Ubulawu #
| Binomial / Botanical Name | Silene Capensis; |
| Street Names | African Dream Root; Xhosa Dream Root |
| Major Active Compound | Unknown |
| Indigenous Source | Eastern Cape of South Africa |
| Form | Root |
| RoA | Oral |
| Personal Rating On Shulgin Scale | ± |
SUBJECTIVE EXPERIENCE #
Enticed by stories of its ancient ritual use in Africa, I chose ubulawu for one of my first forays into the botanical arena.
I paid much attention to detail during the preparation, following authentic techniques as closely as I could. The procedure included crushing the root, shaking it in half a jar of water until froth appeared on the top, and spooning this into my mouth. This task was performed first thing in the morning, on an empty stomach.
Whilst it is often impossible to determine the difference between placebo and minimal, there were no wild or vivid dreams, or in fact, anything else. I experienced practically nothing.
In retrospect I can’t necessarily draw too many general conclusions from this. I have stated elsewhere that the source of botanicals is usually vital. Here, the dried root perhaps gave the game away: it looked old; so old that it may have lost whatever psychoactivity it originally carried.
Internet reports suggest that this is worthy of further experimentation, which I will endeavour to undertake in the future, should the opportunity arise.