Two weeks ago I had a dream in which I smoked salvia, and for the first time in my life I was aware of the colours in my dreams. As I woke, still feeling a bit dizzy, I decided that this was the day to smoke the last of my salvia. I'd made a 5x extract using an acetone wash a year earlier, and my stash was finally coming to an end. Salvia isn't a fun hallucinogen for me, it's more of a painful journey inside my mind, so I don't use it more then a couple of times a year. I almost never have fun during my salvia trips, but after I'm done with a trip I'm always amazed at the power of this substance.
So at around eleven pm I set out from my house to the place I'd decided to smoke salvia. It's a nice secluded spot by a lake five minutes from my house, where I was sure to be alone and with a nice view to boot. As I got there I quickly packed my pipe, put on the song I'd earlier decided to listen to (Porcupine Tree - Arriving Somewhere But Not Here, little did I know how much of an influence it would have upon the trip) and then I checked my watch (23:08). I hit it once, holding the flame on the bowl while pulling for a good 5 seconds, before I held my breath for as long as I could. I exhaled and hit it again. A few seconds passed as I wondered if I should do another hit, but before I could decide I was hit by an incredible rush, a feeling of intense vertigo as if the ground had suddenly disappeared from beneath me.
My first thoughts were "TOO MUCH! TOO MUCH!", as I quickly emptied my pipe in an effort to stop myself from doing a third hit. I laid back and tried to relax, looking over the lake at the houses on the other side. They were divided up by neat rectangular shapes of indescribable colour(like a combination of all colours, pulsating... kind of like the visual disturbances I get before a migraine). I distinctly remember thinking "Fuck rectangular shapes.", and being filled with contempt for those geometric figures(perhaps because of me associating them with migraines? I'm not sure).
Now comes the moment of my breakthrough, and this is where it starts to get weird. I hadn't been paying attention to the music at all, but now Steven Wilson's voice suddenly rang out clearly: "Did you ever imagine that the last thing you'd hear as you're fading out... was a song?" And I suddenly realized that this was it. But I wasn't fading out, I was waking up. It dawned upon me that my whole life had been a charade, an elaborate hoax played upon me by shadow people. They had been working my whole life to keep me from knowing the "real" reality, and this was the moment that they "yelled" Got'cha!
I remember replaying memories from my life, except this time I could see the shadow people keeping me in the dark. A perfectly orchestrated prank of sorts. Suddenly I could see a dark city of some sorts, and I believe this was the "reality" that I was entering now that I woke up from this life. The song continued on, it was such a perfect commentary upon what I was experiencing.
All my designs, simplified
And all of my plans, compromised
All of my dreams, sacrificed
Ever had the feeling you've been here before?
Drinking down the poison the way you were taught
Every thought from here on in your life begins
And all you knew was wrong?
I finally accepted what was coming and I think I closed my eyes, but I could still see this city that I was heading towards. It was filled with dark skyscrapers and gave me an incredible feeling of dread. I believe I blacked out at this point, only because my next recollection is of the guitar solo in the song and I know that a few minutes passed. The trip winded down in intensity now, although some CEVs of alien imagery remained.
After that a 30 minute comedown followed, with no distinguishing features, just a general feeling of being a bit off(and that horrible salvia taste in my mouth)... And as always I was left with a feeling of awe at the power of salvia.
So at around eleven pm I set out from my house to the place I'd decided to smoke salvia. It's a nice secluded spot by a lake five minutes from my house, where I was sure to be alone and with a nice view to boot. As I got there I quickly packed my pipe, put on the song I'd earlier decided to listen to (Porcupine Tree - Arriving Somewhere But Not Here, little did I know how much of an influence it would have upon the trip) and then I checked my watch (23:08). I hit it once, holding the flame on the bowl while pulling for a good 5 seconds, before I held my breath for as long as I could. I exhaled and hit it again. A few seconds passed as I wondered if I should do another hit, but before I could decide I was hit by an incredible rush, a feeling of intense vertigo as if the ground had suddenly disappeared from beneath me.
My first thoughts were "TOO MUCH! TOO MUCH!", as I quickly emptied my pipe in an effort to stop myself from doing a third hit. I laid back and tried to relax, looking over the lake at the houses on the other side. They were divided up by neat rectangular shapes of indescribable colour(like a combination of all colours, pulsating... kind of like the visual disturbances I get before a migraine). I distinctly remember thinking "Fuck rectangular shapes.", and being filled with contempt for those geometric figures(perhaps because of me associating them with migraines? I'm not sure).
Now comes the moment of my breakthrough, and this is where it starts to get weird. I hadn't been paying attention to the music at all, but now Steven Wilson's voice suddenly rang out clearly: "Did you ever imagine that the last thing you'd hear as you're fading out... was a song?" And I suddenly realized that this was it. But I wasn't fading out, I was waking up. It dawned upon me that my whole life had been a charade, an elaborate hoax played upon me by shadow people. They had been working my whole life to keep me from knowing the "real" reality, and this was the moment that they "yelled" Got'cha!
I remember replaying memories from my life, except this time I could see the shadow people keeping me in the dark. A perfectly orchestrated prank of sorts. Suddenly I could see a dark city of some sorts, and I believe this was the "reality" that I was entering now that I woke up from this life. The song continued on, it was such a perfect commentary upon what I was experiencing.
All my designs, simplified
And all of my plans, compromised
All of my dreams, sacrificed
Ever had the feeling you've been here before?
Drinking down the poison the way you were taught
Every thought from here on in your life begins
And all you knew was wrong?
I finally accepted what was coming and I think I closed my eyes, but I could still see this city that I was heading towards. It was filled with dark skyscrapers and gave me an incredible feeling of dread. I believe I blacked out at this point, only because my next recollection is of the guitar solo in the song and I know that a few minutes passed. The trip winded down in intensity now, although some CEVs of alien imagery remained.
After that a 30 minute comedown followed, with no distinguishing features, just a general feeling of being a bit off(and that horrible salvia taste in my mouth)... And as always I was left with a feeling of awe at the power of salvia.
) and the second time, well, let's just say that I still remember it like it was yesterday.
.