Entheogens are shamanic plants like magic mushrooms, ayahuasca and salvia divinorum. I don’t call these helpers ‘hallucinogens’ because that makes it sound like the visions they bring are hallucinations. And I certainly don’t call them ‘drugs’ simply out of respect. The name entheogen comes from the ancient Greek Entheos literally means "the divine within” or more loosely translated simply "inspired". The Greeks used it as a term of praise for poets and other artists. The Greek Genesthai means "to cause to be". So an entheogen is "that which causes divine inspiration".

I appreciate that many people are against working with plants in this way, as they feel it’s too uncontrollable and unpredictable. Starhawk writes in the Spiral Dance that ‘mind-altering drugs’ are not used in magic – well, “at least not by the wise”. We all walk our own path and on this point opinions widely differ. I can only tell you of my own experiences which I feel have been valuable.

Magic mushrooms are sadly, no longer suitable as they’re currently illegal in the UK, but there are other plant helpers we can work with without getting arrested. Salvia Divinorum is a very powerful – and legal – entheogen that I have worked with several times. Salvia Divinitorum, also called ‘Diviners sage', is legal herb used to induce altered states of consciousness. Grown in the Oaxaca region of Mexico, it is used by Mextec Indians both as a medicine (to treat respiratory problems and pathological grief), and as a vehicle to enter other dimensional realities. Mextec shamans have long revered the plant and there are suggestions that it may have been used by the ancient Aztecs.

•  Salvia Divinitorum can be smoked or taken by mouth.

•  The herb is legal, safe and has no unpleasant after-effects.

•  The immediate effects are short-lived, usually lasting no more than 10 to 20 minutes.

When I work with Salvia Divinorum I smoke the dried leaf of the plant. The journey is usually quite short – maybe 10 minutes – and I’m always left with a lovely after glow for about a half an hour. The experience is different for everyone, but my journeys have a certain consistency. I’ve visited the same yellow and terracotta space and met the same calm, benevolent beings each time. Things I would expect to fear are not fearful - it’s as if fear doesn’t exist there. I’ve been taught strange words by the Salvia beings when they want to explain concepts to me that aren’t familiar in this reality.

It’s quite hard to explain this kind of work, so I’ll share my notes from some typical Salvia journeies I’ve made. You can make of these what you will, but I believe the Salvia plant is a tool that allows me to open my awareness to an other-than-human world that that can teach me new perspectives on my own understanding of reality.

Session 1: 16 March 2002

Using Andrews's water pipe and standard strength SD. I took about ¾ of a pipeful.

 

As I sat back I saw green tendrils with red stripes reaching up from the ground towards me. They looked like a huge claw, and though I noted that it could be frightening, it wasn't at all. I felt the same rush of something between heat and energy move up my body as before.

 

I felt myself resisting the drug, and repeated ‘Just relax, go with it', several times. (See control.doc.) I heard those in the room talking quietly, laughing occasionally and just breathing. I'm not sure now how much of that was actually going on in the room, as SD does distort sounds. But this made me feel self-conscious and inclined to resist letting myself go with the experience. I knew I would loose my normal self-awareness if I released to the drug, and resisted that.

 

A name came to me at this quite early stage: ‘Musk-ral-a-drew'. It kept repeating. I wanted to remember the name, and felt my conscious self resisting because it that. Or it perhaps it was using that as a reason to resist. I asked the others to note the name for me, and I relaxed into the session more.

 

The tendrils brought me up into a yellow and terracotta space of unknown dimensions.

 

I think it was at this time (though I'm not certain) that I became the ‘red pepper' again. This time I was upright, and very long. I felt energy rush up from below, and towards my head. I remember wondering, with delight, if I could control this energy. I drew it up though my body and it surged out of my head in a rush. What I have described as green shoots or leaves coming out of my head now became a fountain of energy rushing upwards. It felt great! I felt I could control this energy, and direct it through my body. It came from below, into my lower body (which was carrot shaped and coloured), surged though me, and out of my head.

 

Then I saw a being sitting there waiting. I think he was sitting on a tall green object (like a cactus without spines) but I can't remember clearly. He was the shape of a Mexican hat, with the bottom part (his body) terracotta colour and his head (the dome of the hat shape) was bright yellow. He had a cartoon style face with two eyes and a mouth. I don't recall a nose.

 

 

 

The being, who I felt was the spirit of the herb, smiled very kindly and exuded a gentle calm.

 

I asked who Muskraladrew was. I felt sure it was a name, perhaps of the being or of me.

 

The being played with the name ‘Muskraladrew' and ‘ Adrian ' without answering conclusively whose name it was.

 

I think I asked if I was Muskraladrew, and the being teased me in a kindly way.

 

‘Hmmm. MuskraladrewAdrian. Are you Muskraladrew? No, MuskraladrewAdrian....'

 

I don't think the being is Muskraladrew, though he seemed to imply I might be.

 

I was still resisting the herb. I kept reaching back towards those in the room, which felt quite far off.

‘Where would they want you to be?' He asked, meaning those in the room.

 

‘Here' I answered.

 

‘So, why do you reach back there?' He said.

 

I explained that I was worried that I would forget the lesson.

 

‘You won't.' He said, simply, smiling.

 

Then I saw a brown shape, like a human sized leaf, seen from the side. A wind started to blow from the right, and the leaf began to melt, and blow away in the wind, as if it were made of mud. Pieces flew off, and blew away. Then what was left of the whole leaf blew away too.

 

I asked what it was.

 

‘That is your old self blowing away,' said the being.

 

‘Is that my lesson?' I asked.

 

‘No. This is.' The being answered.

 

A large flower bud appeared. It had big leaves, tightly closed. It was a dark mauve colour I later described as ‘purpley-green'. The bud slowly opened, and inside there was a crustacean or arachnid creature carved from a dark green-brown stone, but alive. It had a rectangular body, with four legs each side and a set of mandibles. It looked familiar, and as I see it in my minds eye I'm sure I have seen it carved somewhere.

 

I remembered the spirit spider that has been hanging around, and wondered if I should be seeing that. I wasn't, but the thought started to change the creature into a spider. It didn't seem that this was true to the vision, but that I had made this change happen. The creature changed into a half spider, half what it had been, and scurried off.

 

Having had my lesson, though I didn't understand it, I felt ready to go back to normality, and asked the being if I should go.

 

He smiled as before with his deep calm, and said there was no need to, as he would fade soon anyway, so I should just relax.

 

A moment later he began to fade, and I returned to the reality of the room.

 

I didn't have the laughter this time, though I think I giggled a bit. I felt very chilled and was a bit out of it for a good 30 minutes afterwards.

 

Afterwards I noted that the colours were all very Colombian or middle American anyway. I have no idea what the creature in the bud meant or the name. No-one had any suggestions.

 

I noticed how I resisted the herb, and I think this held me back. Not sure how to avoid this. Guess it's practice and getting more comfortable with the working group.

 

16 March 2002

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