What is Salvia divinorum?
A. Salvia divinorum is a plant used for its psychoactive effects. Given the right dose, individual, set and setting, it produces a unique state of ‘divine inebriation’ which has been traditionally used by Mazatec healers. This inebriation is quite different from that of alcohol. Salvia divinorum is both similar to, and different from, other drugs that affect the brain and behavior. In many ways Salvia divinorum is a unique ‘magical’ herb. Salvia (and the salvinorin it contains) is very difficult to categorize pharmacologically. It does not fit well into any existing pharmacological class. Louis Lewin, the father of psychopharmacology called vision inducing drugs ‘phantastica’. Let us dust off this venerable term and recycle it by calling Salvia divinorum a ‘phantasticant’.
Salvia divinorum is a psychoactive plant in the Labiatae family (sometimes called the “mint family”). So far as is known, it is endemic only to the Mazatec region of the Sierra Madre mountains in Oaxaca, Mexico, also known as the Sierra Mazateca (Ott 1996). Some Mazatec curanderos and curanderas (medicine men and women, frequently referred to as shamans) use S. divinorum as an aid to prophecy in healing rituals. The plant’s species name, “divinorum”, is said to mean “of the seer” (Ott 1996), and refers to its traditional use in medicinal divination (learning the cause or identification of an illness). Interestingly, Dr. Albert Hofmann–who along with R. Gordon Wasson investigated the plant in Mexico in 1962–remarked: “… Salvia divinorum… is a wrong name, bad Latin; it should actually be Salvia divinatorum. They do not know very good Latin, these botanists. I was not very happy with the name because Salvia divinorum means “Salvia of the ghosts”, whereas Salvia divinatorum, the corr
Salvia divinorum is a psychoactive plant and is probably the only legally way to get high. Since the public has become more aware of the plant, which originates from Southern Mexico, because of the rise of the internet in the 1990’s, more people are selling and buying Salvia than ever before. However, unless you are well informed on this plant, which is known to produce psychedelic sensations, meaning if you are a new user or have only used Salvia a few times, you may be unsure has to how to purchase this plant. The only way to truly obtain the best plant (or plant extract, etc…) is to be well educated about it. One of the first and most important factors to consider before purchasing Salvia is if there are any laws or regulations concerning the purchase, use, and distribution of this plant in your region. For the majority of the world, Salvia is still legal; however, in certain regions, states, and countries there are laws and regulations prohibiting or controlling the use of Salvia.
A. Salvia divinorum is a plant used for its psychoactive effects. With the right dose, individual, set and setting, it produces a unique state of ‘divine inebriation’ which has been traditionally used by Mazatec healers. This inebriation is very different from that of alcohol. Salvia divinorum is both similar to, and different from, other drugs that affect the brain and behavior. Salvia (and the Salvinorin it contains) is extremely hard to categorize pharmacologically. It does not fit well into any existing pharmacological class. The late Louis Lewin, who is considered a pioneer in terms of psychopharmacology called vision inducing drugs ‘phantastica’.
