Salvia Divinorum, also commonly known as Diviner’s Sage and by its genus name, Salvia, is a psychoactive plant whose users gone through psychedelic experiences of varied lengths upon consumption. It is widely found in Mexico around shady locations and is still used by the Mazatec shamans to facilitate their rituals of curing or divination. Besides the hallucinations one goes through, salvia leaves are also used in a lower dosage as diuretic and to treat ailments such as diarrhea, anemia, headaches, rheumatism, and many more. In the modern era, it can be used to treat depression. Yet, all these benefits are pretty much useless compared to the press coverage of people misused salvia leaves.

Normally, Salvia Divinorum is consumed alone and without other herbal mixes. Back in those traditional Mazatec rituals, salvia leaves of about 20 to 80 freshly plucked one were crushed by the Mazatec shamans to extract the leaf juices and then mixed with water to create a ‘tea’ to be drank during the healing or divination ceremonies. Sometimes, it is also chewed to induce the effect of salvia leaves. This traditional method is still being used now where salvia users quid chewing. Besides quid chewing, there are some who prefer to the smoking dried salvia leaves method.

All these methods, however different they are, have one thing in common, that is to reach the altered state of consciousness from using it. While quid chewing has a longer-lasting effect, it consumes a lot more dried leaves whereas the smoking method takes up lesser salvia leaves but it has a shorter span of time in term of its effect. In an ounce of dried salvia leaves, depending on the strength of the doses, the number of doses for smoking method is significantly larger compared to quid chewing method. Generally, for each dose, it is about 2 to 10 grams of dried leaves if it is for quid chewing and about 0.25 to 0.75 gram for smoking. Yet, everything depends on how strong each dose is and how sensible the person is.

Salvia Divinorum can be used to make incense. There are a lot of varieties of salvia incenses out in the market and it brings a unique aroma to the room. One of the many types of incense available is the Egyptian Delight. This incense is a standardized extract made with a salvia x6 extract and also blue lotus x15 extract. The addition of blue lotus in it makes the salvia incense interesting and different than other salvia incense and perfect for those who want to have a quiet contemplative moment of meditation. Another interesting product is herbal incense with salvia x40 with lobelia x10. It is a strong one created by a Spanish shaman for a cosmic room aroma.

The salvia leaves are very beneficial especially in fighting against depression. Yet, due to the negative publicity the media gave, there are motions made to ban it in America. Therefore, it is advisable to use it wisely so that others can use it.