and quickly take three full dropper loads of it right away and holding all of it in my mouth for at least 3 minutes, spit or swallow and then take three more and hold the tincture in my mouth for another 3 or so minutes (under your tongue works for most people). After dosing one more time for a total of three dropper loads three times over I am usually unable to, or don't want to, take any more dropper loads out of the bottle due to the intoxicating effects of salvinorin. Then I just swallow the last of the tincture and sometimes go into a light trance like state just before the visions begin. Tincture can be effective, it has worked fine for me but the amount I needed was too expensive when using commercial made tincture and when using home made that I could afford to use a lot of I usually didn't want to try it again after a few days because the high proof alcohol in the tincture burned the delicate tissues in my mouth too much to want to worsen it by doing so again without waiting for my mouth to completely heal again. It is one thing to drink alcohol another to hold it in your mouth for ten minutes, try that with whiskey and I am sure it will do the same thing to your mouth.
There is another unusual effect which can come from using tincture or smoking 5X or higher enhanced leaf and that is if you take an amount which is close to, but just below the amount which can produce a vision or psychedelic visuals and look at a television screen or computer monitor with either a movie or a photo the image appears to have dimension to it! As if instead of looking at a two dimensional image you are looking at something which is really there. When doing so there has never been any doubt in my mind over what I was seeing, always fully cognizant of the fact what I was seeing was just an image on a screen but yet for some reason salvinorin can cause me to see a depth to the image which is not really there. I found this experience to be very unusual and exciting, the next best thing to 3D with simple technology. Coupled with the common effects of hieghtened sexuality and much higher ogasmic peaks one can imagine how distracted an individual could become if viewing nudes on a computer while smoking just enough Salvia leaf to produce this effect. As if porn wasn't already an addiction to too many lives as it is, if this caught on and became common knowledge I am convinced there would be a huge group of individuals using Salvia for this purpose alone, something which would certainly miff the metaphysical-shamanic Salvia crowd to no end believing this kind of activity would be a misuse of the plants "spirit". I'd look at the possible misuse of the individuals spirit first because becoming too distracted by sexual energies can lead to problems, no doubt, but I must also admit, by definition using the words "too much" is a self fulfilling statement because too much of anything is "too" much. Is there really such a thing as feeling too good? (it works great, you just have to get the amount right).
Back on subject of tincture visioning; here is a report on my most notable vision while under the influence of home made tincture when using a method of tincture dosing which maximizes the amount of salvinorin in the blood for a given period of time. The following experience came from dosing with tincture using the staggered method of taking three 1 ml dropper loads of tincture at a time, holding it in my mouth and waiting 4 minutes before swallowing each time, three times in a row for a total of 9 dropper loads full in a period of 12 minutes:
I found myself in a trance-like dream, dreaming that I was someone else. I was a young kid who had fallen onto a dusty road and got some dirt in his eyes.
My father helped me up and wiped the earth out of my eyes. As he was doing so, this reality, this place, this Earth disappeared, wiped away by his handkerchief. I saw my earthly reality as a dark stained mark on that white cloth in his hand, and it all pulled away from me as he withdrew the cloth and crumpled it up, closing it in his fist. He said, "You know, you ought to be careful not to let that earth get in your eyes. If you do, you soon lose all contact with who you really are, getting all wrapped up in that strange place, believing that it is real." Then he said, "You can live a lifetime there and not know that it is just earth in your eyes."
The thought then occurred to me, how strange the experience was, that I actually had a whole life in that place, a place that had such things as cats and dogs. I thought that it was all very weird; nothing like that really existed. I was glad that I had returned to reality, as a kid in my father's arms. The Earth was just a dream.
Then I was back, more earth in my eyes. Cats and dogs are real again!
When I experienced this it was as if I were both watching from the outside while at the same time experiencing it from the perspective of the child. When I was a very young boy I used to view cats and dogs as opposites and because of this I believe their role in this vision represented the concept of good and evil, light and darkness, the outward flow and inward pull.
Looney Tuned? For me, only moderate to large amounts of artificially strengthened Salvia have had much effect to judgment but even then nothing worse than too easily laughing over what might normally be only marginally humorous (ok, three times out of a hundred uses laughing uncontrollably for a few minutes) but at no time have I ever felt even close to being a danger to either myself or anyone else, something which cannot be said for drinking alcohol. Even when under moderately heavy intoxication from this substance I always felt safe in what I was going through or doing with the only personally undesirable effect due to how my body felt intoxicated from the reduction of fine motor control which can cause a sense of imbalance, until the effects wore off. When using fairly large amounts (except for that time, mentioned above, I had piled on about five+ times more than a large dose) I have never had an experience that was so fearfully intense that I came close to being unable to cope with the experience.
One of the most unusual things which has happened to me from smoking Salvia (except for the visions themselves) was having experienced short lived amnesia which turned out to be a very positive experience. I temporarily lost all memory of my past and who I was for a few seconds, but even then the experience was far from fearful and without panic. The good which came out of that experience, after perhaps 20 seconds of loosing myself and then returning was that I found who I am without being who I think I am. For many this kind of statement is more than strange and completely nutz because for most people the idea of loosing the memory of their past and who they believe themselves to be would be a terrible thing, even if short lived. However, for me I found the experience to be a rewarding mini-vacation from myself. For the first time "in memory" I experienced my own consciousness without the coloring or tint of past concepts and previous experience. For a few moments I had only pure awareness without concept of good or evil. I could then understand what it is to have non-individualized awareness which when I came back from that place allowed me to be able to understand the core of the ideas of good and evil, how without being individual there is no way for such an idea or concepts to exist. Reflecting upon the experience now causes me great pause over what I think the Biblical story of the fruit from the tree of the knowledge of "good and evil" might really be about, causing me to suspect that the story of Adam having eaten from the tree of good and evil, as the apple became separated from the tree (we all really belong to) was representative of the embodiment of individualized consciousness into our physical form which to a degree, caused a kind of separation from the whole and from one another temporarily forgetting who we all really are and where we came from. Because of this forgetting becoming in body and mind separate from one another (however, in truth an illusion of individualized-self) and then forced to know ourselves through our own experiences. Thinking about this Ihave come to believe the condition of individuality has a purpose and is a necessary action for "God" (us) to reproduce copies of itself which can then journey forward to do the same, eventually. After all, what happens when an apple separates from the tree? It makes another tree which will reproduce itself again through another separation of its fruit into its own individuality.
Sensitivity to Salvia can vary greatly, for a minority of people plain dried leaf, as it falls off the plant, is strong enough to induce visions while others will have very little to no effect from smoking super enhanced Salvia leaf of 10X or higher concentration. For me regular dried leaf will only produce enough effect for use in meditation and very difficult to smoke due to how harsh it can be. Because of this most people do not smoke regular leaf and opt to either make or buy enhanced leaf which has its salvinorin content per gram of leaf artificially increased several fold above the amount found in natural leaf. To achieve visions most individuals require leaf which has been strengthened to at least 5X. Even then, visions may not be produced until after a dozen attempts or more, some disappointed souls never having any kind of vision at all while others can have them the first time. This is why when new to Salvia you must be very cautious about the amount used and never start out using more than very small amounts and only then slowly working your way up to larger amounts in small increments. To reduce the chance of getting too much the first time do not try anything stronger than 5X enhanced leaf, if 5X won't work for you then 10X won't either.
The stronger the enhanced leaf the less of it needs to be smoked for the same effect, otherwise, except for the amount of smoke produced, whether you are smoking 5X or 15X the effects will be identical for a given amount of salvinorin. The amount of salvinorin required to have a vision, if you are able to have them, is the same whether smoking natural 1X, 5X or 10X leaf but the possibility of getting too much salvinorin is greatly increased as you get beyond about 7X requiring a scale to accurately measure the amount to be smoked. With a gram of 5X leaf you can visually divide it into equal piles such as 1/10 a gram (or less) and then 1/8 and so on to slowly work your way up to find your own sensitivity but when using 10X a small difference in the size of a pile of enhanced leaf can be a significant increase of the active principal and because of this should never be used without an accurate scale.
I've explored the effects of this substance as a medicine to combat depression (back when I had become depressed from a non-functioning thyroid, prior to being diagnosed) and also for meditation and the visions Salvia can sometimes induce many times in the past and except for the obvious harm which comes from inhaling the smoke, I have had no ill effect from the effects of Salvia or salvinorin-A and do not personally know of anyone who has had a negative reaction beyond perhaps the sometimes far too strong effects and the amount of time (no more than an hour for me) it can take to recover from its somewhat alcohol like side effects, depending upon the amount used. That said, I must also add that most people who have tried Salvia never desire to do so again and the few who do use it on occasion usually taper off to little or no further use after a period of time, even for those of us who have done so a hundred plus times always, in time, loose the desire to repeat the experience very often, if at all, such is in my case, it has been years since the last time for me. You may wonder why after becoming so fascinated by Salvia that many of us stop using this wonderful entheogen? For myself, as for many it is just too much muchness to endure very many times.
Introspective thoughts:
The spiritual use of Salvia? Some individuals become so enthused by its psychotropic effects to consciousness they have grouped together forming a large number of internet forums to discuss its effects. Also, a few individuals have come together to form a religious kind of internet community which is a mix of both popular metaphysical belief and shamanic religion together which has its own avatar or Goddess, a feminine figure which has been reported by many to have appeared in their visions. Most visions of such things (which although brief lasting and usually quickly dissipating once opening your eyes) seem to be a real inner reality, as if another place can somehow be accessed through the use of this substance. Of course, as human beings there is no doubt that we individually are a universe of our own reality created through the reflections of what we have learned and sensed from the world around and within us, literally creating our own world of dreams, our own individual realities. Because of this any vision we can possibly imagine can exist within our thoughts and indeed, sometimes through the use of psychedelics new horizons can open up which appear to be far beyond our individual abilities, drug or no drug, but which is it? This question is a difficult one for me to come to terms with, to have an answer for. I want this to be the reality but I just don't know yet. Can a compound from a psychedelic plant unlock consciousness in some way which can allow us to somehow perceive things which are normally beyond the capacity of our brains gray matter alone? I dearly hope so and that we can someday advance far enough to know the answer to this question, which ever way the reality is proven to be I do not believe the value of such experiences would be lost whether the answer is psychedelics can create a bridge to something beyond or individual realities or not, if these substances are merely releasing the potential of our brain in ways we normally cannot access their value is not at all lost to us.
In my opinion the psychedelics we know today are just the beginning of conscious exploration and the advancement through the use of the molecular keys we currently refer to as psychedelics has barely begun. The human brain is far more powerful than any silicon or carbon based computer will ever be, our wetware appears to be more than just an isolated self conscious entity but something which operates on a quantum level which I believe these substances somehow allow us to have a conscious interaction to a greater mind which is exists on a quantum level, a mind which is not only human but an interconnection of all forms of sentient self-aware consciousness which through that connection can join as one with one another. My hope is that these molecular keys will continue to be developed to allow new doorways to consciousness to be opened and see our progression in this field to be the real lasting frontier for mankind to advance forward into, a future which has no end. I pray we will have more freedom to seek cognitive experiences through these substances which are far beyond ordinary day to day consciousness, beyond our current hopes and dreams as the technology of vision producing psychedelics continues to advance. Unfortunately there are many individuals who are now desperately trying to suppress the use of all natural psychedelics which are currently legal decreeing into law that they are a criminal act with threat of great loss of personal freedom, AKA imprisonment. To stand tall on my soap box; when did we pass the line where the citizens of this country began to believe any restriction of personal freedom which does not harm another individual done within ones own home will leave the rest of "freedom" intact? When it comes to issues like this I believe freedom can never be what it claims to be when it is divided because true or real freedom is and will always be indivisible. If we are not going to be truly free in this country and desire to allow societies general ignorance about psychedelics to choose what they see as security over freedom, then lets call it what it is and stop saying we live in a free country when we don't, only free in broad terms, not full reality.
Although I tend to lean towards the side that such dream-worlds are usually just made from our own thoughts which are a combination of both our subconscious and conscious minds, I say usually.... use the word usually because I have myself have experienced things through the use of this plant which appears to be more than from my own consciousness, even though I also believe the experiences from salvinorin-A are often likely drug induced I sometimes wonder if sometimes there isn't more to these experiences than the affects of the drug alone. Reading many of the online blogs on the subject of Salvia divinorum it is clear many individuals have come to believe the use of Salvia divinorum will allow contact with one another on an astral-like spiritual plane sometimes referred to as Salvia Space or that it can allow remote viewing of others either in the past, present or future. Possible? All I can remark on that subject is that the older I get the more I know truth is certainly far stranger than fiction.
A word of caution from an experienced Salvianaught, don't let the fascination with this plant and its effects take over your life as I allowed it to do. Even though I was very conservative over how much and how often I used Salvia the subject became an obsession for me. Due to an intense fascination with this entheogen I wasted several years of my life which should have been spent on more important things. At this time I am happy to be done with both the subject and use. I am not saying I was addicted to Salvia or its effects, quite the contrary because after the first year and a half I had seldom used it at all, at most once a year but the subject still so thoroughly interested me I spent many hours researching this plant and discussing its effects with others on the internet for several more years when I should have been getting on with my career and family life instead.
When used responsibly with clear mind and intent Salvia divinorum can be a great tool to better know yourself but don't let it become an obsession. The real trip is life, the inner visions produced by psychedelics can be useful for the people who are capable of deep personal introspection to learn from but not your highest potential for understanding as a human being, far from it. Nothing wrong with piping up every now and then but don't let any one thing or interest block your sight from the rest. As the Buddha would tell you, moderation is the key in both action and thought, the middle path for all things which is neither too taught or too slack is the path of life, in so many words, that is. Obsession has a dear price, those who are obsessed with particular subjects no doubt help advance societies understanding of them but in the end the price may turn out to be too high when you have ignored the people in your life who should come first. Fortunately, I figured this out before it was too late and quit before I became involved with any other substance which might have caused years more of ignoring my family and those I love most.
For more information about Salvia divinorum go to http://www.sagewisdom.org
Note: July 2009, from Afghanistan where I have been for the last 18 months:
I've enjoyed putting this web page together to give my opinion on the subject, especially with all of the people who are now seeking to criminalize Salvia divinorum for its psychotropic properties. While I firmly believe Salvia divinorum should be regulated to keep this plant and or its extract out of the hands of adolescents, criminalizing this plant and its active principal salvinorin just because it can be used as a psychedelic is clearly a knee jerk reaction from a group of fearful people who don't know how to properly handle their own fears on the subject due to a lack of understanding. The answer is simple, make this substance illegal to sell to adolescents and also highly tax Salvia divinorum so teens cannot easily afford to purchase this material which will also give a mechanism to fully track its sale, A clear win-win for everyone. I realize this last statement about taxing Salvia won't be well received by many but I'd rather see that than see the constructive use of Salvia become a criminal act.
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Date(s): Click on this link to see pix.. Album by Sphere. Photos by same. 1 - 128 of 128 Total.
enlarge 39KB, 426x640 1 Zoom scope used to observe and photograph salvinorin crystals
enlarge 99KB, 640x480 3 Click on any photo to see the picture in a higher resolution. Once opened, look for the "original" link at the bottom of the page and click on that for an even higher resolution, if available for that particular photograph.
enlarge 115KB, 640x480 16 Salvinorin crystals "the final frontier" "Sweet! I like most of them,b..." View Comments...
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enlarge 92KB, 640x480 19 Salvinorin crystals "here comes the sun" "Sometimes the crystals appea..." View Comments...
enlarge 54KB, 640x480 20 Salvinorin crystals - Not my photo.
enlarge 87KB, 640x565 21 Salvinorin crystals "light as feathers" "They do look light and fluff..." View Comments...
enlarge 72KB, 640x480 22 Salvinorin crystals "a winter hat" "Do you see the face in there..." View Comments...
enlarge 90KB, 640x509 23 Salvinorin crystals "essence of poodles" "Yes, I hadn't thought of the..." "also looks remarkably like a..." View Comments...
enlarge 123KB, 640x464 24 Salvinorin crystals taken through 10X lense.
enlarge 91KB, 640x540 25 Salvinorin crystals "how white these seem" "This photo has been enhanced..." "Dandilions? =)" View Comments...
enlarge 76KB, 640x444 26 Salvinorin crystals "tight short necked groupings..." "I like to think of them as a..." View Comments...
enlarge 95KB, 640x619 27 Salvinorin crystals
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enlarge 39KB, 640x427 29 Salvinorin crystals in 99% IPA
enlarge 49KB, 640x480 30 Salvinorin crystals in 99% IPA "Fluid appears red due to hig..." View Comments...
enlarge 50KB, 640x480 31 Salvinorin crystals in 99% IPA "amazing! they look as though..." "But of course, they were lit..." View Comments...
enlarge 55KB, 640x480 32 Salvinorin crystals in 151 proof ethanol "Fluid appears red due to hig..." View Comments...
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enlarge 92KB, 640x430 34 Salvinorin crystals
enlarge 93KB, 602x640 35 Salvinorin crystals "a daemon or pelvis face" "It looks just like a mask to..." View Comments...
enlarge 62KB, 640x434 36 Salvinorin crystals "while forming did they make ..." "This is a close up of the &q..." View Comments...
enlarge 98KB, 640x546 37 Salvinorin crystals "another face, how odd?!" "It is the reverse side of th..." View Comments...
enlarge 90KB, 560x640 38 Salvinorin crystals "emeralds would interest me n..." "These were isolated directly..." "B-e-a-utiful!" View Comments...
enlarge 55KB, 640x480 39 Salvinorin crystals
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enlarge 61KB, 480x640 41 Salvinorin crystals at 45X magnification.
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enlarge 39KB, 480x640 43 Salvinorin crystals in 151 proof ethanol
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enlarge 66KB, 640x480 46 Salvinorin crystals - photo taken through 10X hand held lense.
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enlarge 96KB, 640x480 48 Salvinorin crystals - photo taken through 10X hand held lense
enlarge 113KB, 640x507 49 Salvinorin crystals "Very odd to look just like s..." View Comments...
enlarge 62KB, 640x559 50 Salvinorin crystals. Photo taken through microscope.
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enlarge 133KB, 640x618 52 Salvinorin crystals "crystalline dreamscape in mo..." "salvinorin coral reef! This ..." "Como extrair os cristais de ..." View Comments...
enlarge 102KB, 640x523 53 Salvinorin crystals - photo taken through 10X hand held lense
enlarge 69KB, 640x447 54 Salvinorin crystals next to a US penny "This photograph shows how sm..." View Comments...
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enlarge 80KB, 640x462 56 Salvinorin deposits on the side of an evaporation container. "liek the emperors horsemen g..." "Yes, they are forming a circ..." View Comments...
enlarge 73KB, 640x480 57 Photograph of my first batch of crystals grown from slowly evaporating acetone.
enlarge 85KB, 640x480 58 Without magnification
enlarge 107KB, 640x480 59 Without magnification
enlarge 91KB, 640x480 60 Without magnification
enlarge 71KB, 640x480 61 "Almost like looking up at a ..." View Comments...
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enlarge 90KB, 640x538 63 Salvinorin crystals
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enlarge 107KB, 640x490 68 Without magnification "The brown sandy appearing gr..." View Comments...
enlarge 65KB, 640x400 69 Through 10X lense.
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enlarge 127KB, 640x637 71 Salvinorin crystals taken through 10X hand held lense.
enlarge 63KB, 640x379 91 "Taken through 10X lense and ..." View Comments...
enlarge 66KB, 640x449 92 25X magnification of Salvia divinorum leaf.
enlarge 56KB, 640x383 93 Salvinorin crystals
enlarge 42KB, 640x596 94 45 X magnification of Salvia leaf showing white structure on the end of the hairs, what is it?
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enlarge 67KB, 550x640 105 "the shape tells a story of a..." View Comments...
enlarge 89KB, 640x480 106 Salvinorin crystals
enlarge 62KB, 640x425 107 Green colored salvinorin crystals in a four inch diameter spice bowl from evap. of acetone.
enlarge 83KB, 640x425 108 Same salvinorin crystals under bright light.
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enlarge 105KB, 640x425 113 "Click on "Original"..." View Comments...
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enlarge 71KB, 640x625 117 Extremely small salvinorin crystals which formed on a small fiber. Shown on the tip of a mechanical pencil.
enlarge 37KB, 640x550 118 Extremely small salvinorin crystals which formed on a small fiber. Shown on the tip of a mechanical pencil.
enlarge 212KB, 495x640 119 General Salvia divinorum extraction guide and FAQ. Explains how I extract salvinorin from Salvia divinorum leaf to make my own enhanced leaf using fairly simple methods while providing many insights to the extraction process.
This article is occasionally being edited for clarity and additional information. Last update Jan 1, 2007.
enlarge 487KB, 495x640 120 How to extract and grow crystalline salvinorin specimens through evaporation
enlarge 496KB, 495x640 121 This article explains three different methods which can be used to obtain crystalline salvinorin.
1. Evaporation. 2. Hot Alcohol. 3. Isolation from extract.
Last update January 1, 2007. Added text. I believe I found the problem with method three which caused some individuals to be unable to reproduce it, edited into text to boil or cook the leaf prior to extraction when desiring to isolate the crystals from the black wax extract itself.
enlarge 2.14MB, 495x640 122 This extraction method reduces the amount of waxy compounds extracted from the leaf yielding a much purer extract. Simple refinement methods are explained using naphtha and 99% isopropanol to dilute and if desired completely remove waxy lipids from the extract at increasing cost to yield for higher purities. Over 50 photographs showing the process of extracting leaf and refining the extract.
Last edit 02 April, 2006.
enlarge 45KB, 495x640 123 Solvents for Salvinorin.pdf Concerns and work arounds in the use of off the shelf extraction solvents
enlarge 135KB, 495x640 124 Salvia divinorum info and users guide by my friend Divinorum
enlarge 21KB, 495x640 125 Strait to the facts chilled acetone extraction tech. How to extract and refine salvinorin using just acetone and 99% isopropyl with a minimum amount of verbage and no photos.
This method does not use naphtha and goes strait to the use of isopropyl.
enlarge 43KB, 495x640 126 How to make homemade Salvia divinorum tincture costing many hundreds of dollars if purchased from a regular vendor using only 350 grams of dried leaf and 750 ml of high proof drinking alcohol.
enlarge 50KB, 495x640 127 The Lazy Mans Guide to Extracting MHRB. The first process without A-B as a de-fating cycle and which keeps the plant material in the basified solution during the entire extraction.
enlarge 1.25MB, 495x640 128 This article explains how to extract Salvia leaf using zero degree F. chilled acetone to create salvinorin infused smoking papers. 57 photo's, additional pictures being added as I produce them or are offered for inclusion.
Undergoing edits from time to time to improve clarity. Added instructions for making tincture. Last update edit 18 Aug 2006. Added Q and A addendum January 1, 2007.
Great site! - gomoa | gomoa.hu, Sun, 31 May 2009 12:19AM
I am not sure if this may help you...
You can promote crystal growth by seeding. With sugar crystals, it is common to add a thread or wooden stick to the mixture. The absorbent surface draws a "Seed crystal", which acts as a growing surface that promotes growth.
Any super-saturated solution will promote growth, when a seed is present. Seeds are like a lego-key, for the ionized suspension to bond with. Slow reduction of the solutions suspension agent, also promotes growth, displacing the saturation which is lost as the crystals form. (Keeping it super-saturated.)
You would do this, by adding a single crystal, or large crystal to the super-saturated solution before it cools. Slower cooling will result in more and clean structure. (You can also use high pressure to assist growth.) - Jason D, Tue, 17 Feb 2009 2:25AM
Hi,
Glad I could help with the information provided. The tests for solubility I cited came from a professor at a university outside of the USA I had sent Salvia to so he could run the solubility tests. Because he used university lab equipment for those tests he does not wish to have his name used as the source for those figures.
I myself am still outside of the USA working in Afghanistan and have not been back since March and am no longer active with Salvia but I am happy to help where I can. - Sphere, Mon, 19 Jan 2009 6:19AM
Hi Sphere,
First of all, thanks for all your great work and documentation on extracting salvinorin A. I'm currently working on an article on micropipetted acetone tinctures of salvinorin A for The Entheogen Review. I cite your chilled acetone extraction tek in it, which is what I based my extractions on. I also cite your given solubilities of 23mg/ml salvinorin A in acetone and 1.28mg/ml in ethanol. We would very much like to know your source for this? Is it empirical based your original research or can you cite a paper or other reference? This article will be going to press soon, so it would be great if you could reply as soon as you get this.
"Is there any benifit of forming crystals as apposed to leaving the salvinorin as a powder?":
If you look at purified salvinorin-A under a microscope you can see even as a powder, it is in crystalline form, just very small crystals, or broken ones which have been ground down into very fine particles.
The only advantage I see to forming crystals is it helps increase the purity of the extract because some of the waxy chlorophyll colored impurities are usually left behind on the rim of the evaporation container used to grow crystals in. Does the extract need to be high purity for use on leaf or tincture, not at all except with reduced impurities the leaf it is applied to smokes cleaner and therefore is less harsh on the lungs.
"Does growing crystals increase the amount of salvinorin? If so in what way would you take these crystals and re-introduce them to dried leaf"
As my answer above, it increases the purity of the salvinorin, as far as amount, it will reduce the amount because some will be left in the impurities which are left behind on the rim of the evaporation container. The crystals can be dissolved into several solvents and then that solvent is mixed into crushed leaf and allowed to fully evaporate while stirring the leaf around so you do not get a high concentration of salvinorin on a small portion of leaf. However, this is very tricky and difficult to do, if you do not have experience working with salvinorin and evaporating solvent onto leaf you might produce hot spots of highly concentrated amounts of salvinorin on the leaf which can easily cause someone to get far too much with one draw on a pipe. I don't recommend making your own leaf if you are a newbie to this kind of thing. It is easier and cheaper just to buy leaf from a vendor which has already had salvinorin infused into it. - Sphere, Fri, 27 Jun 2008 1:15PM
Is there any benifit of forming crystals as apposed to leaving the salvinorin as a powder? Does growing crystals increace the amount of salvinorin? If so in what way would you take these crystals and re-introduce them to dried leafs - Kit Dunagan, Sun, 8 Jun 2008 10:16PM
Very serious : great website, j'aime ;-) Continuations Congratulations Xavier Lanatur - XL | http://hybridsurf.blogspot.com, Wed, 26 Mar 2008 4:52PM
