To dream lucidly.

Lucid dreaming, and what herbs prepare for it

A lucid dream is a dream in which you know you are dreaming. It grows out of vivid dreams, and out of what you remember of them on waking. Dream herbs work on that ground: the colour of the dream, its sharpness, its memory. Lucidity then comes with practice, a morning journal and the habit of asking yourself, during the day, whether you are dreaming.

By the end of September 2026, 174 reviews of our dream herbs described a night: 89 told of more vivid dreams, 26 of better recall, 16 of a lucid dream, and 26 noticed nothing in their dreams. Calea and Undlela Ziimlophe gather the most lucid-dream accounts, six each.

Choosing your herb for lucid dreaming

The herbs on this page, and what each one brings:

• Calea: thle-pela-kano, “leaf of God”, which the Chontal of Oaxaca take to receive messages in their dreams. In 1986, Mayagoitia, Díaz and Contreras tested it double-blind: during a nap, it brought more dream reports than a placebo and than diazepam. It awakens the Dreamer in you.
• The Ubulawu family: our discovery pack brings its roots together, Undlela Ziimlophe and Mukanya Kude among them. Among the Xhosa, ubulawu roots are whipped in water until a white foam rises; for diviners, it “casts a white light on the dream” (Hirst, 2005). At INFUSE we put it simply: 3 to 5 days with prayers and respect, and the Dream Gates open up.
• Entada: the African dream bean. In southern Africa, a pipe made from its seed was said to bring vivid dreams (Van Wyk & Gericke, 2000). The seed is carried for a few weeks before it is opened.
• Authentic blue lotus and blue lotus: the flower of the Egyptian priestesses, one flower as an evening tea. Our dreamers drink it to fall asleep, and several describe more vivid dreams.
• Mugwort: the first herb invoked in the Anglo-Saxon Nine Herbs Charm, now the dream herb of modern herbalism, as a light tea or tucked under the pillow.
• Guayusa: on waking. Among the Kichwa, it is drunk before dawn, at the hour when the night’s dreams are told. It contains caffeine: a plant for the morning.
• Brahmi, Gotu Kola, Celastrus: plants of memory in Ayurveda, taken as a course over several weeks.
• Dream Elixir: seven dream plants, gathered in one bottle under the full moon of June 2025.

A night for lucid dreaming

In the evening, the herb you have chosen; by the bed, a journal that keeps what remains on waking, one image, one word. The memory comes back more easily if you stay still for a moment, eyes closed, before writing. Most of these herbs are taken over 3 to 5 nights, then rested for a few days; changing herb from one cycle to the next, you come to recognise what each one brings.

These herbs and more, with their studies and sources: our guide to the best herbs for lucid dreaming. Dream recall has its own herbs: herbs for dream recall. And the whole family: dream herbs, the Ubulawu roots.

Precautions

Pregnancy and breastfeeding: abstain, for lack of data. If you take any treatment (antidepressants, anxiolytics, sleeping pills, heart medication): ask a doctor before any plant. The Ubulawu roots are taken at traditional doses: people who swallowed them in capsules, at higher doses and outside any ritual, described confused and disturbing dreams (Sobiecki, 2012).