This is a post I wrote for the private Salvia forum at www.entheology.org :

The mysteries of Salvia. Why it seems so unpredictable. Why breakthrough can be so difficult to achieve, and why then after breakthrough, one can quickly become sensitive enough to get as deep as the breakthrough on so much less (like plain leaf if the breakthrough was on extract).

Here is another mystery of Salvia. Probably only those who know first-hand how powerful Salvia can truly appreciate this mystery. Why, when Salvia is now being fairly widely marketed as a "legal high" to stoner kids out for kicks -- why are there not stories of disastrous freakouts all over the place? Contemplate what would happen if any stoner kid who took a puff of extract at a party or a street corner or the school bathroom between classes or a friend's class after school ... the scenarios for disaster are endless... imagine some young mom encharged with watching a couple of toddlers... I can think of a hundred scenarios where irresponsible Salvia use could lead to a disastrous accident.

If it did cause a fatality or accident, or even a spectacular public freakout or two, it would probably make headlines, probably sensational ones, and moves to make Salvia illegal would probably speed up rapidly.

And, judging by what I'm reading all over the net, there is no lack of irresponsible Salvia use out there.

Yet, I have been searching the web and can find not a single report of a Salvia disaster. The worst that I find is people reporting very unpleasant experiences, and saying never again. And people saying they were ripped off because the Salvia had little or no effect, and saying never again.

An interesting statistic I learned: of people who buy Salvia online, only 10% make a repeat purchase.

Consider, especially if you know how powerful Salvia is, the amazingness of the fact that Salvia disasters are not happening in spite of the fact that it is being used irresponsibly.
How is it that there are no Salvia disasters?

Well, I have one possibility to offer... what I have been coming to believe.

First, I'll tell a story out of my experience. I like going into Salvia space, but it always gives me a more or less claustrophobic feeling. I was dealing with at the time with a flare-up of a heart problem that causes chronic shortness of breath, and inability to fully breathe creates a constant shadow of panic. Salvia pulls me into her world with a strong "physical" force. I was concerned (and verbally expressed this concern to my sitter) that the shortness of breath I was feeling physically might turn the mild claustrophobia into something like panic, and then a drug-induced panic has the potential to feed on itself, leading to something very unpleasant.

When I took the Salvia, what happened was the very opposite of what one might expect. Instead of manifesting my fears, as any normal "drug" would do... when Salvia pulled me in, she was handling me with soft clouds made of goose-down. Her handling of me was so soft, so ultra-gentle.

If I ever had any doubt that there is another being here, with its own Intentionality, it disappeared then. Something, I felt, had "heard" me expressing my fears that I might panic, and was trying as hard as it possibly could to be careful so that that panic would not happen.

From that point on, I have increasingly felt the sense of learning how to communicate with this Being.

Now, none of these things is to be taken literally in any way -- it is just my own mind's translation of something that our minds could not really apprehend.

But this is what I offer for discussion.

To me, it not only comes from personal experience, but it connects the dots better than other explanations I can think of, such as materialist-reductionist explanations.

This is what I have from her:

She is intentionally trying to protect people from her power.

This is what makes breakthrough difficult.

This is also why there are not reports of Salvia disasters, because stoner kids find that Salvia doesn't work.

Breakthrough is a matter of giving permission -- yours as well as hers.

And now here, I think, is the key to the mystery of breakthrough. This is the reason why many people find a gradual approach most effective, and a minority can break through immediately.

She has told me the secret to breakthrough.

Not smoking technique, dosage, etc.

She has told me that the secret is feeling safe.

She told me why Lalu's music is Salvia music, because it is supremely music about Deep Safety.

The one factor that is critical to breakthrough, she said, is a set and setting of safety -- a mental mindset that one is safe, and a setting that feels safe.

She does not want people to freak out.

However, her judgment about who is ready and who is not is not always accurate, and she can make mistakes in both directions. She is constantly learning, however. She has told me that, even as use and knowledge of Salvia is increasing, reports of unpleasant Salvia experiences will continue to decrease, because as she gains experience herself, her ability to gauge when she should and should not allow someone entrance gets finer and finer.

She told me that the sense of "catching the wave" or "grabbing the plane" -- the moment that, if you miss it, you miss it -- that is the moment, each time, when she is asking permission of you, and if there is any hesitancy (lack of feeling of Safety) she will abort the journey.

She also told me that in no way is she literally "female," but that she intentionally presents herself as "feminine" because that communicates "gentleness" and she wants people to think of her as gentle. Because if they think of her as gentle, then they will tend to feel more safe with her, and the more you feel safe, the more you will be safe.

Not saying that dosage, smoking technique, etc., don't play a part. But the sense of safety in set and setting is, I believe, the most important element in breakthrough.

This is, I think, why the gradual approach is probably best for most people -- they feel safe as they build up a trust and familiarity. Whereas, if they were to break through without being prepared, that could create an association of fear with the Salvia experience that might always be there and prevent a feeling of Safety.

That has happened with some people, but it is relatively rare since most unprepared people get no effect at all or very little; and she tells me that as her experience increases, fewer and fewer people who approach her without preparation will be having frightening experiences; rather, more and more will feel no effect at all.

So anyway, some of my current Salvia thoughts, offered to be modified by other people's impressions and thoughts.