Encounters with the Fantastic: The AV3X meets the Diviner’s Sage
By Zoe Seven
(Part Two of Five)
As I was writing said article I suddenly had the impetus to experience this digital meditation technology together with a psychoactive plant. As the visuals reminded me of some of the visions I usually see under the influence of psychoactive compounds. I also got the distinct feeling as though something inside of me wanted to “interact” with the AV3X. Perhaps it was simply my curiosity. Perhaps it was something other than that. Coincidently at that same time I had attended the Mind States 4 conference as a guest panelist (you may read a review article of said event on my website) and had gotten a good supply of the psychoactive “diviner’s sage” Salvia divinorum (for more on S. divinorum see my new book Back From The Void or check out my website) both in the sub lingual “Emerald Essence” formula version as well as the enhanced leaf used for smoking. I knew right from the get go that smoking the enhanced leaf would not be that advantageous in this particular combo because of the immediate onset of the Salvia effects via this route of intake. On the other hand, the sub lingual version, because of the time it takes to be absorbed into the blood stream (about fifteen to twenty minutes versus the thirty seconds or so via smoking), as well as the duration of its effects (a little over an hour as opposed to three to five minutes via smoking) seemed to be my best bet. So I opted for the sub lingual version.
After measuring out the correct amount of liquid (I used roughly about 3.5 milliliters), I put it inside my mouth and let the tincture rest under my tongue for roughly about 15 minutes until the effects began. While waiting I sit back to enjoy the AV3X’s tracks. Right around the twelve-minute mark or so I begin to sense a change in my mental state. I was obviously very relaxed and mindful because of the DVD’s brain entrainment features but the plant was also beginning to take a hold of my consciousness and I could feel it “wrapping” around me, around my brain and around my mind. But then this feeling, this modified state my consciousness was engaging, began to seemingly “interact” with the digital images playing on the television screen. Then in a couple of minutes more, I could not believe my eyes as the graphics began to look “real”-three-dimensional and “alive” and began coming out of the screen and commenced to wrap around me! I was being enveloped by them and a portion of my living room-the one where the my TV was in-suddenly appeared almost like a fish tank in the sense that it had “things” floating around in it. The empty space was no longer “empty” but rather it had digital images suspended in mid air. This was easily one of the most outstanding experiences I’d encountered by combining plants and digital cyber technology.
The next time I tried this new combination I decided to double the dose to see what the effects would be like. Was in for a surprise… Nearly twenty minutes after intake the television screen had dissolved and the fractal images were once again coming out of the screen. But this time the stronger psychoactive effects allowed me to “enter” through a tunnel that was seemingly coming out from the television screen from where the images also emanating from. The tunnel seemed like a swirling eddy. In a way, because of the spirals that made it up, the tunnel-like structure reminded me of what the “time tunnel” (from the popular sixties television series) looked like. I entered into it and once inside and as I made my way through it I could discern tiny pieces of something very similar to glitter floating around me. If it weren’t for the fact that they were shinny and silvery they could have perhaps passed for the underwater bubbles that can be seen in pictures of scuba divers.
End of Part Two
Copyright Zoe Seven for AVS Journal (2004). All right reserved.