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Trapped Between Awake and Asleep
Calea zacatechichi
Citation:   Tominox. "Trapped Between Awake and Asleep: An Experience with Calea zacatechichi (exp67174)". Erowid.org. Dec 12, 2007. erowid.org/exp/67174

 
DOSE:
T+ 0:00
6.5 ml oral Calea zacatechichi (tea)
  T+ 0:30 6.5 ml oral Calea zacatechichi (plant material)
BODY WEIGHT: 175 lb
Last night, close to midnight, I steeped 6.5 grams of C.Z. leaf in about a cup (250ml) of very hot water for approximately 30 minutes. Fearing the incredible bitterness of the brew, which was a dark green with a shimmering film on top, almost had a 'tigers-eye' effect, I added two large dollops of honey. The honey helped a bit, but nothing can really mask the awful taste.

About 30 minutes later, I noticed that I could hear a very deep undulating bass sine wave. For those of you who make music, I would say it was in the range of 20Hz-40Hz, with a wavelength of about 4 seconds. At the same time, I could also hear a faint metallic buzzing sound, more of a 'sawtooth' wave, a bit higher pitch, probably around 80Hz. Deciding that I could already feel the effect, and feeling a bit brave, I measured out another 6.5 grams, and swallowed it, basically chewing the plant material and using water to swallow. Once again, incredibly bitter.

Approximately another 30 minutes later (now T+ 1hour) I layed down to sleep, quickly falling into an extremely relaxed state. I could feel my whole body slightly buzzing. At this time the undulating bass sound and the metallic buzzing had worn off. I fell asleep, or so I thought.

Some time later (T+2 hours - T+4 hours) I realized that I was still awake, and had not moved from my relaxed position. I could not feel anything at all, and this made me a bit afraid. I 'looked' at my body, and realized that it was dead. Lifeless. Not breathing. Not moving, Cold. Growing more afraid, I forced myself to move my body, in order to reassert that it was still alive. It moved, but with a deep sense of fear and trepidation. It felt heavy, like lead. Dark and heavy, lethargic, in a stupor. These ideas invaded my mind. I also felt that I had somehow poisoned my system with the plant. I was half awake, half asleep, unable to either drift off into the world of dreams, or fully awaken myself. Once again, very uncomfortable, mentally, and slightly scary.

Several times in the night this feeling (above) passed away, and I blacked out, only to return again. Suffice to say, I did not get a very good rest. I slept approximately 8 hours, but woke up absolutely exhausted. When I woke up in the morning, I rolled over, and got another hour of sleep. Incidentally, I recall some sort of voice narrating certain things to me, such as the time, the fact that I was tired, the fact that I would get exactly another hour of sleep, etc. but it did not feel like it was my own monologue that was saying these things.

Before the initial ingestion, I had cleared my mind, and set my intent for the experience. In the hour of sleep that I got in the morning, after awakening, I dreamt fully, dreamt many different things. Also, that extra hour of sleep was extremely refreshing, and when I finally woke up, I felt great. The dreams, although linear, felt sped up, everything seemed to move in some sort of fast-motion. In the final phase of the dream, I met a messenger of some sorts, that sought to give me that which I had asked for the previous night before taking the Calea, and this he did, by relaying some words to me, which he said were in 'some lost language, but I could seek the roots of the word and find simmilarities, in greek'. The word alternately flashed before me in different characters, switching alphabets each time, with the final one being Romanized letters. The word was XAEON or XAKEON or XAIKEON. The way I heard the word did not sound like the way the word was written in the Romanized letters. Suffice to say, I am now looking into this word. Also, I am quite excited after this doseage.

Clearly, this experience was not like my other experiences, insofaras the others never had any elements of fear, uncomfortableness, nausea, etc., Yet neither had I felt that I had really made any true sense of contact with the plant previously. I believe there is still much room (dosage wise) with the Calea, now that I know what may happen at such doses, I think the experience of some of the 'negative' things may be a bit easier to deal with.

Exp Year: 2007ExpID: 67174
Gender: Male 
Age at time of experience: Not Given
Published: Dec 12, 2007Views: 44,100
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Calea zacatechichi (97) : Mystical Experiences (9), Entities / Beings (37), General (1), Alone (16)

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