Great Dream Plants.

What is a dream herb?

A dream herb works on the substance of the dream: its colour, its sharpness, what you still hold of it when you wake. Every tradition has its own, each drunk, smoked or carried in its own way.

The Chontal of Oaxaca take Calea to receive messages in their dreams; its Nahuatl name, zacatechichi, means “bitter herb”. In southern Africa, a pipe carved from the seed of Entada, the African dream bean, was smoked for vivid dreams (Van Wyk & Gericke, 2000), and diviners used it to remember their dreams (Sobiecki, 2008). The Aztecs burned Yauhtli as incense for Tlaloc; Hernández called it “the herb of the clouds”. Mugwort has become the dream herb of today's herbalists, tucked under the pillow or drunk at night.

Choosing your dream herb

Depending on the dream you are looking for:

• Remembering your dreams: Calea, Entada, guayusa drunk before dawn.
• More vivid dreams: Calea, Entada, mugwort, Yauhtli.
• Dreams that carry messages: imphepho, which Xhosa healers burn to clarify dreams (Bührmann, 1984), and the Entada seed.
• A gentle start: a light mugwort tea, or authentic blue lotus in the evening.
• The path of a dieta: Bobinsana and Ajo sacha, master plants of the Amazon (Luna, 1984).
• Seven dream plants in one bottle: the Dream Elixir.

The ritual, night after night

In the evening for Calea, blue lotus, mugwort and Yauhtli; before dawn for guayusa. The Entada seed is carried for a few weeks, charged with your intentions, before it is opened to dream. Most of these plants are received over 3 to 5 nights, with a journal by the bed to keep the morning’s trace.

Plant by plant, with the research and our dreamers’ own accounts: our guide to the best herbs for lucid dreaming.