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Reviews"Summer of Salvia is enlightening, powerful, and compelling -- a 'must read' for anyone seeking more than just a memoir of hallucinogenic drug use, but a probe of how chemicals can alter perceptions of reality itself and can last far beyond initial use." -- D. Donovan, Senior Reviewer, Midwest Book Review
SynopsisA Delaware teenager. A deranged mass murderer. A controversial pop star. Three people from vastly different walks of life, yet they all share one thing in common: They all smoked Salvia divinorum, the world's most powerful naturally-occurring hallucinogenic drug. Used for hundreds of years by Mazatec shamans in the heart of Mexico, salvia has in recent years transformed from a sacred divination tool into a YouTube spectacle and party drug, used by both Tucson shooter Jared Loughner and pop-star provocateur Miley Cyrus. But what really goes on behind the scenes of a salvia trip? Is it a fleeting hallucination, or something more? After experiencing a salvia trip that revealed profound and terrifying revelations about the nature of reality, Jason Cole was hungry for answers. Is reality an illusion? Is consciousness? Is there another world hiding behind the faade of our everyday existence--and if so, is it heaven . . . or hell? Part memoir, part investigation, Summer of Salvia sheds light on a little-known yet remarkably powerful drug harboring truths about the nature of existence that are at once enlightening and frightening. Though people from all walks of life have tried salvia, they all have one thing in common: After exposing themselves to the true nature of reality, their lives are never the same., Used for hundreds of years by Mazatec shamans in Mexico, Salvia divinorum has transformed into a YouTube spectacle. After experiencing profound revelations about the nature of reality while on salvia, Jason Cole wanted answers. Part memoir, part investigation, Summer of Salvia follows his search for answers to the questions salvia raises.