I wanted to give some props to Micah Hanks over at the Gralien Report for taking a moment back around Halloween to convey my salvia trip report on his show in regards to the entity known as "Hat Man", aka the being which I had called the "Tall Man". It was a strange encounter indeed, the first and only time in all my psychedelic journeys that I felt I had direct interaction with something manifested and intelligent. While I had no fear of the Tall Man, he possessed qualities of a discernible dark nature - a blackish form, featureless face, and a psychic personality of the trickster archetype, that, upon contemplation, seems to be what I had faced. He was welcoming, yet without warmth. He was obliging to my exploration without being overbearing. He played his hand well and complimented his presence with a level of disassociation.
A couple weeks later from that experience I had talked my friend Jim into trying salvia. Jim was by no means a dedicated psychonaut, in fact far from it, not even a cannabis smoker, and much more in line with being a drinking buddy. He was however intrigued with smoking salvia due to the simple fact it was legal and the trip was over relatively quick. There were no worries about failing a drug test at work either. Days prior to Jim's trip, I supposed I had talked it up quite a bit although I had not divulged many details from my foray into the void. I mentioned how intense it was and the amusing part about me shedding my clothes and having an argument with myself about going for refreshing night walk in the buff, assuring Jim this wouldn't happen to him. Aside from that, I think I was still working through what I had experienced and what it meant to me on a personal level.
Jim arrived at my house in the later evening after the sun went down. He sat on the couch and I stationed myself in the captain's chair of the adjacent computer desk preparing what I thought would be a sufficient initial dosage. I handed him the full pipe and then turned off all the lights. The glow of fire from the lighter cast us in a dull orange glow as he took his first hit. Darkness returned and there was silence for about three or four minutes. Jim felt his first experience fade quickly and to him it was only a mild inebriation. I assured him that a second go at it would yield greater results as I had deduced from my experimentation we start out with the highest tolerance and gradually chip away at it with each subsequent trip. I flipped on the desk lamp and packed another bowl, this time deliberately adding a fat pinch of the 30x extract for that extra boost to pierce the veil. Jim took the pipe from me, the light went off, and we both gave a deep breath in anticipation. I said, "Remember to cash the whole thing in one hit if you can." Once more we entered into silence as he put flame to leaf. Jim held the smoke in his lungs for a good 15 seconds and exhaled heavily and from there I only heard minute ticks from his throat. Eight or nine minutes passed in what seemed like an eternity before he started returning from hyperspace and there was a whispered exclamation of "holy shit". This is basically what he described as having transpired:
"Purple designs started growing in my mind like tentacles, there was darkness and a feeling of being transported somewhere else. I faded into existence, finding myself standing in the middle of a desert at night. Much like cacti, there were odd crystal formations sticking up from the ground all over. I decided to start walking and see what I could find. Though there was no moon, everything was illuminated just like there was a big bright moon in the sky, even casting shadows. As I walked for a bit, I was startled as a tall figure in black emerged from behind one of the crystal cacti. He must've been almost seven feet tall and had no face and wore something between what looked to be a suit and robes. It was hard to tell as he was featureless, almost entirely made of darkness. I asked who he was and he spoke to me saying that I should go with him and not to worry. I hesitated and wasn't sure what to do and he started to try and convince me to follow him. I told him that Matt was waiting for me and I had to get back. The figure stepped closer to me and I sensed some frustration on his behalf. I immediately became nervous and had a twinge of fear that something was definitely not good. I stated once more that I had to return and that no way was I going with this thing. There was some kind of evil in this guy. That's when everything went out of focus and I was back in the living room."
Needless to say, I was a little taken aback by what Jim told me. I had the realization that we encountered what appeared to be the same entity and it was then that I relayed the details of the trip I had prior. I often wonder what would have happened had Jim gone with the Tall Man though I have the feeling it would not have been a fun time. Was it the spirit of the plant? Or did the plant tune our perception to a frequency that allowed the meeting of this figure? Jim and I each had a different interaction, his being a bit more frightening in my opinion, or maybe I had ventured further into the void where the Tall Man's persuasion was unnecessary. Either way, it's definitely something to be cautious of in anyone's attempts to enter non-ordinary reality.
