Sage Spirit: Salvia Divinorum and the Entheogenic Experience

by Martin W. Ball

Salvia divinorum is a unique and profoundly powerful visionary herb from the Mazatec region of Mexico. Now widely available in the western world via the internet, but still little understood, this legal entheogen is becoming ever more popular among those who follow the shamanic path of plant based spirituality. In this work, artist, musician, writer and shamanic explorer, Martin Ball, navigates his way through the strange world of sage space, from Burning Man to overtone singing and cosmic serpents, bringing back guidance and advice for the use of Salvia divinorum as a true entheogen and ritual sacrament. Sage Spirit is bound to be a valuable resource for all those interested in exploring salvia responsibly as a spiritual catalyst and consciousness-expanding agent of personal transformation. Filled with personal accounts, practical advice and philosophical reflections, this book is a must for anyone wanting to learn more about this amazing visionary plant.

Genres: Spirituality

140 pages, Paperback

First published April 7, 2007

About the author

Martin W. Ball, Ph.D., is a writer, independent publisher, energy worker, visionary artist, and musician currently living in Ashland Oregon. In the spring of 2009 Martin underwent a profound energetic opening and transformation - the result of intensive work with entheogenic medicines and a year of profound self-exploration. The result is Martin's articulation of what he calls the "Entheological Paradigm," a Grand Unified Theory of all of reality from God to the direct experience of each human being, which he characterizes as an articulation of his view on “radical nonduality.” His approach is unique in that he sees the tension between duality and nonduality not as a spiritual or religious issue, but as an energetic issue that can best be addressed through the intentional use of powerful entheogens, such as 5-MeO-DMT. As such, his approach is thoroughly practical, straight-forward, and free of metaphysics, speculation, and attachment to spiritual or religious ideologies and mythologies. The result is a view of the nature of reality and the self that is challenging, liberating, and powerfully transformative, pointing to the true nature of being and personal responsibility as an energetic being.

Martin earned his B.A. at Occidental College in Los Angeles in 1994 where he studied Philosophy and Religious Studies. From there he went to graduate school at the University of California, Santa Barbara where he earned his M.A. and Ph.D. in Religious Studies in 2000 with an emphasis on Native American traditions, Philosophy of Science and Religion, and the Phenomenology of Mystical and Shamanic Experience, as well as the role of entheogens in religious and spiritual experience. For his Ph.D. dissertation, Martin performed fieldwork at the Mescalero Apache reservation in New Mexico where he studied with a number of medicine people and researched the Mescalero Mountain Spirit tradition.

Currently, Martin works as an adjunct professor teaching Religious Studies and Native American Studies in southern Oregon. He also provides personal healing and energy sessions for those looking to advance on their personal paths to authentic being, and enjoys servicing others as the ultimate "reality coach" for those who are truly ready to transcend their egos and embrace their true energetic natures as embodiments of the One Being. His methods are direct, immediate, and involve no ceremony, ritual, or spiritual practice, and instead rely on the direct and profound expansion into one’s fully infinite natural state of universal being.

Martin is also a prolific writer, composer, and musician. His most recent books include the psychedelic novel, Beyond Azara: A Universal Love Story, the ebook, All is One: Understanding Entheogens and Nonduality, and the fractal art book and “owner’s manual” of God’s Handbook for Operation Human Vehicles: A No Nonsense, No Strings Attached Approach to Universal Being. In addition to these works, his most influential and ground-breaking work remains his 2009 book, Being Human: An Entheological Guide to God, Evolution, and the Fractal, Energetic Nature of Reality. He is currently completing an autobiographical work, tentatively titled Being Infinite: One Man’s Journey into the Limitless Eternal.

(© http://www.martinball.net/)

Reviews

[chris · Rating 3 out of 5]

Was hoping to get more from this book, as his other book, Mushroom Wisdom is "highly acclaimed". This is mostly just the author's accounts with divinorum, rather than helpful insight into its uses. Though, the plant is in itself difficult to qualify, so it may be the best way to give helpful information. Mushroom Wisdom contains lots of useful information which also applies to divinorum.

[Anna · Rating 4 out of 5]

It' very informative. Liked it a lot and I will exprerience it asap.