Sacred Serpent | Green Gnosticism pt 2: Calea Zacatechichi - The Mexican Dream Herb, Oneirogen's, Etc @SacredSerpent | Uploaded October 2024 | Updated October 2024, 1 week ago.
Calea Zacatechichi holds a special place in my heart. It was one of the first oneirogens that caught my interest, as well as one of the first that I began experimenting with. In highschool art class, I met & became close friends with a budding psychonaut whose interactions & communications I had with became fertile inspiration for myself eventually becoming a psychonaut. He was a senior when I was a freshman & at the time, I was always fascinated with what he would tell me about his experiences with mind opening compounds. In hindsight, these interactions acted as a necessary initial step on my journey into the realm of power plants & sorcery.
He told me to go to a website called Erowid. I remember eagerly waiting to get out of school so I could log into AOL & check out the webpage. These were the golden days before we all had literal pocket computers ( cell phones ) & couldn’t just log onto the internet 24/7.
I spent hours searching through erowid when I should have been sleeping. I would read information about Artemisia Absinthium, & became deeply fascinated with the “ Green Fairy 🧚 “ & the mystical aura & buzz surrounding the Wormwood containing alcohol, Absinthe. I remember reading about Wormwood’s (Artemisia Absinthium) oneirogenic qualities, & this led to a deep, unquenchable thirst for learning about Oneirgenic herbs. While searching about oneirogenic herbs, I stumbled across information online about the Mexican dream herb: Calea Zacatechichi.
I saved up a week’s worth of lunch money & purchased a bag of Calea Zacatechichi on eBay. I didn’t just want to read about dream herbs (oneirogen’s), I want to directly experience them. Erowid at the time, & it likely still does, was full of information about Calea Z, & there were quite a few testimonials of people writing about their experiences with the herb. The one thing that stood out the most about the herb was that 90 % or more of the reviews about the herb had one thing in common: the herb worked for increasing vividness in dreams, almost to the point where it was uncomfortably intense. Compared to other oneirgens I read about, Calea seemed to produce tangible results when brewed & ingested properly.
A week or so later my bag of Calea showed up, & I couldn’t wait to try it. Excitement led to some degree of hesitation when it was time to consume my first homemade Oneirgenic potion 🧪.
“ Will this hurt me? “ “ Will I have a bad trip ! “ I remember thinking to myself. I pushed aside the fear, & boiled the dried herb according to a recipe guide I found online. I still remember the way the herb looked, how it felt in my hands, & the absolutely bitter taste of the finished brew. To this day, I don’t think I’ve ever consumed a herb as bitter as Calea Z. Even wormwood & bacopa don’t come close to the strong bitterness of this herb & unlike many bitters, after you’ve drank Calea tea, it’s hard to get the bitter taste out of your mouth. It lingers for an incredibly long time & I remember almost puking while trying to slam my first Calea potion. This was before I developed an iron gut & was still a pansy about consuming things that don’t taste “good.” Now I have no issues consuming bitters. It’s funny how our taste buds change over time.
I drank the brew, went to sleep, & was stunned at the results. It was true! Calea did work. People online werent just exaggerating. It was the real deal. Even though my first experience with this herb led to a night of some of the worst nightmares I’ve ever had, I was fascinated by it. I did not wake up feeling the nightmares were typical bad dreams. I did however feel a closer connection to the plant & felt like it induced these uncomfortable dreams for an intentional purpose. In fact, I remember, over a decade later, feeling that the plant gave me those nightmares in an attempt to teach me something, & thus I continued to exepriment with the herb.
The nightmares I had with Calea Z were so frequent that I have often referred to it in my videos as “ nightmare herb.“ Calea became a very interesting plant to me, & led to me learning about different oneirgen’s such as Mugwort (Artemisia Vulgaris), Silene Capensis the African dream root, & Guayusa (Ilex guayusa.)
I have always wanted to create a section in a garden dedicated only to Oneirgenic herbs. Desire has now become a reality & I now have various Oneirgens growing. Once I get the herbs to reach maturity, I plan on making a beautiful secret garden of Oneirgens, outfitted with statuary corresponding to dreams, as well as elemental sigils etc.
I do indeed hope that my posts & videos about gardening can inspire you to begin walking the green path. Caring for & growing things is one of the most rewarding things you could ever do. There is nothing better than watching your plants grow to full sized entities, & the elation that comes from harvesting homegrown herbs & fruits fills my heart with emerald joy.
Calea Zacatechichi holds a special place in my heart. It was one of the first oneirogens that caught my interest, as well as one of the first that I began experimenting with. In highschool art class, I met & became close friends with a budding psychonaut whose interactions & communications I had with became fertile inspiration for myself eventually becoming a psychonaut. He was a senior when I was a freshman & at the time, I was always fascinated with what he would tell me about his experiences with mind opening compounds. In hindsight, these interactions acted as a necessary initial step on my journey into the realm of power plants & sorcery.
He told me to go to a website called Erowid. I remember eagerly waiting to get out of school so I could log into AOL & check out the webpage. These were the golden days before we all had literal pocket computers ( cell phones ) & couldn’t just log onto the internet 24/7.
I spent hours searching through erowid when I should have been sleeping. I would read information about Artemisia Absinthium, & became deeply fascinated with the “ Green Fairy 🧚 “ & the mystical aura & buzz surrounding the Wormwood containing alcohol, Absinthe. I remember reading about Wormwood’s (Artemisia Absinthium) oneirogenic qualities, & this led to a deep, unquenchable thirst for learning about Oneirgenic herbs. While searching about oneirogenic herbs, I stumbled across information online about the Mexican dream herb: Calea Zacatechichi.
I saved up a week’s worth of lunch money & purchased a bag of Calea Zacatechichi on eBay. I didn’t just want to read about dream herbs (oneirogen’s), I want to directly experience them. Erowid at the time, & it likely still does, was full of information about Calea Z, & there were quite a few testimonials of people writing about their experiences with the herb. The one thing that stood out the most about the herb was that 90 % or more of the reviews about the herb had one thing in common: the herb worked for increasing vividness in dreams, almost to the point where it was uncomfortably intense. Compared to other oneirgens I read about, Calea seemed to produce tangible results when brewed & ingested properly.
A week or so later my bag of Calea showed up, & I couldn’t wait to try it. Excitement led to some degree of hesitation when it was time to consume my first homemade Oneirgenic potion 🧪.
“ Will this hurt me? “ “ Will I have a bad trip ! “ I remember thinking to myself. I pushed aside the fear, & boiled the dried herb according to a recipe guide I found online. I still remember the way the herb looked, how it felt in my hands, & the absolutely bitter taste of the finished brew. To this day, I don’t think I’ve ever consumed a herb as bitter as Calea Z. Even wormwood & bacopa don’t come close to the strong bitterness of this herb & unlike many bitters, after you’ve drank Calea tea, it’s hard to get the bitter taste out of your mouth. It lingers for an incredibly long time & I remember almost puking while trying to slam my first Calea potion. This was before I developed an iron gut & was still a pansy about consuming things that don’t taste “good.” Now I have no issues consuming bitters. It’s funny how our taste buds change over time.
I drank the brew, went to sleep, & was stunned at the results. It was true! Calea did work. People online werent just exaggerating. It was the real deal. Even though my first experience with this herb led to a night of some of the worst nightmares I’ve ever had, I was fascinated by it. I did not wake up feeling the nightmares were typical bad dreams. I did however feel a closer connection to the plant & felt like it induced these uncomfortable dreams for an intentional purpose. In fact, I remember, over a decade later, feeling that the plant gave me those nightmares in an attempt to teach me something, & thus I continued to exepriment with the herb.
The nightmares I had with Calea Z were so frequent that I have often referred to it in my videos as “ nightmare herb.“ Calea became a very interesting plant to me, & led to me learning about different oneirgen’s such as Mugwort (Artemisia Vulgaris), Silene Capensis the African dream root, & Guayusa (Ilex guayusa.)
I have always wanted to create a section in a garden dedicated only to Oneirgenic herbs. Desire has now become a reality & I now have various Oneirgens growing. Once I get the herbs to reach maturity, I plan on making a beautiful secret garden of Oneirgens, outfitted with statuary corresponding to dreams, as well as elemental sigils etc.
I do indeed hope that my posts & videos about gardening can inspire you to begin walking the green path. Caring for & growing things is one of the most rewarding things you could ever do. There is nothing better than watching your plants grow to full sized entities, & the elation that comes from harvesting homegrown herbs & fruits fills my heart with emerald joy.
