From: Christopher B Reeve Newsgroups: alt.psychoactives Subject: Re: Mexican Mint (Salvia divinorum) Date: Thu, 14 Apr 1994 21:31:34 -0400 Message-ID: > Does anyone know anything about S. divinorum? > (Mexican Mint) > > I know that the Mazatecs used it for medicinal purposes, > but i havent been able to find out what kind of stuff > that they did with them. > > I also have had a hard time digging up any articles on it, > i've found one that cites a couple others, but thats about it. I'll do my best. Hope you don't already have this information. Before me, I have a copy of _The Psychedelic Reader_ (selections from _The Psychedelic Review_), Edited by Gunther M. Weil, Ralph Metzner, and Timothy Leary (University Books. New Hyde Park, New York - available via your local interlibrary loan; mine's from Johns Hopkins): "All of these attributes fit the _hojas de la Pastora_ that the Mazatecs generally use as a divinatory plant. In September 1962 we gathered specimens of the _hojas de la Patora_, and they were found to be a species new to science: Epling and Jativa named it _Salvia divinorum_. Among the Mazatecs I have seen only the leaves ground on the _metate_, strained, and made into an infusion. The colonial records speak of an infusion made from the roots, stems and flowers. But this is not incompatible with our information about _Salvia divinorum_: the Mazatecs may confine themselves to the leaves of a plant that has the divine virtue in all its parts. I suggest that tentatively we consider _pipiltzintzintli_, the divine plant of pre-Conquest Mexico, identical with the _Salvia divinorum_ now invoked in their religious supplications by the Mazatecs." (170) "And here we revert to the miraculous plant that we think is the _Salvia divinorum_, called (as we believe) in Nahuatl _pipiltzintzintli_, in the records of the Inquisition dating from 1700. This is obviously related to the name for the sacred mushrooms used by Marina Rosas. Dr. Aguirre Beltran translates it as 'the most noble Prince' and relates it to _Piltzintli_, the young god of the tender corn. In the accounts of the visions that the Indians see after they consume the sacred food - whether seeds or mushrooms or plant - there frequently figure _hombrecitos_, 'little men,' _mujercitas_, 'little women,' _duendes_, 'supernatural dwarfs.' Beginning with our maiden at her _metate_, here is a fascinating complex of associations that calls for further sutyd and elaboration. For example, are these Noble Children related perchance to the Holy Child of Atocha, which gained an astonishing place in the hearts of the Indians of Middle America? Did they seize on this Catholic image and make it a charismatic icon because it expressed for them, in the new Christian religion, a theme that was already familiar to them in their own supernatural beliefs?" (182) -- "There are a number of us these days who do not seek deliberately to go to prison but cherish a dream of being sent there to enjoy, paradoxically, true freedom." (Anthony Burgess, _1985_) ============================================================================= From: trevor@kaiwan.com (Trevor Bezdek) Newsgroups: alt.drugs,alt.drugs.psychoactives,alt.psychedelics Subject: Re: S. Divinorum (Diviner's Sage) Date: Tue, 20 Sep 1994 17:16:33 -0800 Message-ID: The active component is salvinorin-A, a diterpene. 1. -- Dried milled leaves (200g) of Salvia divinorum, collected at Huautla, Oaxaca in November 1980, were extracted with boiling chloroform. Evaporation of the solvent gave a green residue (27g) which was purified by chromatography on "Tonsil" (200g) with chloroform as eluant. Thirteen fractions of 50.0 ml were collected, the sixth and seventh of which contained compound [A] as ascertained by t.l.c. (45% ethyl acetate in hexane as developer; Rf 0.7). Crystallization from the methanol yielded salvinorin [A] as colorless crystals, m.p. 238 -- 240 C... Ortega, A., J.F. Blount, and P.S. Marchant. (1982) Salvinorin, a new trans-neoclerodane diterpene from Salvia divinorum (Laviatae). J. Chem. Soc., Perkin Trans. I:2505-2508 -- Trevor Bezdek Finger for PGP 2.3 Public Key ============================================================================= From: cf501@cs.city.ac.uk (Steve Mynott) Newsgroups: alt.drugs,alt.drugs.psychoactives,alt.psychedelics Subject: Re: S. Divinorum (Diviner's Sage) Date: 30 Sep 1994 10:22:09 GMT Message-ID: <36gosh$sn7@bambam.cs.city.ac.uk> I thought the following might be of interest. My understanding from reading this is that salvinorin A is *not* orally active, which may explain some of the confusion surrounding this substance and the mint. Does anyone know what the chemical structure of salvinorin A looks like? Maybe some ASCII graphics are in order... SALVIA-DIVINORUM AND SALVINORIN-A - NEW PHARMACOLOGICAL FINDINGS SIEBERT, DJ POB 661552/LOS ANGELES//CA/90066 JOURNAL OF ETHNOPHARMACOLOGY 1994 V43 NO1 PP53-56 The diterpene salvinorin A from Salvia divinorum (Epling and Jativa-M), in doses of 200-500 ag produces effects which are subjectively identical to those experienced when the whole herb is ingested. Salvinorin A is effectively deactivated by the gastrointestinal system, so alternative routes of absorption must be used to maintain its activity. Traditionally the herb is consumed either by chewing the fresh leaves or by drinking the juices of freshly crushed leaves. The effects of the herb when consumed this way depend on absorption of salvinorin A through the oral mucosa before the herb is swallowed. Refs: ORTEGA_A, 1982 P.2505, J CHEM SOC P1 VALDES_LJ, 1987 VOL.41 P.283, ECON BOT VALDES_LJ, 1983 VOL.7 P.287, J ETHNOPHARMACOL VALDES_LJ, 1984 VOL.49 P.4716, J ORG CHEM WASSON_RG, 1962 VOL.20 P.77, BOTANICAL MUSEUM LEA WASSON_RG, 1963 VOL.20 P.161, BOTANICAL MUSEUM LEA ============================================================================= Newsgroups: alt.drugs From: talis@starship.com Subject: RE: Salvia Divinorum Message-ID: <9410071752.0P44G00@starship.com> Date: Fri, 07 Oct 94 17:52:37 -0400 Actually, I'd love to correct you. According to T. McKenna, at a recent lecture, that I attended, He said the following about proper tech, `for using, S. Divinorum, or Diviners Mint. To start, take 15-20 fresh leaves, remove the center stem, to reduce the bulk of the plant material. Roll the leaves into a quid (ball), and put in your mouth This should be done, in a dark room, with a digital clock visible Watching the clock, chew on the leaves, for exactly 15 miniutes, then spit them out. Effects, should last about 45 miniutes. First of all, notices the major difference in the amount that you smoked, to the actual suggested number of leaves. Also, I have never heard of smoking the leaves but you could probally use the dry leaves in the same way as the fresh leaves.... Blessed Be! Talis ============================================================================= From: pjordan@cab016.cs.ualberta.ca (Peter Jordan) Newsgroups: alt.drugs,alt.drugs.psychoactives,alt.psychedelics Subject: Re: S. Divinorum (Diviner's Sage) Date: 20 Sep 1994 04:49:58 GMT Message-ID: <35lplm$a7j@scapa.cs.ualberta.ca> cfargus@netcom.com (Somnium "Watching-Owl" Regnum) writes: >form' that is is active in the 200ug range. Yes 200 micro-grams. One puff >of smoke is all it takes. I have heard that you can smoke the dried leaves; >although he never mentioned that way of ingestion. So supposedly, there is I don't know about this smoking thing ..... If the "prepared infusion ... is said to be stable for a day" (pg. 296 Valdes), wouldn't you think drying followed by smoking would certainly be ineffective. Has any-one ever actually tried this ? Reference: Ethnopharmacology of Ska Maria Pastora (Salvia divinorum); L.J. ValdesIII,J.L.Diaz,A.g.Paul; Journal of Ethnopharmacology, 7(1983):287-312. Citingly; Peter J. ============================================================================= From: ebrandt@muddcs.cs.hmc.edu (Eli Brandt) Newsgroups: alt.drugs,alt.drugs.psychoactives,alt.psychedelics Subject: Re: S. Divinorum (Diviner's Sage) Date: 21 Sep 1994 03:34:54 GMT Message-ID: <35o9ku$qao@jaws.cs.hmc.edu> In article , Trevor Bezdek wrote: >The active component is salvinorin-A, a diterpene. Salvinorin A is a bioactive compound isolable from /S. divinorum/. It is not at all clear that it's responsible for the plant's more interesting effects, however. I'll admit that I haven't read the papers by Valdes' group, but Ott's assessment of the tests in animals is that "the primary effects of salvinorin A was sedative". The whole leaves do not have this as their primary effect. If anybody knows of informal human assays of salvinorin A, we'd all like to hear about it... Eli ebrandt@hmc.edu ============================================================================= Message-ID: <080306Z06091994@anon.penet.fi> Newsgroups: alt.psychoactives From: an105679@anon.penet.fi Date: Tue, 6 Sep 1994 07:57:01 UTC Subject: Salvia Divinorum Info Salvia divinorum is easily grown in the northwest U.S. -- after seeing a friend's plant in Portland, I suddenly realized what a healthy plant looks like. For a year, I had been struggling to get a few cuttings going in the very different climate of southern New Mexico: the result, inevitably, was a drooping plant with blackening (i.e. useless) leaves. Up in the pacific northwest, however, at least by the coast, the plant thrived, growing easily in a bathroom on a shelf away from the window and direct sunlight. For would-be enthusiasts in the northwest: you've pretty much got it made. The only worry would be to keep the plant from freezing (i.e., keep it inside!). You don't need anything except indirect sunlight. Indeed, live Salvia divinorum plants have been seen (by this author) for sale in a plant shop right off the Pike Place Market in Seattle. You just need to look around -- more people are growing it than you might think. On the other hand, would-be growers in the southwest and central U.S. are looking at an entirely different scenario: you _need_ to build a humidity tent of some kind. In the spring the plant will appear to thrive; however, come the hot summer, plants will easily die. You've got to do something -- why not build a small structure (with PVC pipe perhaps? I use bamboo, which grows in my garden. Avoid wood, as this invites mold with all the misting you'll have to do. And mist it you must. S. divinorum _requires_ high humidity, and will shrivel and die without it. Just use a spray bottle to mist inside your tent 3 times a day or so. Oh, and another thing is to place your (prefferably peat) container in a dish of vermiculite which is regulary sprayed -- helps keep things humid, you see. S. d. plants can survive even the hottest New Mexico summers with this kind of attention. As far as getting the plants goes, as I said, look around. There are plenty of suppliers, you just have to use your brain and check into it. The plant is not illegal. As far as Seattle residents, you need to just look for it while you're shopping at Pike Place Market. A friend found a (VERY healthy) specimen there. Useage? Dry the large leaves and smoke them. Put them in a waterpipe -- it uses the material more efficiently. After about 6 or 7 puffs of the leaves, the normal user will be stopped in his/her tracks, and probably want to lie down and recieve the mental information this plant has to offer. You will probably be taken down trains of thought independantly of your intellect, which is off in the back smoking cigarettes with your ego while the divine plant is operating. Make no mistake -- this is hardly just another plant to get "wasted" with -- the insights gained by S. divinorum are often _cerebral_, sometimes visual, sometimes not. But whatever the effects, they are gone completely within 1-2 hours. You'll find a great difference in effects, compared to other psychedelics. In particular I (personally) notice a distinct cooling of body temperature after the 3rd or 4th hit, a unique feeling I've never felt on any other psychedelic. I wonder if others have noticed this also? My advice is, first, get some good books on the subject -- you can't expect to get this kind of information off the internet or in High Times, for example. You need to read _Pharmacotheon_ by Ott, or Valdez and Diaz's excellent _Journal of Enthnopharmacology_ article (#7, 1983 pps 287-310) -- go to your local university library and photocopy it. Another good book is Riedlinger's (ed.) _The Sacred Mushroom Seeker_, which contains a very good essay on Salvia divinorum by Albert Hoffman (recommended!). (typo above... read: Journal of Ethnopharmacology....) In other words, don't be afraid to educate yourself seriously about this plant -- it's essential; you can't appreciate how important a plant this is otherwise (and S. divinorum is one of the world's rarest plants -- so appreciate whose selling you a cutting!). Remember, Maria Sabina would have wanted it that way -- don't profane the sacred by looking at this as some sort of easy high -- it isn't. The plant requires your care and attention before it will impart any kind of experience to you. The experience granted is well worth the time and effort to cultivate them properly. As one user said: "I'm investigating the Salvia divinorum... although sometimes I think that the Salvia divinorum is investigating _me_..." and that just about says it all, doesn't it? If you have other questions or other divinorum debate, please post it here. Infinity Spectrum ------------------------------------------------------------------------- To find out more about the anon service, send mail to help@anon.penet.fi. Due to the double-blind, any mail replies to this message will be anonymized, and an anonymous id will be allocated automatically. You have been warned. Please report any problems, inappropriate use etc. to admin@anon.penet.fi.