Calea Zacatechichi

Common Dog grass, Thle-pelakano, "leaf of God." Zacatechichi is Nahuatl for "bitter grass."

Name5 The bitterness is in a class with Artemisia absinthium.

delated Species Not all races are psychoactive, even within the genus. Needs study.

Taxonomy Sunflower family, Asteraceae, found from central Mexico south to Costa Rica.

The plant likes open ground; readily colonizes disturbed ground and land that has been burned over. The genus Calea is neotropical and contains a hundred other species besides zacatechichi.

Part Used The dried leaves. Fresh leaves are used medicinally and would probably be as effective as infusions of the dried leaves.

Chemistry Contains Voo of i percent by weight of an unidentified alkaloid, C2 iH26Os, and a large number of triterpenes, fiavonoids, sesquiterpene lactones, organic acids, and a glucosidelike bitter principle. The source of the psychoactivity is unknown. Most of the research has focused on the alkaloid, but the sesquiterpene lactones certainly deserve attention.

calea zacatechichi

How Taken Drink an infusion of the dried leaves and lie down in a darkened place. Then smoke a cigarette of the dried leaves. The "alert" that the plant is taking effect is when you can feel your pulse and heartbeat.

The bitterness alone, however, is so unsettling that such finer points may be missed. Use a good palmful of dried leaf per cup.

Effects Oneirogenic: induces lucid dreaming.

Pharmacology Unknown.

The Plant Natives use the leaves as an insecticide. In the Yucatan, the leaves are added to baths for skin eruptions. Internally, the herb is taken for fevers, colic, diarrhea, and cholera. Dried plants were exported to Brazil specifically for Asiatic cholera.

The leaves have been shown to contain a central nervous system depressant. Scientific testing has also shown that the leaves possess antiatherogenic properties - a virtue of some promise for a heart attack culture such as our own.

The Chontal, in Oaxaca, who use the plant, recognize that some plants are onei-rogenically active -while others are not. Ethnobotanist Jose Luis Diaz is trying to determine if the active plants constitute a new species.

The Ally The ally clarifies the senses. For some, the transmission is visual; for others, the ally speaks in voices.

Effects You may or may not get lucid dreaming. Some people do, others don't. Diaz (1986) conducted double-blind experiments and did find an increase in meaningful dreams reported by the subjects given Calea. Even without the dreams, a sense of well-being is very common, and can last for a day or more.

Poesis On a hunch that a volatile terpene might be the active ingredient in Calea, rather than the alkaloid or some other fixed or bitter compound, and that the terpene might be separated by distillation, I prepared an absinthelike Calea liqueur. Preliminary tests are, alas, disappointing. Not that the beverage is disagreeable — far from it — but in an effort to clearly feel some effects from the herb, all subjects became so thoroughly inebriated that they were unable to continue the experiment. These results are still preliminary, but it looks as if the oneirogenic activity and the bitterness, if not derived from the same compound, are at least traveling companions.

The Ally There is a problem with your poison path. This "ground state calibration"

is very nice but it misses the point. You use ground state calibration as a means to an end, as a temporary retreat, like a visit to a spa.

"Misses the point" . . . spoken with great spiritual authority, for words in a dream!

But I know I'm dreaming, so I'm awake, right?

Continue reading here: Piper Methysticum

Was this article helpful?

+1 0