Salvia Divinorum: Doorway to Thought-Free Awareness [Paperback]

J. D. Arthur (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 17, 2010

One man’s personal journey through the unparalleled trance states of salvia

• Originally published as Peopled Darkness

• Contains real-life descriptions of salvia-induced visionary experiences

• Offers guidance for the responsible use of this psychoactive plant

• Explores the shamanic awareness associated with salvia

Salvia divinorum, which recently entered the visionary pharmacopoeia of the modern world, has been used for centuries in the shamanic practices of the Mazatec Indians of Oaxaca, Mexico, for healing and divination. A member of the Mint family, Salvia divinorum--“diviner’s sage”--offers a new doorway to the visionary pursuit of higher spiritual and meditative states.

With repeated sessions using salvia over the course of several years, J. D. Arthur began returning each time to the same inner landscape where he found himself entering a unique state of thought-free, or “thoughtless,” awareness. There he accessed a mode of “dream language” that communicated an exquisite constellation of detailed meanings swiftly and flawlessly. His repeated immersion in these states of trance, as well as his analysis of their approach and withdrawal, led to a profound reassessment of the nature of normal perception and a reevaluation of what we refer to as the real world. With true-life descriptions of salvia-induced visionary states, this book offers a detailed experiential analysis for those interested in exploring salvia in their quest for higher knowledge.

Editorial Reviews

Review

“For those interested in experiencing Salvia divinorum, this is an honest, detailed, and caring account of the territory you will encounter.”
(Stephen Buhner, author of The Secret Teaching of Plants and Sacred Plant Medicine )

“We are fortunate to have J. D. Arthur’s thoughtful, reasoned accounts of ‘thoughtless’ passages. I agree with J. D. Arthur--go with a sober sitter.”
(Bret Blosser, anthropologist )

“Fascinating. Salvia Divinorum is a clear, inspiring, and insightful account of meetings with a powerful teacher plant. In the spirit of the classical psychedelic explorers, J. D. Arthur kept a meticulous record of his work with Salvia divinorum. In this easy-to-read book he provides others with a road map for their own explorations, as well as a detailed guide to the territory. After reading Arthur’s book I am inspired to look again at salvia.”
(Ross Heaven, author of Plant Spirit Shamanism and The Hummingbird’s Journey to God )

"This author's thoughtful investigation of the unique, leaf-induced state merits careful attention. His methodical approach and detailed documentation is a model of how to meaningfully explore such vast and elusive topics as time, mind, and language. His careful forays led him to establish familiar pathways both into and out of what he suggests may be another reality, or the far side of death. Mr. Arthur's conclusions beg the very question: What is thought?"
(Kathleen Harrison, Ethnobotantist and author, March 2010 )

"This another of Inner Traditions' serious studies of the use of shamanic psychogenic drugs. It begins with an overview of the use of hallucinogenic drugs in the United States. The author is careful to affirm that he is not promoting the use of such drugs, only recording his personal experiences over several years. He also makes clear that he did extensive research into the chemical makeup of salvia before using it, and that the drug was legal in the United States when he did his experimentation with it."
(Anna Jedrziewski, reviewer, New Age Retailer, April 2010 )

". . . insightful and readable. . . . let it be a guide, a doorway in itself, to bigger and better things."
(Chard Currie, New Dawn, No. 121, Jul/Aug 2010 )

From the Back Cover

ENTHEOGENS / POPULAR CULTURE

“For those interested in experiencing Salvia divinorum, this is an honest, detailed, and caring account of the territory you will encounter.”
--Stephen Buhner, author of The Secret Teaching of Plants and Sacred Plant Medicine

“We are fortunate to have J. D. Arthur’s thoughtful, reasoned accounts of ‘thoughtless’ passages. I agree with J. D. Arthur--go with a sober sitter.”
--Bret Blosser, anthropologist

Salvia divinorum, which recently entered the visionary pharmacopoeia of the modern world, has been used for centuries in the shamanic practices of the Mazatec Indians of Oaxaca, Mexico, for healing and divination. A member of the Mint family, Salvia divinorum--“diviner’s sage”--offers a new doorway to the visionary pursuit of higher spiritual and meditative states.

With repeated sessions using salvia over the course of several years, J. D. Arthur began returning each time to the same inner landscape where he found himself entering a unique state of thought-free, or “thoughtless,” awareness. There he accessed a mode of “dream language” that communicated an exquisite constellation of detailed meanings swiftly and flawlessly. His repeated immersion in these states of trance, as well as his analysis of their approach and withdrawal, led to a profound reassessment of the nature of normal perception and a reevaluation of what we refer to as the real world. With true-life descriptions of salvia-induced visionary states, this book offers a detailed experiential analysis for those interested in exploring salvia in their quest for higher knowledge.

Salvia Divinorum was originally published as Peopled Darkness by J. D. Arthur.

J. D. ARTHUR began experimenting with hallucinogens during the 1960s. This led to a lifelong interest in spirituality and the enhancement of awareness. He works with disabled adults as well as people with mental illness and lives in northern New England.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 144 pages
• Publisher: Park Street Press; New Edition of Peopled Darkness edition (February 17, 2010)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1594773475
• ISBN-13: 978-1594773471
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 6 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #547,410 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

18 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fine Addition to the Literature on S. D., February 25, 2010

By 

J. Thayer (St.Paul, MN) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Salvia Divinorum: Doorway to Thought-Free Awareness (Paperback)

This book is a very fine addition to the literature on Salvia divinorum, of which, as far as I am aware, is devoid of books like this one. It is essentially a well written reflection upon, and report of, the author's experiences with Salvia divinorum; it is very similar to Aldous Huxley's The Doors of Perception, and hence, if you enjoyed that book, you will probably enjoy this one as well.

This book is a reprint of Peopled Darkness: Perceptual transformation through Salvia divinorum.

17 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars To describe the indescribable, March 21, 2010

By 

DAVID ARNSON (Los Angeles) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Salvia Divinorum: Doorway to Thought-Free Awareness (Paperback)

One of the best books ever on the subject. The author is able to describe the indescribable and ineffable experience of the salvia divinorum dimension. Terence Mckenna came up with the imperative to develop 'hyperspatial maps', and this book is a perfect example. Over a number of journeys, the author is able to see and communicate patterns and similarities to help one navigate the perplexing and alien aspects of the 'salvia dimension'. However personal the journey may be, there is enough here to furnish an anchor for us out here in 'reader-land' !! As good as Castaneda in terms of shamanic exploration but without Castaneda's fictional aspects. Comparable to the late Dan Carpenter's excellent 'A Psychonaut's Guide to the Invisible Landscape'.

16 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A Real Explorer, January 10, 2011

By 

John Lentz (Seattle, WA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Salvia Divinorum: Doorway to Thought-Free Awareness (Kindle Edition)

For those who have read erratic internet accounts of the effects of Salvia Divinorum, this book will come as welcome relief. J. D. Arthur is involved with this plant medicine for the long term, not just for the occasional high or wild ride. He explores not only the wide range of altered realities but also places focus on the existential implications of knowing that our "fixed" consensus consciousness is only a minimal version of what being "alive" is. He deals with the questions about the nature of the personal self vs. an unlimited reality that can arise once he has slipped out of life defined by the mind and senses. If you are using SD or thinking about trying it, reading this book will give you some perspective. His experience will not be yours, but his point of view is underwritten by the kind extensive experience most have not acquired. Whether you read this book or not, you should be asking yourself why you want to try SD. Don't accept stupid thoughts as reasons. Unexamined ideas can lead to bad decisions.

He begins by stating that the overriding reality of his experience is the presence of alien beings. He describes them as neither benign nor malign. They are what they are. They do things that at once seem both familiar and alien. Sometimes he is noticed by these beings; sometimes he is ignored; sometimes he is taken into a learning experience by one or more; sometimes he is frightened by loss of contact with his earth life. Of course, that situation brings up the question of who one is when one's mind disappears and one's senses can be altered into any kind of possibility, and when one starts learning a language that cannot be passed into the mind once the SD wears off. Although I cannot recommend anyone follow his path of copious journeys, some separated by very little time, it is clear to me that moving into these altered realities and integrating that experience into daily earth life is a lifetime commitment. There are questions, he discovered, working at the core of his existence that need expression. If he is committed to letting those questions work their way into his human existence, how deep into unlimited experiential possibilities must he travel in order to let them live here? Arthur is an adult making adult decisions about real things, not a rambler rustling up strange experiences.

Arthur rarely had a sitter. For that choice, I would have to say he is not a good role model. He recognizes the importance of a sitter even though he has traveled on the other side mostly by himself. At times beings on the other side refused to take him further without the assistance of a sitter to protect his body, and many beings he encountered, realizing he was not dead, wanted nothing to do with him. Gradually Arthur came to the conclusion that this kind of altered reality was over the line that separates human life and death. Whereas most human beings have very limited concepts of life after death, confined as they are by the mind's limited capabilities, Arthur's experiences suggest that the possibilities are infinite. That realization alone is frightening because the human mind is a very limited organ of perception and does not take too kindly to the apprehension of things infinite.

What I missed in this book is some sense of how using SD, especially to the degree he used it, affected his personal life. He makes reference to his wife. I wonder how he can take on alternative realities without compromising who she is existentially. By relying mostly on his memory and his journal entries for evaluating his experiences, he leaves open what it means to be human. Since having a human body is a foundation of his human life and a significant factor on the other side, knowing something about him besides his profession would be invaluable in that context.

I have had only one experience with SD. It was very mild in comparison to what is described in this book. During that half hour, I had a real sense of another presence, which was protecting me from a more penetrating experience. What I got out of it, however, was to ask myself what my intent was. Anyone who does this just for fun is still playing in the sandbox. This is serious business. SD needs to be honored. What is clear from this book is that this plant opens doors most people have no business entering.