Dream Herb // Calea zacatechichi

Name:

Calea zacatechichi

Calea ternifolia  

Other Common Names:

Dream Herb, Thle-pela-kano, meaning “leaf of God”

Habitat:

Native to Oaxaca, Mexico

Description

Calea is a quick grower and is one of the easiest plants to care for. It tolerates a wide range of light conditions and can be grown indoors or out. But it can easily become invasive outdoors if left to go to seed. It is a noticeably easier to grow than the bitter variety, particularly indoors.  Non-bitter calea grows taller and thicker, and it seems to recover from drought better.  It is also easier to clone.  The leaves are more triangular, and they bear a nice fragrance that resembles that given off by a tomato plant.

Uses

The Chontal Indians of the Oaxaca region in Mexico have used Thle-pelakano (meaning Leaf of God) for centuries, as a medicine that clarifies the senses and allows the medicine man to receive divinatory messages while dreaming and to see visions through their dreams. This magical herb is used in a great number of their folk remedies, as an appetite stimulant, cleansing agent for deep wounds and minor burns, to treat diarrhea, reduce fevers, as a application to heal skin rashes and swollen scalps, and most notably to relieve headache pains.

Also whenever they desire to know the cause of an illness or the location of a distant or lost person, the common ritual is to smoke a cigarette, while drinking a tea, both made of Calea Zacatechichi, right before going to sleep. In fact, it is believed that lucid dreaming happens when one half of the human brain is in Theta (dreaming) state, and the other is in Delta (deep sleep).