Thread: Xhosa (Silene Capensis) African Dream Root - Log and Discussion

Hi Different
It depends on what you are after, I guess this type of dreaming is very different to the norm. More like the start of quest dreaming

Yes, I'm just after lucid dreams, mostly DILD and DEILD, the occasional WILD. Nothing too extreme.
By the way, how is it pronounced? Sosah?

It's definitely not meant entirely for lucidity (though it has been for some people, and I suspect it may be for me as well), but there are a few other african plants that do help and were used for conscious dreaming. It's more about causing vivid dreams and to increase dream recall, because to the Xhosa tribe, dreams were a very vital aspect of their daily life. Because I too find dreaming to be an important part of my life, I've been searching for ways to enhance it.

Personally I think anything we consume can be an aid or hindrance to our growth. To me this plant is no different than consuming food that may be high in B vitamins and other things linked to gaining lucidity in dreams.

Also, if I'm correct xhosa has a clicking of the tongue which sounds like a sharp k, for the x, followed by "o-sah".

Dreams from Last Night's Slumber:Very vague and dim, fragmented, though random pieces are remembered clearly. This has lead me to believe the dreams from the previous nights may have entirely been produced by a placebo effect. Still from what I recall there was lots of 3rd person action, as if watching a film, where I'd hop in and take control of the character here and there. This is very uncommon in most my dreams and the movie-esque or visions feeling has been attributed to this root by other people (still it may be placebo, so i'm seeing it as inconclusive). Oddly enough this kind of dream was the way I experienced my first lucid dream and whenever I wake up I always feel like I almost became lucid each night. There's a particular feeling when you take over a DC's body that makes you question what just happened. "Wait wasn't I watching...." but before I have a chance to come to a conclusion I begin immersed with the dream following out the actions the DC was originally taking. Slept at 12am, woke up at 8am, slept very soundly.

Today's Preparation Method: I very accurately (unlike yesterday, which I took too small a dose) prepared a grounded powder and shook it in a water bottle. It had a decent foaming, which was pleasing to me, but as advised by someone with experience I simply drank the whole thing. It didn't taste like regular water and had a mild sweet taste that is from the root, which leads me to believe I prepared it correctly today.
Today's Dose: Very well powdered, though I can't speak exactly for the mg, it was 1/2 a teaspoon, which was recommended to me by previously mentioned person.

Notes: I've got a feeling the jumbling of different methods has been confusing my body, and the root has not found a place to stay still and release its effects. Today felt "right" when I took the dose so I will continue to replicate this method from now on. I won't be expecting much but I'll meditate before sleep to let the plant know that I'm ready for the journey.

Is it suppose to give you more third person, story like dreams? Because I wouldn't want all my dreams to be 3rd person forever cuz I prefer emersive first person ones.

Not that I know of, it's seems common among what I've read but there's also some that never mention 3rd person like dreams. I think it may be placebo, because I'm expecting it to happen, but then again I haven't really experienced the "vividness" or amazing recall that others mention yet, i'll keep you updated. Here's examples from 2 different people:

Evening of the Third Day

My dreams have become incredibly vivid and intensely real. I’m very much taken aback by the remarkable shift in my dreams. My sensory perception and awareness is breathtaking. The visual colour pallet is astounding, I feel like I have finally woken up for the first time in my dreams. Silene Capensis is the most powerful dream herb I have ever encountered or used. The lucidity is phenomenal.

Evening of the Fourth Day

My dreams are amazingly lifelike. Geckos and lizards were moving and crawling through my dreamscape. Their skin was morphing with orange and green layers dancing through their scales. They climbed around my shoulders and my neck, moving in a downwards spiral. Instantly blindingly bright blue butterflies filled my vision. Thousands upon thousands of them were beating their wings in slow motion. Their wings started to tickle my eyelids and my cheeks gently. I felt so safe and warm comforted in my own soft giggles. I am immersed in absolute pure joy and contentment, each day the intensity and lucidity increases immensely, my dreams feel just as real as my waking life...

and one that describes the movie like visionary dreams,

Day 3

~280mg orally. This time I had a definite effect on my dreams. They weren't more "vivid" and i couldn't recall them better, but it definatly seems to change the dream content in a very strange way. I would watch the dream like a movie and it was professionally cut. At the same time, i could feel the dream characters life, as if i would watch someones life story through the interface of a dream. Then I would wake up in the middle of the night with a strange prickling sensation on my forehead and i couldn't get back to sleep for an hour, because the dream felt so strange.

taken from this thread. theres lots more info there, as its the longest thread i could find with discussion about it. the themes vary but there are a few people describing "movie" or "visionary" like dreams, then of course there are those that dont mention it at all.

How much does it cost for the 3 months worth of doses?

if you've got a scale and can really accurately measure it, 14 grams would suffice if you took 150mg doses daily for 3 months, which was recommended by someone from the DMT-Nexus forum, that took it for 3 months. Luckily 14grams is sold by herbalfire.com, which is where I got it, for 10 bucks. I messed around a lot with the doses though and since I don't have a scale to accurately measure, I may be taking more than 150mg, so I'm not sure if my 14 grams will last me. But I don't mind paying another 10 bucks to get the little bit left I need for 3 months, and then just keep the root for chewing even after the 3 months are over, as it has a few boosting effects that keeps you a bit energized through the day. In fact someone on that forum mentioned thats how he/she uses it, not really for dreaming, but he just likes the alertness it gives him during the day.

Dreams from Last Night's Slumber: Woke up several times during the night but didn't record dreams, fell asleep easily. 1am-9am. I can't remember a single dream now, maybe if I meditate and think about it for a while. Nope, not really. Really starting to wonder if last few nights were entirely placebo, but I can't say for sure.

Today's Preparation Method: I wondered if grinding the root the night before might have an effect on the potency, so I decided to grind it this morning and mix it with the water. People recommend not buying already powdered root from vendors because the potency is lost, so unlike yesterday I'm grinding it early this morning to see if this changes anything. powder, water, shake it up, down it.
Today's Dose: 1/2 teaspoon.

Notes: a bit disappointed that nothing is taking effect, but i must continue. i'm beginning to wonder if maybe I have a high tolerance for it so it's not yet effecting me. but i'll continue to take the same doses until some magic starts happening. patience is key.

Thats to bad nothing has happened. It seems like it started working in 3 days for those other people you qouted. You should figure ou the best way to take it and stick with it consitantly.

From what Ive read of the first couple of days, you were just finding a good preperation method, perhaps the first couple of days can be discounted as the preperation/ingestion technique was not right (as you say about one time the mixture just tasted like water, could be it was not mixed correctly, or you did not get a high enough dose) Perhaps thats why you are not feeling any effects yet.

Originally Posted by LostOnTrains

From what Ive read of the first couple of days, you were just finding a good preperation method, perhaps the first couple of days can be discounted as the preperation/ingestion technique was not right (as you say about one time the mixture just tasted like water, could be it was not mixed correctly, or you did not get a high enough dose) Perhaps thats why you are not feeling any effects yet.

That sounds logical to me

very interesting, keep it up im interested in reading more

Dreams from Last Night's Slumber: Slept from 11pm-8am, I should probably try a more stable and consistent sleeping schedule. I remembered about 4 dreams with what I feel is pretty good dream recall compared to my usual recall. I can't say the whole amount of the dreams were vivid but there were moments I could've sworn I was awake. In one such case I felt rain pouring down and I hid under a tree but still felt little drops falling on me and it was very serene and the visuals seemed to have a very pretty glow to them. I'm noticing celebrities, cartoon characters, and just... weird movie/tv like references showing up, and I honestly rarely even watch tv and almost never dream about this stuff. There were some more 3rd person action but I felt much more involved this time and in most cases I actually appeared in my body and interacted.


Today's Preparation Method: Because of the dreams I had and feeling like the effects are building up, I decided to continue the powder in water method in addition to chewing a small root to see if this dose increase might be what I need.
Today's Dose: 1/2 teaspoon and a small root was chewed.

Notes: Placebo? I dunno, it very well could be, but there's something in the nature of my dreams that just feels... different. I can't quite put my finger on it. It's as if they all feel like... they have a deeper meaning? Almost as if a message is trying to be relayed to me, but I'm not "there" yet? Also I tend to have a high tolerance for things so this may be part of it, so hopefully the consistency along with the small increase in dose will show some better results in the coming days.

Extra Notes: I've found a few sources mentioning to avoid eating too much protein because it dims down the potency of the root, which at first I payed no attention to because the source I first read mentioned to avoid "meat", but I have been eating a lot of tofu and soy products which happen to have a lot of protein. This plus the fact that my batch seems to not want to froth into a foam when others mention theirs foams easily makes me think I may have an older supply that has perhaps lost it's potency? Just being skeptical and wondering what might be going on, alas I will continue with my current method until my supply runs out.

Dreams from Last Night's Slumber: No noticeable effect on dream recall little to no difference on vividness. I'm almost positive the effects have been placebo the past few days. I'm just as capable to have these kinds of dreams without the root.

Today's Preparation Method: Powdering took too long, going back to chewing as other's recommended. (no idea who's recommendations to take anymore)
Today's Dose: Not sure what to say about how big the dose was, two fairly small twigs, I'm guessing anywhere up to 5mg, probably a bit less.

Notes: I've read one such account of a guy using the root for a few days, giving up, then the effects taking place till day 10 even though he had stopped. Perhaps this is what maybe happening to me. My preprations methods seem to be no different than what other people have done, so either my body has a high tolerance or this root may be too old? I'm considering ordering a batch from a new vendor and make sure its new, and not an old harvest. Regardless, I will continue until my supply runs out.

dont change your dose too much, and if you do try in very small changes. You will find your body will not respond well to alternations all time time and may reduce the effectiveness. Still i agree you may have a dodge batch, im going to buy some over the weekend and will link to your journal .

Just ordered some to try it out. Ive tried calea z in the past, and the results were debatable. Never had any more vivid dreams that couldnt just be explained away as placebo.
Also been looking at that african dream bean (I forget the proper name for it). It looks like it has more instant results.

@Timeless08: yeah i've tried being consistent with the powdering but that took too long to prepare, i'm being consistent with chewing until my batch runs out. also looking forward to your results, would be nice to see other people's experiences in comparison.

@LostOnTrains: Entada Rheedii? yeah i've heard of those too, don't know much about it though. anyway good luck, i hope you and timeless get a good batch, i guess i'll refrain from buying more until I see results from you guys. what vendors are you two buying from? i got mine from herbalfire.


Dreams from Last Night's Slumber: Decent recall didn't bother recording the dreams until the morning, although I think most of the effects are placebo, i'm sure SOME of it is active from taking the plant. if anything is just odder dreams and better recall, which i guess is nice. I remembered about 3 dreams, not much 3rd person action. slept well.

Today's Preparation Method: chewing.
Today's Dose: pretty much same amount as yesterday.

Notes: I spoke with someone who uses xhosa in 3g doses, which is fairly large, but he/she uses it for the psychoactive properties during the day. some of which i believe include a gleen or glow from plants and nature, a better sense of well being, and a different vibe when meditating or laying down and watching hypnagogic imagery. he/she doesn't care much for the dreaming aspect, even though he/she did report having vivid dreams. interesting. definitely a different perspective. i'll await for other people's experiences on the forum before ordering a new batch, and will try a different vendor in hopes that maybe my current batch, simply lost its potency. i was really looking forward to the effects i read all around the web, so i'm not giving up on this plant.

I just ordered some from a different vendor. Once it arrives, I'll keep you posted how things go. I'm considering putting it in my industrial juicer, as it grinds almost anything into a fine powder.

sounds great anderj, would be nice to see your results as well. good luck to all of you guys, i hope your experiments prove successful :E

Originally Posted by anderj101

I just ordered some from a different vendor. Once it arrives, I'll keep you posted how things go. I'm considering putting it in my industrial juicer, as it grinds almost anything into a fine powder.

Is it the Nutrifaster N450? Those things kick ass (if your ass is made of apples)

Originally Posted by LostOnTrains

Is it the Nutrifaster N450? Those things kick ass (if your ass is made of apples)

It's an industrial-grade juicer from the late 70's, 'The Champion Juicer' from W.R. Laboratories. It's got a 1/2 horsepower motor the size of a watermelon.

Ah, wish I had one. I used to work in a juice bar and we used to have a Nutrifaster and it was like throwing fruit into a jet engine, that thing terrified me.
But anyways............................. I

I might try this.

Umm stupid question... When you say chew do you mean chew and swallow.

You can chew and swallow yeah, but most people spit it out after they've felt they've chewed long enough and the root looses its taste.

anyway, here's hoping tonight is the night that silene capensis decides to say hello in my sleep, i'll check back tomorrow. sweet dreams.