Xhosa が ubulawu と呼ぶ夜。

Nymphaea lotus — the flower that opens at night and closes at dawn. Egyptian sister of Isis, plant of oneiric passages, lunar and slow medicine. To be distinguished from the Indian Lotus Nelumbo, despite the common name.

Nelumbo nucifera — the flower the Buddha made bloom at every step. Grows in the mud, blooms immaculate. Sanskrit Padma, padmasana of the gods, thousand petals of the crown of the skull. Plant of slow meditation and noble sleep, to be distinguished from the Egyptian Lotus Nymphaea.

Papaver rhoeas. Sister of wheat, daughter of Demeter, flower of Flanders. No morphine, no codeine, no addiction in two thousand years of use. Strict lexical separation from Papaver somniferum. A plant of the threshold between waking and sleep, of wounded hearts, of grief that needs to breathe through the night.

Canavalia rosea. The plant that settles where nothing else grows — bare sand, salt, intense wind. Found in Mazatec tombs from 300 BCE to 900 CE: twelve centuries of continuous funerary presence. Still smoked today on the Gulf coast as a gentle alternative to cannabis. A plant of thresholds, ocean currents, and quiet companions.

Entada rheedii. A seed that can drift in seawater for over two years before stranding on a beach and germinating. The same seed that Zulu sangoma use to dream of ancestors has colonized every tropical shore through the sea. What survives long voyages keeps the memory of every shore.

A seed can drift in saltwater for over two years before germinating. The same seed Zulu sangoma use to dream the ancestors has colonised every tropical shore by ocean current. Entada rheedii is inscribed in the patience of long travel — and teaches accordingly.