Hi all

Greetings one and all from East London, South Africa.

I have followed the various subjects and have done a fair bit of research (in anticipation)... and feel that I am now ready to move forward ...

..Wamkelekile Spirtsearcher

Which "subjects" are of particular interest to you? .. South Africa has an extensive enthobotanical history.. Keep an eager-eye out within your area and surrounds. All the best moving forward!

Have dabbled a bit in some of the local Xhosa smoking herbs , especially what is commonly known as "Ubulawu" the dreamers root and recently having an incredible and intense changa experience that has swayed my interest in that direction .........

Hello Spirtsearcher and welcome to the nexus!

I have a bag of powdered Silene Capensis and I have been thinking of trying it. How well does it work in your opinion? I have read some reports were people get very intense dreams but I have also read reports were some say that they don't get any effects at all.

The traditional preparation involves pulverizing the root and mixing with water and after vigorous shaking, spooning of the active ingredient in the foam that collects on the surface and then consuming as a tea-like drink. The procedure "iminyanye" is according to locals, intended to facilitate communication with the ancestors while in a dream state.

I have grown it in the garden and it grows without any special attention and is also readily available at local street markets.

Our preferred method of uptake was just before settling down for the night, to smoke the chopped up root with weed and tobacco (6:2:1)and found the feeling to be almost a cross between dope and an extremely light trip - a bit uneasy initially and then it seemed to almost make your senses sharper and sounds normally not noticed were more obvious. That in sum was not an overly attractive feeling .... but this is where things change ...

Had regular very vivid dreams and seemed to recall a lot of content, when compared with natural sleep. Wake up fresh each morning with no after effects at all!

Interesting. Just been looking at some of these herbs online and I think I might have to get some. Have you tried the Silene Capensis in tea form as well? How does it compare to smoking it? I remember my dreams almost on a nightly basis, and achieve lucidity naturally on occasion, so it sounds like this could really help me learn to lucid dream at will.

Yes, quite right ... Years ago, I used to "prepare" myself to remember dreams by focusing on "remembering" just before I fell asleep and "remembering" as I woke. As silly as it may sound, it wasn't long before I was remembering 3-5 dreams/parts of dreams per night.