Try anything (and everything) else before S. divinorum.
In all seriousness, Salvia is horrible and fits the layperson’s perception of a bad trip much better than any psychedelic hallucinogen (aka serotonergic (Psilocybin, LSD), as opposed to glutamatergic dissociative hallucinogens - (Ketamine, PCP) - or cholinergic delirant ones (Benadryl, Datura), with Salvia uniquely acting on Kappa opioid receptors) could.
I’m lucky in that all I’ve gotten from it was strong dysphoria because the one time I attempted to try Salvia, the brand I ordered was bad and I got something that must have had a very low potency instead of a concentrated extract. I got off merely with rolling backwards and breaking my bong covering myself with bong water, then worrying about a leaf in my hair and thinking I might find myself snapping back to reality for a while.
Given the sense of dread and anxiety I felt afterwards while in the real world, being in that state through a fast paced cartoonish fever dream of a trip must be absolutely awful.
You got off easy, friend. Thank your god/devil.
>In all seriousness, Salvia is horrible and fits the layperson’s perception of a bad trip much better than any psychedelic hallucinogen
After my third experience, I woke up the next day knowing I'd learned an enormous amount about myself, and learned to think in ways I couldn't previously.
At the same time though, I just... "Knew"... I'd learned everything LSD had to teach me and that any further experiences with it would be like trying to over-optimise my brain, causing more harm than good.
That was ~4 years ago, and I've had literally zero desire to even consider touching the stuff since then.
I'm glad I did (3-4 times), but I'm VERY confident I'll never do it again.
I don't know if it was just timing and it jump started a natural part of aging, or if it triggered something that would not have occurred otherwise. Either way it definitely did a number on my 16 year old brain, still unsure if it was a net positive or negative.
The sad part is they don't have such a profound effect on me anymore, it can still be pretty interesting but the life altering trips seem to be reserved for the first few times. My only expectation from them now is to feel nice and have some pleasant visuals. I don't approach it seeking some lesson or greater truth, just have a nice time, which is maybe the final lesson lol.
One failure does not prove something is not possible.
When under the influence, have you ever encountered knowing that the reality we experience here is not what it seems to be? Bringing these things back (especially in a persistent manner) is tough, but most people can recall the phenomenon abstractly.
They are no more or less real than the rest of our artifacts from evolution.
But attempting to give any more credence to these phenomena than to dreams or intrusive thoughts is essentially a dragon hunt of sorts.
Thing is the we need these from time to time to push us off the rut.
Might you be on a trip of some sort as we speak?
But after you’ve taken them a few times, there isn’t so much resistance. It’s just a goofy light feeling for a few hours. Chasing that feeling when you first took them and realized that “borders are just like, made up man!” is just like chasing any other high.