What is Salvia divinorum?
Salvia Divinorum, the Latin name for a plant which directly translates to ‘sage of the seers’ and is of the same family as the sage we commonly use to flavour cooking. Although many varieties of sage are to be found across the globe the species Divinorum is found naturally in one small area of Oaxaca in southern Mexico. The indigenous inhabitants, the Mazatec, cultivate and use Salvia Divinorum for spiritual and religious purposes. It is well worth noting that examples of flowers in ancient Egyptian art, and thought to be of religious or spiritual significance resemble Divinorum uncannily. This does, however, raise a number of questions that current historians and botanists would find difficult to answer.
Unlike most other species of Salvia, Salvia Divinorum is notoriously hard to grow from seed. It produces few seeds which rarely germinate this is thought to be related to pollen sterility. It is most commonly propagated by cutting and interestingly most available examples are clones of two well known varieties- the Wasson/Hofmann strain and the Blosser strain. Although there appear to be many commercial strains, the differences seem to be more marketing than botanical. It is generally accepted that this species is a cultigen, or human influenced hybrid not found in the wild. Whilst isolated wild strains are to found they are thought to have been deliberately cultivated.
Salvia Divinorum has come to popular attention in recent times as an entheogen or a psychoactive substance used for ritual or spiritual purposes and has become widely available from specialist shops and internet sites. The active ingredient was isolated in 1998 by Daniel Siebert. Salvinorin A (C23H28O8), diterpenoid and works on the opioid receptors of the brain. It differs from other opioid receptor ligands by being neither an alkaloid or composed of a base nitrogen atom. Salvinorin A is the only known compound to induce visionary states through the opioid receptors of the brain. Most common hallucinogens, psychedelics and empathogens target the 5-HT2A serotonin receptors in the brain, Salvinorin A does not.
As a naturally occurring compound, Salvinorin A is the most potent psychoactive yet discovered, active at doses as low as 200 µg (1 000 000 µg = 1g). Fortunately, potency and toxicity are very different and laboratory tests exposing rats to many times the doses used by humans showed neither toxicity nor organ damage. Many other terpinoids have been from isolated S. Divinorum, though none of these compounds has shown significant opioid receptor affinity and it is likely that Salvinorin A is the only psychoactive compound.
The most common contemporary means of ingesting Salvia Divinorum is by smoking, though it can be taken orally by chewing the leaves or by drinking a tincture. The traditional Mazatec method of chewing the leaves requires that they remain in the mouth as long as possible. It is thought that the human gastrointestinal system renders Salvinorin A inactive and therefore the most users would chew a quid or wad of the leaves allowing the compound to be absorbed through the mucosa of the mouth. The bitter taste of the plant is so nauseating that many users will not chew it for long enough to achieve any psychedelic effect. Chewing Salvia Divinorum consumes more of the plant than smoking and produces a longer lasting yet milder experience. Initial awareness of altered consciousness is normally apparent after 15-20 minutes and the overall experience lasts around 50-60 minutes.
A relatively large quantity of Salvia leaf will need to be smoked to gain any psychoactive effect, a factor that has discouraged many a user. However, there are now many concentrated preparations of Salvia Divinorum, known as Salvia extract whose apparent relative strength is suggested by such terms as 5x, 10x, 20x etc. This reduces the amount of material to be smoked for a given dosage of Salvinorin and helps the user gain more powerful experiences. It is worth noting that high temperatures (around 240°C) are required to release the compound from the plant material and for this reason torch flame lighters are often used. A water pipe is advised to cool the smoke. This method provides the most intense yet shortest acting Salvia Divinorum experience with the peak being reached within a minute and lasting around five before the effects gradually taper off. After 15-20 minutes baseline consciousness is reached.
Some choose to chew a quid or drink a tincture and once they begin to feel the effects smoke some leaves or extract. This has the effect of giving the longevity of oral ingestion with the intensity of the smoked method. This is not recommended for the inexperienced user as if the effects are undesirable, negative or frightening they may seem to last far longer than the 50-60 minutes in objective time.