Salvia Extract: A Brief History

Salvia divinorum, maybe better known as “Diviners Sage” or “Sage of the Seers”, is a plant with a long, somewhat unknown, history, that has been used for years as a way to produce visions and such for Mazateca Shamans during healing sessions, especially those focused on spiritual healing.  Native to specific areas in Mexico, such as Mazateca, salvia divinorum is an herb, legal or at least not controlled in any fashion in most areas of the world, which produces psychedelic effects.  These effects, which are unique to the person taking the saliva divinorum and the dosage they are taking, can include, but is not limited to the following:

• Being uncoordinated
• Feeling as if you are moving
• Feeling as if you are in more than one place at once or that you have traveled to a different place
• Laughter
• Hallucinations/visions, such as being in a tunnel, seeing tube like shapes, etc…
• Improved self confidence
• A feeling of things being surreal

The exact origin of salvia divinorum is unknown, but, as stated above, it is linked back to certain areas of Mexico where many Indians are still using this psychoactive herb to induce shamanic visions and to treat many common ailments.   It was not until the late 1930’s that this plant, now commonly known as salvia extract, was discovered by a group of people who were interested in the “magical cures, plants, and remedies” used in Mexico.  Still, even with the salvia divinorum being found in the 1930’s, it would not become a modern herb/drug until its “modern discovery in the 1960’s”. Then, in 1983, Leander J. Vald would begin writing a book about this herb, which would become the basis of all the current knowledge and information currently known about salvia divinorum.

In the 1990’s, the age of the internet, the salvia herb began to rise in popularity in both public use/awareness and as a product being sold online because it was rediscovered, once again, and its psychedelic nature was made known.   Today, this hallucinogenic plant has many different names such as the “shepherdess herb”, “Sally-D”, “Ska Pastora”, and “Yerba de Maria”.  This plant/herb can be found online and off in a variety of forms, but mainly as dried leaves or extracts. It is very rare that you will find someone willing to sell fresh salvia leaves.  The only other option of obtaining this product is to grow it at home. 

It is stated that purchasing and using the extracts are the best and most popular way to obtain the psychedelic effects of the salvia because you do not have to use as much of the salvia this way and the effects are reported as being much stronger. While there are no known long term effects of using salvia, there are many cautions against using this herb while operating vehicles or machinery, using large amounts or pure salvinorin, etc… As with any drug, such as alcohol, normal precautions should be taken while using salvia.