potions, sun showers, and lavender fields under a foggy sky: a beginners guide to herbalism and how to shift with it
Looking to herbs to automatically make you shift is setting yourself up for failure. Out of my experience, there is nothing that you can manufacture that will instantly make you shift. That is more a mental thing. But you can use herbs and mushrooms to put you in the right space to affect the affirmations that you are telling yourself and to make your desires reality. The ideal state for shifting is to be relaxed, sedated in the mind (I don’t know right way to say it), and just pure flow. This is so hard to translate but I don’t but it’s that feeling when you’re completely calm in mind and you’re not even thinking. Your consciousness just pulls your desires and it happens without you really paying attention. People can shift without this but this has pretty much been how I shit. These rankings are based on my personal experience not the overall effectiveness.
African Dream Root 7/10 ⭐️
This is used by the Xhosa people of South Africa. I don’t know any of this ethnic group personally, so I followed what I could find online. I bought the sticks first online. And I grinded these by hand using a big rock I found outside and a stone cutting board my grandmother had. It took like half an hour to get all of it into a fine powder and I still had some bark bits. But I mixed this daily with cold water and drank it before eating. It gave me very vivid dreams from what I remember and it made everything cinematic. It makes my dreams more lucid and I’ve been able to pick what I dream about. I ran out of the sticks and transitioned to tincture form. I drop the liquid under my tongue before going to sleep. I haven’t really felt anything different than my usual vivid dreams. But I’m going to try taking more with caution and doing it awake. I’ve been using it maybe three months now.
Labrador Tea 4/10 ⭐️
This herb, specifically Rhododendron tomentosum, grows in Hokkaido and Sakhalin as well as many other northern latitudes. I think in the west it is more associated with Native Americans like the Dene, but I remember picking it with my grandfather to help with stomach aches. It’s kind of easy to overdose so I would suggest you ask someone experienced what to take. I picked it by myself and just did whatever made me feel happy. Big mistake. I brewed the tea with the leaves and then decided I would chant. Chanting is a meditation technique that I use to bring me into a trance state. More on that another a time maybe.
So, my grandparents (on dad’s side) live in an out of the way place in Hokkaido off the coast. I visit them a lot as it’s not that far away. I feel people think that Russian citizens can’t like leave Russia but I’m a Japanese citizen through my father and I’ve never had a problem. I just fly to China and then take a flight to Japan. Anyways, I’m off track but I sat outside. I love to shift or meditate outside whenever possible because it’s much easier to stay awake and it’s more peaceful. But it can be hard to find a safe place in some cities. Out here, I’m not particularly worried about my safety. I kneel on the grass or sand or maybe sit against a tree. Then I started chanting. And it worked for a little bit. I felt very light and airy until I vomited because I took too much. I was knocked out for a couple hours after that and just fell asleep. When I took less, I didn’t really feel a difference.
Blue Lotus Tea 3/10 ⭐️
I had a struggle finding good quality herbs. I ordered it online from two separate places. And each of them tasted different. One was really bitter while the other was mild. I think one of these wasn’t the real thing and just a look alike. The first batch I brewed as a tea. I never do additives like honey or sugar for my tea. It did give me very vivid dreams but it slowly fizzled out over the third day.
Mugwort 6/10 ⭐️
Mugwort is like a weed in Europe and parts of Asian and you can pretty much find it everywhere her. And I find it all the time on the roadside, and meadows near my house. I usually just brew it as a tea. And I take it a couple hours before bed and it helps with my flashes. Using this method in the middle of the day, I had a very surreal experience but I’ll talk about it on another day. I also used this as an essential oil with diffuser and it would fill the room. I really recommend this the most of I you want to encourage a relaxed demeanor and flashes. It decent weed my mind.
Valerian Root 10/10 ⭐️
This is my go to when it comes to relaxing. Anytime I know I want to shift or need a wake back to bed. I brew this with some lavender or chamomile. I feel so heavy and calm that it’s easy for me to get sleep paralysis. I would definitely recommend taking this one.
Lavender, Chamomile 7/10 ⭐️
I would recommend mixing this with other things to create a stronger effect. But this is a pretty routine herb.
Mushrooms are not that traditional in Sakhalin and Hokkaido. I had to go to Kamchatka to really find out more about this. Fly Agaric was the only big one that I researched. It was used all the way from the Sami to the Chukchi. I’m really weary of trying thing like Ayahuasca as I’m of the opinion with really psychoactive things like that I want to know from the source (ie. the natives who harvest it traditionally) and I’m not really interested in traveling to Central or South America.
Fly Agaric 5/10 ⭐️
The Koryak people call this mushroom wapaq. It was used all over Siberia by indigenous shamans but I think it can be bought anywhere. You might recognize its use in Mario. If you decide to use this, I would suggest using this in the company of someone experienced. I remember back in the day that it was something my great grandfather’s wife used to pick and sell. Because I’m not familiar with mushroom, I went to a predominantly Koryak/Chukchi village in Kamchatka to get it. The woman who harvest it and dries it wasn’t necessarily a shaman but she was able to walk me through it.
Basically, she made a tea with the dried mushrooms and I went to the back room of her house. She also gave me another tea of lavender. Then I just meditated and laid down. I fell asleep pretty quickly but remember I was in a sleep paralysis state and was lowkey hallucinating but not quite. I was still in a good level of control of my mind. This is probably because I meditate and visualize every night for about a decade. But I was able to think about what I wanted and it felt more like a cinematic dream then shifting. Then I had a series of weird dreams. However, I was able to open a portal and woke up in a completely new reality but as a white woman. Now, this was weird because I have no desire to be white and blonde. In my base life and every other iteration, I’m always dark haired, northeast Asian but I have blue eyes. I’m not significantly European only like a small amount of Caucasus and Turkic related dna so that is probably the cause of my eyes. But I do not look mixed more like an Asian who is wearing contacts. So, imagine my surprise to be this pale, green eyed, and blonde girl.
I remember this so vividly and wrote about it right after. This new life was located in San Francisco near where my mother used to live. When I visited and lived with my mother there, I always thought it would be so cool to like live over by Golden Gate beach. Shifting is like the instant transfer of your awareness. When I shift even randomly, I know right away what I look like, where I am, and the context of it all. Just like this reality. I heard cars and ocean waves because right out my window was the bay, and on the other side was the highway. My bed was white wooden with pink sheets and everything was decorated very late 2000s. I sat up in my bed and checked my phone and it had all these names from people that I knew were my friends. Everything was clean and quiet. I could see my closet with all my clothes hanging up nice and neat. And I could see the bridge in the distance covered in blue light from early morning. Anyways, after checking my phone I snapped out of it and woke up back in her house.
After this experience, she gave me more dried mushrooms and told me how to dose. I tried these mushrooms for a few days on and off. I had more of these strange experiences but I found it hard to control and pinpoint where I wanted. And the shifts were very brief. I think with more experience I could fair better.
Where to buy
I would suggest buying local or at least organic. I like to make my own mixes. The reason isn’t for snobbish reasons but when you buy a pre made tea bag. You never know the ratio. In a lot of pre made teas from major brands, it’s usually just a small amount of the herb that you actually want. I know in the U.S. when I lived in San Francisco I would often go to Chinese run stores to see what herbs they had. Rarer herbs like African Dream Root and Blue Lotus can be found on Etsy. But I don’t think Egyptian Blue Lotus is always what they sell. I think a lot of people are selling other Asian variants.
How to use
I would always consult with someone when taking stronger herbs especially if you are a newcomer to taking this. I’m lucky to live in Russia and I can meet with many indigenous peoples nearby that know how to use these things. But I remember living in the Bay Area and other parts of Northern California, that wasn’t possible. Many of your local herbalists have booths at farmers markets or stores. So, don’t be afraid to just ask the proper dosage. I find most people are helpful and passionate about herbalism if they are selling it. Trying to dose it by yourself can sometimes go badly. And tell people that you are doing this just in case you convulse if you are using something like Labrador tea.
Costs
It can definitely be expensive and gouging the right price can be difficult. Buy a small sample size to see if it even does anything. And if possible ask where they source it from. You want to make sure they’re not just repacking and up charging. I’m really thorough so I ask for a picture of it growing. Also, if it’s a herb you know that you like consider growing it. Many herbs function like weeds (in growing pattern) and you can literally just plant and minimally water it and it will still grow. I grow my own chamomile with my grandparents and it barely needs any tending. Hokkaido is famous for its lavender and I remember as a kid we’d splurge and order some from there. I’ve never been but I’ve always like the kind they grow there. But I remember California had some nice lavender there too.
Brewing
I use an electric tea kettle just because it’s easier. You can use a cup and a microwave but a tea kettle allows you to steep it in there. I would recommend a stainless steel or aluminum over a glass one. That’s just a personal preference. It doesn’t matter what the brand is. When using powdered herbs, it’s kind of difficult to not get a thick slurry at the bottom. I usually just add a little mix vigorously until I have the full cup of tea. Always make sure to research what you are taking by the way.
That’s pretty much my guide to herbs. It is in now way comprehensive but a good start. I’ll be back later this week or early next week with a guide to how I utilize trance states and meditation.
Side note: I forgot to mention Wavy Cap. This is a psychedelic mushroom but it is illegal in most places in the United States. I don’t necessarily advertise seeking illegal things out if you’re really young like under 22 and I think a sort of seriousness is needed to use it appropriately. But if you can find any psilocybin mushroom, it definitely can cause you to have hallucinations, visions, and I was really emotional. I remember when I took it I was living farther north in California. And let me tell you, those old hippies in the Humboldt county area are fearless. I think it is possible to shift but there is so much going on it’s very difficult while in that state. At least it was for me anyway.
