What does the user feel?
Salvinorin A is the most powerful hallucinogenic compound that is synthesized in the nature. The trip that it causes is therefore considered stronger than the one caused by DMT.
Depending on dosage, the Salvia divinorum experience can vary from a subtle state to a full-blown psychedelic experience. At higher doses users report dramatic time distortion, vivid imagery, encounters with beings, travel to other places, planets or times, or even experiencing the full life of another individual.
Needless to say these can be extremely powerful experiences and should only be attempted with a sitter. While most people remain unmoving during the experience, some individuals attempt to get up and walk around while in a completely dissociated state.
While sub-threshold effects are somewhat innocuous, the herb’s full effects are considered being unpleasantly overwhelming and more scary than fun. As has been found with pharmaceutical kappa-opioid agonists, Salvia divinorum is aversive for many who try it.
The effects caused by Salvia divinorum could be divided into pleasant, neutral and unpleasant:
Pleasant
• short duration (when smoked)
• radical perspective shifting
• increase in sensual and aesthetic appreciation
• creative dreamlike experience
• insight into personal issues
Neutral
• powerful open and closed eye visuals
• general change in consciousness (as with most psychoactives)
• altered perceptions
• body temperature fluctuations
• sensation of physical push, pressure, or wind
• sensation of entering or perceiving other dimensions, alternate realities
• feeling of “presence” or entity contact
• dissociation at high doses, walking or standing
Unpleasant
• overly-intense experiences
• fear, terror and panic
• increased perspiration
• possible difficulty to integrate experiences
• taking higher doses may lead to inability to control muscles, as well as to losing balance (there are reports for users falling down the ground)
• slight headache that fades away along with the effects
When smoked, Salvia divinorum manifests its effects very quickly, the first of them being experienced within 20 to 60 seconds and reaching their peak after 1-2 minutes. The initial effects last for some 5 to 15 minutes, followed by a period of 20 to 40 minutes needed for the user to get back to his/her normal state.