Mozz Manzoor: The Salvia Shaman

Interview with Mozz Manzoor: Professional Salvia Guide

http://sagedivinegroup.com/

Facebook.com/sagedivinegroup

Mozz Mazoor is the founder and entheogen guide at Sage Divine Group, a company specializing in leading clients through guided Salvia sessions since 2010.  Mozz, however, has been personally leading Salvia sessions with others for more than ten years following his first personal experience with Salvia; a mind-altering plant medicine capable of creating expansive and what would commonly be referred to as ‘hallucinogenic’ or ‘psychedelic’ experiences.  I began learning about Mozz’s work after he became a good friend of mine and I decided to explore further into his life, his work, and his vision.  Ultimately this exploration is what lead to the interview you are about to enjoy.  Many questions were raised in my mind.  What was his first personal experience like?  What does a Salvia session feel like?  What are the practical applications of guided Salvia therapy?  Read on to find the answers to these questions and many more interesting gems and be prepared to have your mind expanded.

(All excerpts are direct quotes taken from the aforementioned interview between Laura Weber (author of Co-Creations) and Mozz Manzoor on June 30^th, 2013.  The interview was rather long and has been paraphrased to express the highlights.)

Laura  Mozz, as you know, I'm really excited about the opportunity to sit down and pick your brain with an interview about who you are and what you're doing.

Mozz  I’m very excited as well. A warm hello to all of you taking the time to read this

Laura  Leading up to the interview I did some homework to find out the story about you and your company. Your company is called Sage divine Group and you've been in business about 10 years. Can you tell me a little more about your company?

Mozz  Well the company has been in business for about 3 years. My personal experience with Salvia, and that of guiding people through a psychedelic experience with Salvia goes back over 10 years.  I first tried Salvia when I was 18. It changed my life. I was so moved by the experience that I thought everyone should experience it as well.

Mozz’s first experience with Salvia:

“…I forgot what I was. I felt like a child.  And there came a brief moment where I wasn't sure if I was.  For a brief moment, I didn't know that I existed…  There was no conscious recognition of a "self.” Then out of the nothingness, a thought occurred."

“I realized that the thoughts were Originating from something that was me.  That there even was something that was me; That I existed…I came back very harrowed from the experience.  I vowed never to do it again, but over the course of the next few weeks something became very apparent to me.  I was happier than I had ever been in a very long time… I decided that all of my friends and anyone I cared about needed to experience this.” 

From there Mozz explained how he began to map out the process of creating safe and productive Salvia sessions which would eventually become therapeutic healing sessions for his clients.  10 years later, his hard work and trial and error process is paying off and what he can now offer is expertise.  As Mozz suspected as a young man of 18, his clients are regularly having safe, reliable, and transformative experiences, tailored specifically to the individual goals of each client under his guidance in therapeutic Salvia sessions.  Mozz has developed many happy clients.

One of his clients shared this simple but heartfelt thanks;

“Thank you for being a part of my awakening. I am so grateful ”

Another grateful client ends their statement by saying,

“It seems that one thing that will last is my shift in perspective. In that I have confidence to face myself – to let myself cry and embrace my humanhood- my best intentions that cannot fully manifest themselves. That despite my hopes, they will fail. But not to get caught up in that – to just push forward and do what I do. To make the best of the whole situation.  I have no idea where I will go from here, but I am confident that it will be a better place, a more genuine place.”

So let’s learn a little more about what a guided Salvia session with Mozz entails. 

Mozz  What Salvia is giving you is an opportunity to explore your inner mental world. And that is something that must be respected. It should be treated with reverence and humility. That is a feeling that is very hard to find if you are concerned with how you are perceived by people around you. My sessions always start with about 45 minutes to an hour's worth of calming breathing exercises and guided meditations.  From getting to know a person and what they hope to achieve from a psychedelic experience, I can make sure that their Intentions are aimed in that direction.

Mozz  When I feel a person is mindful of where they are in their space and time…I send them off.  After years of figuring out how to put somebody in the optimal state to receive the gifts of Salvia, I have developed these techniques. 

Mozz  After a few minutes in that state the person comes back and we talk about what they experienced.  After I feel like they have expressed everything that they feel they should…I send them off again.  Each jump lasts for about 5-10 minutes.  I usually send someone off 3 times in a session.

A Person becomes more and more acclimated with the experience every single time and is able to take advantage of it in a broader sense.

Mozz has used the term inner space to refer to where a client can go during a Salvia session, so I asked Mozz to explain what the experience of one’s inner space is like.

“I feel that your inner-space is whatever is hiding behind your ego…In essence (it is) a temporary denial of your ego.  As soon as you're born you start forming a relationship with the world around you. You learn to transact with the world around. As you get older the things you want get more and more complex. You start letting the world know certain things about your identity. You make decisions about yourself…You want to let the world know who you are… That identity, that collection of decisions, is what I defined as the ego…What Salvia does his cuts that off.  The hope being that when you come back you’ll have a better sense of what those decisions and those choices should be.”

Laura And how can people integrate this new perspective with the "everyday life" they return to after the session?

Mozz  When you feel your true self and the desires that lie within that, It's easier to go forward in a more honest way so that you're giving yourself the best opportunity to be happy.

Laura  Would you say that this experience is ideal for those looking to go deeper and access their truer desires through a psychedelic but who possibly are just inexperienced or unsure?

Mozz  I couldn't have said it better myself.  People who are feeling stuck. Who are in repeating patterns. Who need a jolt; To wake up the wonder inside them People who are jaded.  (These are people who) could benefit from this.

(The topic inevitably drifted into the much debated and mysterious topic regarding the use and application of other hallucinogenic plant substances…)

Laura  What are the implications for this with other plant medicine? How does this invite us, as a culture, to revisit how we look at these substances which were viewed as medicines by our ancestors?  Could these substances be vehicles for social change?  Looks like we'll have to schedule a few more follow up interviews to cover them all.

Mozz  I'd love that

(So, now we have that to look forward to! J)

Laura  And with that said, Mozz, what do you want to leave us with? From 10 years of experience as a Salvia guide, and indeed a pioneer in an exciting new field, what is the vision of Sage Divine Group into the future and how do you see this practice affecting the people who experience it?

Mozz Manzoor “For many of the Incarnations of malaise that people suffer from in this modern society, the antidote isn't a methodical roadmap of thoughts, but rather an emotionally moving experience to show you a truth you can feel.

”

Laura  Your vision is coming at a perfect time and I see you and 

this practice really serving to build bridges where there were none before and allowing more people than ever before to have transformational experiences of healing during this time of change in the world.  Thank you for your work.

Mozz  Thank you. That is a very nice thing to say

Laura That was a beautiful conversation, thank you for being interviewed and I can't wait to connect this information to the world.

Mozz  Thank you so much! I really, really enjoyed that.

Interviewing Mozz brought helped me see a powerful and intriguing way plan medicine is being used in a therapeutic healing modality.  There’s a lot to learn about the use of plant medicine like Salvia.  Ultimately we can perhaps be inspired to revisit our previously held definitions for hallucinogens, about what can be defined as alternative health and medicine, and ultimately to perhaps force us to consider the role of sacred plant substances in the healing and consciousness shift of our time.

Make sure you check out my article: Which delves a little deeper in the idea of plant medicine being a part of the consciousness shift.

Importantly, Thank you so much for joining the conversation and being a part of the shift.  I would love to hear your comments and dialogue.  If you have any questions for Mozz, simply leave a comment here or check out the links to Sage Divine Group’s Website and Facebook page where you can find contact info and learn more about Safety, Legality, and other facts about Mozz and his work with Salvia.

http://sagedivinegroup.com/

Facebook.com/sagedivinegroup