Hello all...I've experimented with smoking Salvia, and enjoyed the experience...but based on this and my pretty heavy research, I've decided I would really prefer to work with chewing the leaves. This presents me with two issues...one being the avilability of the quids/fresh leaves...and second and more important being the availability of good info on using it this way. I've read on on all the usual big sites, and they had good info...I'm confident I'd be alright with what I've learned from them, but I get the feeling at least a few people reading this could give me some hands-on, direct from experience advice on how much to chew, how long to chew it, what to expect, variations from smoking, etc. ...as far as availability, I have done a lot of Googling to little avail. I'm finding countless sites with plenty of extract to smoke, but almost nothing offering Salvia meant for chewing. Is there simply not many places that offer it like this, or am I just not looking hard enough?
After I tried chewing the leaves, I decided to never smoke salvia again (I only smoked it a couple times anyway). The experience was so radically different, and it was in a good way. During my visions, my mind "split" into my subconscious and conscious. My subconscious created the scenes and events that my conscious experienced, but while I was unable to control what settings were created, I was able to control my own actions. It was an amazing experience to say the least, somewhat similar to a lucid dream but still very very different. What I liked most about the experience was that it was much more meaningful and profound than the intense random images that I had when I smoked salvia, not to mention I lost my consciousness completely whenever I smoked it. I have a journal of sorts with my dream-visions posted in it as well, if you're interested in reading it: http://www.hipforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=200243 Anyways, here's the method used to chew the leaves: "THE QUID METHOD: A ball or cylinder of rolled-up leaves is made. This is called a quid. It is to be chewed. The leaves are chewed slowly--about one chew every 10 seconds. They are kept under your tongue between chews. For half an hour keep the quid that is being chewed, and the juice that forms, in your mouth. If you can, hold it in your mouth without spitting or swallowing. Then, after the half-hour chewing time is over, spit it all out. Have a bowl to spit into, and a towel handy. Salvia juice stains carpets and other fabrics, so be sure the bowl won't tip over. Quids can be made from either fresh leaves or dried leaves. Those made from dry leaves are less bitter. To make a quid from dried leaves, weigh out 2-8 grams of dried leaves. A gram scale accurate enough for this can be purchased for under $50. If you have no scale, count out 8 to 28 large whole dried leaves. Place the leaves in a small bowl of cool water for 10 minutes. Once the leaves are wet and have been soaking for about 10 minutes, remove the leaves from the water, squeeze the excess water out of them, and ball them up into a quid. Some people skip this soaking step when they are in a hurry, but chewing on brittle dry leaves may be unpleasant. If you wish, you can sweeten the quid with sugar, honey, Stevia extract or an artificial sweetener like Equal®. This will make it less bitter and more pleasant to chew. If fresh leaves are used instead of dry ones, you will need from 8 to 28 large fresh leaves. The effect of Salvia quids can probably be increased by first treating your mouth in a special way to increase its ability to absorb salvinorin A. To do this you will need a toothbrush and an alcohol/menthol containing mouthwash such as Cool Mint Listerine®, (or any other brand that contains alcohol and menthol). Gently brush the lining of your mouth, including the tissue under your tongue, and the top surface of your tongue. This removes layers of dead cells normally present. Do not brush hard enough to cause bleeding. Then rinse with the mouthwash for at least 30 seconds. Be sure to get mouthwash everywhere in your mouth, including under your tongue. Then spit out the mouthwash and rinse once with water. You will experience very little in the first 12 to 15 minutes of chewing. Don't be misled by this. Full effects are usually felt by 30 minutes (the time you spit out the quid). They remain on this level for about 30-60 minutes more, then start to decrease. The whole experience seldom lasts longer than an hour and a half, but this varies." Taken from the Salvia Divinorum users guide: http://www.sagewisdom.org/usersguide.html That method is the best one I've found to date, and the mouthwash/brushing teeth really makes a large impact. As for a site that sells leaves, shamanspalace.com is the best site I've found by far. They have the cheapest prices for leaves and they often give you more than what you ordered as well as a lot of free samples of other things. They're also very reliable and have extremely fast shipping. I bought 5 ounces from them and that will easily last me for a loooooong time (at least until my baby salvia plant grows to size where I can start harvesting my own leaves). Yeah, chewing the leaves is the way to go. Definitely the best method if you're trying to get some sort of meaning out of the visions that lady salvia will give you. Just be sure to use it in the context of meditation and you'll have some amazing dreamvisions. One thing I have noticed when chewing salvia, is that you have to search a little bit for the dream, you can't just close your eyes and see images immediately. It just adds to the mystery that is Salvia Divinorum!
Damn, I really wish I could get the quid method to work. Sounds so awesome. I even tried brushing my teeth and all that...and still nothing! Ahhh!
Yeah, some people just aren't able to feel the effects from using the quid method for some reason. Ah well, best of luck to ya!
Well thank you very much for all of that. I'll be sure to read over it all again once I actually have some leaves to work with, and I will definately look into ordering from where you recommended.
Ahh, you're welcome! Yeah, basically just follow a few guidelines when chewing the leaves and you'll be fine: 1) use mouthwash and brush beforehand 2) remove the stems from the leaves since they have no salvinorin A and they have a terrible texture. 3) soak in water for 10 minutes, then chew for 30 minutes and then spit the leaves out. Hold the leaf juice under your tongue until the 30 minutes are up. 4) lie down in a nice quiet, dark, and comfortable place 5) experience your visions! I usually keep a notebook next to me so I can record my visions immediately after the experience when it's still fresh in my mind.
Maybe I got some wack salvia? Anyone else ever ordered from Salvia World? (http://www.salviaworld.com/)
Well, since Salvia is propogated through cuttings, one plant won't really be different from any other plant since it's basically a clone. The only time you really get any genetic diversity is when a plant is grown from seed, often resulting in a new strain since Salvia so rarely sets seed. So either the quid method simply doesn't work for you, or you were sold leaves that weren't from a Salvia Divinorum plant. I can't say I've ever ordered from Salvia World before, so I can't answer that question for you.
Yep, extracts definitely can be shitty quality. Standardized extracts are the best of the best, and unstandardized are lower quality. Also be sure that the extract was processed with 100% grain alcohol, because the last thing you want to be smoking is some extract that was made with industrial solvents. Personally I prefer chewing to smoking though. Not only is the experience more profound, it's also healthier for you.
