History of Salvia Divinorum

Salvia Divinorum is a very rare herb found in ravine locations in the Sierra Mazateca Mountains in Mexico and used by Mazatec Indians living in those remote areas. While it is known as a type of sage it is also a desert succulent due to the fact the the stems of Salvia Divinorum plants store water. The Mazatec Indians used these plants for both medicinal and spiritual purposes. It was also popularly used as a hallucinogen, used in religious rituals and ceremonies and they claimed to speak to the Gods through salvia. The Mazatec Indians discovered a unique chemical in this herb called Slavinorin A and they used it to explore the outer world o consciousness. They used this herb to reminiscence their childhood and other memorable moments in life. Therefore the first known recordings of use of this plant lies with Mazatec Indians, but there are some who believe that this plant was used by the Aztecs too!

Salvia Divinorum grows in large cluster and reaches a height of over 3 feet with large green leaves and hollow square stems. The most characteristics feature of the plant is its flower.

This plant was first discovered by Jean Basset Johnson who was engaged in his field work of observing the Mazatec Indians when they were performing their rituals. This was in 1939 and he was in the area to make a study of the usage of mushrooms by the Mazatec Indians. The psycho active properties and the mystical feel it gives the person who uses it were also observed and recorded by him. They used to inhale the leaves to feel psychological and vision inducing changes. It is still misty as what causes the brain to hallucinate and see visions with this drug.

Salvia Divinorum belonging to the mint family was shrouded in mystery when the western researchers chanced upon it during the later half of the 21st century. It was R Gordon Wasson who first introduced the plant in United States in 1960. After much effort he got the species identified in 1962.Dr. Epling who was teaching in the University of California identified this herb as new species and together with Wasson, studied the general role of the plant in Mazatec culture. It is believed that Wasson participated in a healing ceremony of the Mazatec Indians and consumed the juices of 34 pairs of leaves of Salvia Divinorum. He claimed that its effects lasted shorter, but quicker than the juices from mushrooms.

Another variety of Salvia Divinorum, believed to be more palatable than the first strain was collected by Bret Blosser in 1991. This strain was less bitter when compared to the more bitter ones found by Wasson. Some botanists believed that Salvia Divinorum is a cultigen. It is not known to exist in the wild and there is a belief that Salvia Divinorum came to the Sierra Mazatec when it was planted deliberately. Wasson claims that a Mazatec shaman believes the plant is foreign to that region and its source unknown to them also. Because of this reason, there are no speculations as to where these plants might have come from.

During recent years, Salvia Divinorum has been portrayed in a negative light because of its psycho active properties and its usage by younger generation who crave drugs without thinking about the consequences.