Has anyone tried Calea zacatechichi ?I heard it helps w/LDs

Quest for Lucidity
41

The Getting of Herbs

I’ve ordered Calea Z, Salvia D and couple of other herbs from one of the numerous herbs-trading sites and got a package three or four days later. The parcel’s smell draw attention of my cat. He didn’t like Calea but obviously was amused with the scent of Salvia. The reason of last is yet to be figured out.

The Choosing of Possibilities

It is well-known one can smoke Calea or make a tea from it. I have a dry bong but I do value my lungs that’s why I don’t resort to smoking until it is only choice. And so I decided to make a tea.

The Measuring of Dosage

Then an unexpected problem arised: I didn’t have weighs but I had to measure 2-3 grams of Calea somehow. Blessfully I remembered zen-like how of doing this sort of things. The Calea was placed on a plate and then divided in two equal parts. Now I had two part of Calea 25 grams in each. One of them was stored safely back in bag and other was divided in two again making two parts of 12.5 grams in each. And so on. In the end I measured that 2-3 grams is as much as you can get with standart spoon :smile:.

The Preparing of Tea

Next 8 oz of water was boiled and switched to steep. A spoon of Calea Z was throw into it and left for 15 minutes. After it the result of this activities was poured to a cup.

The Taste of Calea

Wonderfully wonderful! Beautifully beautiful! Deliciously delicious!

Ok, just kidding :smile:. If really, it is strongly bitter. Such bitter that some people can’t stand it. But in my case it was rather easy. I had added three tea spoons of sugar, pinched my nose (not because of smell but because it helps to weaken the taste) and drinked it without any problem.

The Wake Up Effects

Almost immediately after drinking Calea Z shared some of it nice traits: mild relaxation and clear mind. Great opportunity to listen/read favourite music or book. Also it can make you sleepy that’s why it is a good chance to go for dreams :smile:.

The Night

Calea Z seems to increase dream recall significantly. I have a lot of dreams today and though there was not any lucids my dreams were more “solid” and I have remembered more than usual. It is a pity I went to bed too late - my dream recall and ability to LD are much better when I retire early, that’s why I could have even more :smile:.

Now I have to check will effects of Calea increase and improve after week of using it. I’m looking forward to continue acquaintance with this interesting herb.

42

Is there any way to obtain Calea without going through these shady distributors? I don’t want a package arriving at my apartment with advertisements for psychedelic mushrooms and marijuana substitutes. I have a reputation to uphold.

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There are so many distributors, I’m sure a lot of them send it in discrete packaging. Find a site where they promise this and send them a mail to ask it if you’re not sure.

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bouncingbearbotanicals
mazatecgarden

They are both reliable sources.

45

Basically any shop that sells salvia and amanitas is too shady. I better not risk getting kicked out.

46

“Any shop that sells salvia” is not shady… Salvia is not shady. Just some shady folk likes to play with it. Doesn’t mean respectable shops don’t play with it as well.

47

I was reading about some substances on Erowid a few days ago and came across a post that laid out an alcohol extraction method that is so simple it’s almost silly. Basically you take the plant matter, stick it in a coffee mug, pour grain alcohol over it just enough to cover the leaves, microwave 20 seconds, add water, microwave 30 seconds, check to make sure the water isn’t low, another 1 minutes, etc, and then strain out the liquid and drink it.

I thought to myself - hmmm, the evaporation temperature for the alkaloids in C.Z. is something similar to the boiling point in water, so as long as the water doesn’t boil, I should be ok using this. Well, I tried it with about 6 grams of C.Z. plant matter and (don’t laugh) a pretty old bottle of cognac I had sitting around. I don’t keep much hard liquor in the house. That stuff is bad for you :smile: .

I made the extraction and (insert a series of explatives here) I couldn’t believe my taste buds. It was noticeably WORSE tasting than normal C.Z. tea! How can this be?, I asked myself. I was sure C.Z. tea was the worst tasting non-poisonous substance (I haven’t tried poison, so I can’t speak to that) on earth. But no! It seems that the alcohol extraction method yields higher alkaloid content, therefore, is more bitter. Moreover, the aftertaste got worse and worse for a long time, and while it wasn’t nauseating, it was pretty bad. It lasted for about 30 minutes.

I wrote all that just to warn you - if you think, say, kava kava tastes bad, well you might want to avoid this completely. I’m pretty sure that camel sweat would be much more tasty.

Now for the effects. It took until after the aftertaste wore off (25-30 minutes) for the full effects to kick in. It was sedative, but also cleared my mind for a while. I mean, I was about to fall asleep, but I’m not joking, I was doing some very clear thinking. I think that’s part of what makes CZ work.

Moving on, I had quite a body load. It was like I got very heavy, and was being pulled down into the bed. If it was much stronger, it would have been a nausea-like dizziness. Thankfully, it wasn’t much stronger. With some concentration, I was able to relax forget about the physical effects, and I tried to start meditating to perform WILD. Well, since I didn’t have a clear meditation plan, this was a joke. My mind was, by that time, racing so fast that I couldn’t possibly formulate a plan at that late stage.

I jumped from one thought to another so fast that I gave up on Lucid Dreaming altogether. I was a little frustrated becaues the stuff tastes like **** and I knew I would have to try again. I did have a lot, and I mean a LOT of hypnagogic imagery. Basically, if I thought it, HI would appear to describe the thought. It was pretty amazing.

The Dreams:
Well, I won’t bore you with the details of the dreams, and this isn’t an adult content site, so I can’t tell you about some of them anyway. Needless to say they were vivid, many, and varied. I am sure the C.Z. was at work. Were they conscious? I honestly don’t recall. I didn’t prepare a journal, and didn’t expect to complete the experiment.

However, I did learn something that to me is somewhat profound. Calea Zacatechichi may be the mexican “Dream Herb,” but it is not the “Lucid Dream Herb.” In fact, I’m not sure that such an herb exists. While I do believe that this plant can make you have a lot of very vivid dreams, I think that set and setting (here we go, back to the basics) are FAR more important than any of us realized years ago when C.Z. got first mentioned on this forum.

It seems to me that with the right mental preparation, C.Z. could HELP one lucid dream in a vivid, perhaps profound way. However, I dont’ think it will induce lucid dreams for someone who is not mentally prepared, and has no plan.

At any rate, the alcohol extraction was definitely a success in terms of increased potency and decreased preparation time. If anything, a decrease in dosage may be beneficial. I don’t recommend the use of any substance to anyone for obvious reasons. However, for me, C.Z. merits more study.[/b]

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… sadly, I can’t do this… oh well, if it works for you, I’m happy :happy:

49

Um… why is this in shortcuts to lucidity :razz: ?

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That is calea. And it is here because calea is a herb that is said to produce vivid dreams :cool:

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I’ve tried Calea with mixed results. Sometimes it has been remarkable, other times not. Most recently I have simply taken a half a handful and wshed it down with spring water. It is less offensive than the tea. However, I think most people are making a big deal out of the taste. Sure, it is incredibly bitter, but nowhere near as nausiating as the cod liver oil I was forced to drink as a child.

I didn’t have any lucid dreams with it, but some very vivid ones, which are equally welcome. As for sources, I have dealt with Basement shaman. It’s always been a pleasant experience dealing with them and I am more impressed by not only their site but also their knowledge about their products than I am with the majority of others.

For those worried about being spied on by the government, well, if you use your brain, you’re probably already on their lists.

Eoghan
:devil:

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really interesting stuff, i’m currently trying to get my hands on some of the stuff…one thing i was wondering - out of the people who have had positive results were most of you already experiecned with lucid dreaming?

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Today I went out to a herbal store in search of a herb to help induce lucidity. I came accross one called Calea Zacatechichi, or the Leaf of God.

Some info: Calea zacatechichi is a medium sized shrub that has reportedly been used by the Chantal indians of Mexico as a hallucinogen. Its dried leaves are used before sleep to increase dreaming

Well hope this works. Will update tomorrow

54

i wish that calea was legal here…

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How do you know it is illegal, Tomas? I spent a lot of time searching law sites and norwegian “alternative” forums yesterday, and nobody said it was illegal? Nobody had even gotten it confiscated in customs.

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Because people who tried to import it got it stopped in customs. They asked for a prescription for the doctor…

Basicly there is a law that bans every herb that has some kind of medicinal effect or intoxicating. So the customs can pretty much stop whatever they want, unless the herb is specifically listed on the import list as a uncontrolled substance.

It also seems to depend on whoever is working at the customs office at that said day.

57

So to update status on trying the herb. The first night it didnt do much, but last night it was great. I cant go into details as its rated 18A. Im going for it again tonight. I mixed it with some marry jane this time.

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Tomas, I will need your help on this. Where does it say that calea is illegal? I have been searching through the customs pages, the food control department (Mattilsynet), and the drugs control (Legemiddelverket), and I can’t find calea listed on any banned or prescription drug list, or the banned plants import list. Could you link me to the place where you found out it is illegal? It might be more updated than the lists I found? It would be useful, as a moderator, to have a list of what is illegal in the different countries. :cool:

59

Calea is not illegal in Norway. I have personally been in contact with the legemiddeltilsynet, who confirmed this in an email. However, it is a medicament that you’re allowed to buy for personal use, and the amount would be 3 months supply, and you have to buy it from another EU country, and it has to be legally obtained where you buy it from.

However the toll dept may ask for a prescription for your personal use.

I have ordered some last week, I’ll let you know how it goes! :cool_laugh:

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Has anybody tried eating Calea Zacatechichi raw or mixing it in a yogurt etc. I’ve only been experimenting with it for 3 days and so far haven’t noticed anything out of the ordinary.
I forced myself to drink about 10 teaspoonfuls of it last night which tasted absolutely disgusting! It baffles me how anybody could drink a whole cup!!!

I have a terrible throat due to smoking it so it’s kinda put me off that idea.

So I’m wondering if the yogurt thing might work???

I’d love to hear your feedback on this.

Thanks…