DREAM HERB
Botanical name:
Calea ternifolia Kunth (widely sold as Calea zacatechichi Schltdl.)
Alternative names:
Dream herb, hoja de la diosa / hoja de dios, zacatechichi, thle-pelakano
Main indications:
Mexican Chontal divinatory dream reports (folklore)
bitter evening tea
THIS PLANT IS PART OF THE MÍSTICO DEL RANA DORADA HERBAL FORMULA.
Short characteristics:
Chontal people in Oaxaca used this bitter composite for divinatory dreaming. That is folklore with a paper trail, not a sleep clinic. Mayagoitia’s volunteers reported more dream recall after extracts than after placebo or diazepam, in light sleep, with slower reaction time. Cats given large doses retched. It is not ayahuasca and not Amazonian.
The 2021 Calea ternifolia review was not opened (page timed out), so it is not cited. This site sells nothing.
The usual way of use:
Folk use is a very bitter leaf infusion, sometimes smoked. Expect nausea. Do not drive.
This is not medical advice and this site sells nothing.
WARNING: Not for children, pregnancy, or stacking with sedatives. Legal status is not uniform — check the country you are in. Not a lucid-dream drug, antidepressant, or diabetes herb.
Composition
Sesquiterpene lactones (caleins) and flavonoids in the literature. Unopened structures are not padded in here.
Traditional use
Chontal oneiromancy; also a folk bitter for the stomach in Mexico. Not ayahuasca.
Precautions
Nausea, vomiting, delayed reactions; unknown commercial leaf; possible local restrictions.
Opened studies
Mayagoitia, Díaz and Contreras (1986). Calea zacatechichi extracts, dream recall, and reaction time. Small human nap study plus cat work. Only opened paper cited. PMID 3821139.