Lecture: Diviner's Sage Salvia Divinorum and the Entheogenic Experience
With Martin W. Ball, Ph.D.
$5.00 - 10.00 Suggested donation
Presentation Description:
Salvia divinorum, or "Diviner's Sage" is a unique, visionary sage plant
from the Mazatec region of Mexico, where it has been used as a shamanic
and healing tool for countless generations. Now widely and easily
available in the United States and the West, Salvia divinorum is sold
as a "legal high" with virtually no legal restrictions. Often
misunderstood, salvia is commonly likened to LSD in the mainstream
media with little to no appreciation of its actual effects or the
nature of the experience it engenders.
In this presentation, author Martin W. Ball, Ph.D. will discuss the
unique nature of Salvia divinorum, how it can be used responsibly, its
role in ritual practice, and the changing cultural contexts in which
Salvia divinorum finds itself as well as how it can be incorporated
into contemporary neo-shamanic and spiritual practices in the West.
Short lasting, radically introspective and often overpowering, Salvia
divinorum, in stark contrast to other so-called "party" drugs, has
virtually no recreational value. Instead, salvia is best understood as
an entheogenic agent - a plant that "awakens the divine within."
However, the term entheogen also implies a reverential treatment of the
plant and its use. The presentation will therefore focus on how the
plant can be approached and used as a creative and spiritual catalyst
for those who choose to visit with the sage on their own spiritual
paths.
Presenter's Biography:
Martin W. Ball holds a Ph.D. in Religious Studies with an emphasis
on shamanism and Native American spiritual traditions from UCSB. For
his doctoral dissertation he studied with Mescalero Apache medicine
people while researching the Mescalero Mountain Spirit tradition. He
is the author of several books, including his most recent, Sage Spirit
- Salvia Divinorum and the Entheogenic Experience by Kyandara
Publishing, 2007.
More information: e-mail: martinball@verizon.net
Website:
http://www.martinball.net
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