I made a reacquaintance with the Lady last night after a half year break after moving house and other pressing life issues. I set up a ritual space when I first moved into our new place. I have a separate guest house above the detached garage that I have converted into a space for my music making and recording. There was a little open closet space in the back room that I decorated with some nice psychedelic cushions, tie-dye hangings and holographic hindu art... a place dedicated to meditation and voyaging.

I smudged the area with some of a sage bundle and put on some appropriate chill music (Nikhil Banerjee, master sitarist) and had my prerequisite pre dose of rue extract harmala enhanced mullein to put my mind in the right headspace and also for the synergy with the shepherdess. My mind suitably calmed, I go for my first small dose of plain leaf and rather clumsily cough it out much too soon, first launch aborted with only a slight hint of salviaspace. I wait for at least 5 minutes then re-engage for a second attempt. Second hit much more successful and here is what I scrawled in my travelogue afterwards (don't mind the attempt at clumsy poetic prose, it always seems to be how I tend to best put down the experience post peak whilst I am still a touch besaged):

"A feeling... subtle but powerful. Visions in the mind's eye of serrated edged petals unfurling, blossoming from an inner core, turning into claw like tendrils that cradle me in its arms. Halos of minty freshness envelope my being, plant human symbiosis... a welcome return to her arms. Grateful joy creeps in from ear to ear in a post peak besaged state, knowing... I've been here before."

I know quite a few people report only pins and needles and uncomfortability in the lower levels but what I really want to know is... Who else here enjoys the lower realms of the besaged state and finds it beautiful, cleansing and therapeutic?

Oh yes indeedy.

I prefer to smoke a whole joint or bowl plain leaf rather than a super small amount of some commercially available concentrated leaf. With the commercial stuff low doses are just muddy and uncomfortable most of the time.


But with plain leaf the low doses are sometimes just totally astounding, other times quite therapeutic and always helps with meditation for days after.

I also enjoy medium-high doses of concentrated leaf quite a bit.

I also enjoy the lower sub-breakthrough doses a lot more.

But once I'm in that space, it's less about enjoying myself and more about learning... what thought patterns have I been harboring this past week that are making me unhappy? How could my relationships improve? etc.

But I usually drink the tea nowadays.

An unequivocal yes to both replies. Definitely therapeutic at the lower doses IMO. Though I haven't smoked a low dose without first pre-dosing with harmalas in ages so I can't remember what it's like to engage the shepherdess on her own. I like how the harmalas synergize and make the pace of salviaspace somewhat smoother and also draw out the post peak afterglow a touch too. At the least they certainly gel well together and both feel like allies to me...

The pre-dose of harmalas sometimes catch me by surprise with its potency though and I experience an introspective headspace that will sometimes force me to view any existing problems in my mind at the time. Probably a good thing to get out of the way before besagement begins, kind of like a mini purge of the mind to make it clearer for the shepherdess to work with.

I'd love to try the tea method as I have had great results with tincture and the extended space offered by buccal or oral routes. I just can't seem to get my cuttings to establish. I'll keep at it though because I would love to have a lifetime supply of plain leaf to work with... as it is, my stash of dried leaf should last at least five or so years at my current rate of consumption.