Calea Ternifolia is a plant that is native to Mexico and Central America. It is known simply as “dream herb” or “the leaf of the gods” in various Indian dialects across the region.
It can be used to have incredibly vivid and profound dreams, and it’s actually fairly easy to get it online and use it! This guide will explain how it works and how you can get some..
The History of Calea Ternifolia
To the Chontal Indians, dreams were believed to occupy a realm of supersensory reality and were therefore viewed as magical.
In fact, dreams formed a vital role in the indigenous cultures of the Americas (and indeed all other ancient peoples) and it was for this reason that the Chontal Indians named the herb “king leaf.”
Calea. T was used by the Chontal Indians in Mexico who believed that imbibing the herb gave them divinatory messages in their dreams. This means that Calea. T was seen as a gateway to the divine and imbibing it was a means of putting you in direct contact with the numinous.
Calea. T was taken for the sole purpose of receiving divinatory messages from the Divine, which gives you an idea about just how important divination and dreaming was to the native peoples of Mexico and Central America.
Was Calea. T used for anything else?
Although its sole purpose was to help people dream so that they could receive oracles, Calea. T was also used to treat gastrointestinal complaints, dysentery and to reduce fevers.
The use of psychoactive plants in Mexico and Central America
Calea. T isn’t the only plant that was used by the Mesoamerican peoples of Mexico and Central America.
There have been other natural dream remedies used throughout the region that help aid in dream recall. The Tarahumara Indians from northern Mexico use a plant known as Bakana as a divinatory herb. It is used to enhance dreams so that they might then be used as oracles.
In other parts of the country, other Mesoamerican tribes use different varieties of puffball mushrooms (such as Lycoperdon spp.) to help with dreams and divination.
For example the Nahuatl Indians from the Sierra de Puebla use an unidentified Salvia known in the local dialect as Xiwit for the same purpose as Calea. T.
The Chontal Indians from Oaxaca in southern Mexico use a plant called Calea zacatechichi (also called Ahuapatli or Aztec Dream Grass). Partaking in ceremonies where tribesmen ingested plants or fungi in order to dream and receive oracles was an extremely important part of Mesoamerican ritualistic life and formed a huge part in their worldview
Why Use Calea Ternifolia?
Compared to other more established dream enhancers, relatively little is known about Calea Ternifolia, which makes it one of the most exciting and mysterious plants to work with if you are interested in lucid dreaming.
Because so little is known about C. Ternifolia, it makes it easier just to “ride” with the experience rather than being influenced by any pre-conceived ideas that you may have about the plant.
What’s so special about Calea Ternifolia?
This dream herb has attracted quite a lot of attention in recent years and has been undergoing scientific analysis by top ethnobotanists. There have been numerous scientific studies taking place that have been able to scientifically prove the efficacy of Calea T. in improving dream clarity and dream recall.
C. Ternifolia can give you more lucid dreams that are vivid and almost uncanny in how “real” they feel. Although the amount of times you dream a night will not be affected, you will feel like you’ve had more dreams than usual and remember them with much more vividness and clarity.
Calea. T is unlike many other dream herbs in that it starts to work as soon as you close your eyes to go to sleep. You will notice that you see a lot of bright, vivid images dancing behind your eyelids. This visual display is also accompanied by a feeling of drowsiness that makes it easy to disengage from the external world and “go within.”
So not only does it affect the vividness of your dreams and your ability to recall them when you wake up, but you’ll start to notice the effects almost as soon as you close your eyes.
How do you take Calea Ternifolia?
An infusion of the plant made from stems, roots and leaves was prepared and enjoyed as part of a nighttime ritual by the Indian tribes of Mexico and Central America.
Traditionally speaking, C. Ternifolia was either taken as a tea or smoked like a cigarette.
Leaves were often smoked in special ceremonies, however, the most common way of taking it is to drink the stems, roots and leaves as part of a tea.
The way to use Calea. T is up to you, really, although it is probably more practical to drink it as a tea since buying C. Ternifolia commercially means that you’ll be buying a mixture of stems, roots and leaves and to smoke it you would need to separate the leaves from the rest of the plant material.
The tea has a very strong (read: bad) taste so you may wish to take a pill/supplement instead.
The best time to take Calea Ternifolia?
There are various schools of thought about when you should take C. Ternifolia. Some suggest taking it right before bed while others suggest that you use it as part of the wake back to bed method.
This means that you need to set your alarm a few hours before you wake up and then drink or smoke the herb and go back to sleep. Practitioners say that it is best to take it after about six hours of sleep.
Lucid dream practitioners who do this swear that this is the best way in making the most of the herb’s visionary properties.
Is Calea. T Legal?
Yes, Calea. T is completely legal and can be enjoyed as part of your lucid dreaming arsenal. It is easily purchased online in tea or pill/supplement form.
What are the side effects?
One of Calea. T’s contraindications is that it makes you feel sleepy almost instantly so you’ll definitely want to take it right before bed (if you’re not using the wake back to bed method). Whatever you do, try not to drink or smoke the tea in the middle of the day so that it does not affect your day-to-day activities.
It is important to note that some people report that when they close their eyes during the day after they’ve been working with Calea. T (it doesn’t matter when they’ve taken it), they see a whole host of hypnagogic images behind their eyelids (similar to the images you see when you are falling asleep).
Another contraindication is that it can make you feel nauseous and may even cause you to throw up (though this is extremely rare). Another real (but rare) side effect is getting a headache after drinking the tea so if you are prone to headaches it is best to take a supplement.
Does drinking Calea. T guarantee lucid dreams?
Calea. T is not a magic bullet. This means that if you are not practicing other lucid dreaming techniques in tandem with taking Calea. T then the results may be disappointing.
As with any other dream herb, it is important to start off by keeping a dream journal so that you become used to recording and remembering your dreams.
After you can consistently recall your dreams for about a month then you can start employing the reality check method. You may also wish to experiment with the wake back to bed method.
Expecting to achieve lucidity just from drinking a tea will not get you the instant results you may desire so it is important to do some legwork, too.
Summary
If you want to work with a dream herb that aids in dream recall and that gives you crystal clear dreams that feel both strange and “real”, Calea. T works wonderfully to enhance the vividness of your nighttime adventures. That being said, you need to make sure you are using other lucid dreaming techniques to really make the most of this powerful herb!
