A Report about Ubulawu

<body topmargin=0 leftmargin=0 marginheight=0 marginwidth=0> <table cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0 border=0><tr> <td valign="top" colspan=2 height=90 BGCOLOR="#006699" TEXT="#080000" background="042085a3.jpg"> <div> <I><B>African Shaman</B></I></div> <div> </div> </td> </tr><tr> <td valign="top" width=210 BGCOLOR="#FFFFFF" TEXT="#080000" background="043d2e83.jpg"> <div> <A HREF="index.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="African Shaman : Specialists in African "><B><IMG SRC="08a78140.png" border=0 width="120" height="20" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></B></A></div> <div> <A HREF="http://www.africanshaman.com" TARGET="_top" TITLE="http://www.africanshaman.com"><IMG SRC="07f78140.png" border=0 width="120" height="20" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id17.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Articles :"><IMG SRC="08678140.png" border=0 width="120" height="20" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id18.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Contact Us :"><IMG SRC="08878140.png" border=0 width="120" height="20" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></A></div> <div>  <script id="siteSeal" type="text/javascript" src="//tracedseals.starfieldtech.com/siteseal/get?scriptId=siteSeal&sealId=22a5e094568673252f38bc327b66d158a2d1bb125d4b6bdfbed8de2b42b2e614"></script>  </div> </td> <td valign="top" height=390 width="100%" BGCOLOR="#FFFFFF" TEXT="#080000" background="04407073.jpg"> <div> A Report about Ubulawu</div> <div> by Anonymous</div> <div> <B>____________________________________________________________</B></div> <bR> <div> Ubulawu is a name associated with the plants of Southern Africa that are used to enhance dreaming. It isn't descriptive of any one plant in particular, but an entire grouping of plants that may be thirty or more in number. One of the interesting characteristics that many of these plants share in common, is that it is generally the root of these trees or shrubs that is the useful part. Furthermore, many of these plants are harvested from areas associated with water, be it ponds, sloughs, wetlands or riverbanks. The final and most interesting thing about these plants is the manner in which they are ingested, which is truly unique. A small amount of root is broken up or pounded. It is then covered in cool water and whipped vigorously with a fork like implement. This creates a froth that rises to the top and this is the portion that is actually consumed. </div> <bR> <div> The saponins of the ubulawu plants are what form this frothy layer, kind of like the head on a glass of beer. The chemistry of this magical ubulawu froth is slow acting. Consumption may begin in the morning on an empty stomach with repeated shakes and slurps several times over the course of the day. In some traditions, the froth must not be allowed to dissipate and frequent whippings occur to maintain the head. In traditions where the initiation takes three days or more, this is carried out even throughout the night.  The accumulation of the necessary chemicals accrues in the body quite slowly and it may take two or three days before changes in the dreaming actually takes place. Amazingly, there is little or no effect at all on a person's normal waking consciousness. You are in no way impaired by these plants. The only detectable changes occur strictly from the dream state when sleeping. However, these changes can be quite profound.</div> <bR> <div> In some situations, the ubulawu plants may be used for weeks at a time, with ever improving results. This would indicate to me that the brain receptors being affected do not easily become fatigued from this process. In other words, there are no immediate problems with tolerance. It is believed that the changes in dreaming that take place may possibly become permanent. If a person views these changes as potentially favorable, this would be a potentially amazing transformative experience. By the same token, these changes may not be for everyone, so much thoughtful consideration should be put into consideration before dabbling with the serious forces involved. Gateways are sometimes more easily opened than closed.</div> <bR> <div> Some of the restrictions associated with ubulawu ingestion would be to limit the protein in the diet and to start the morning ingestion on an empty stomach. An initiate should also purify themselves before beginning and not be under the influence of intoxicants of any kind. All of this would preferably take place under the guidance of a diviner or practitioner of the associated path. The training associated with this particular profession in a tribal situation might in fact take years to complete and the details of what all may be involved would definitely be a mystery to the western mind.</div> <bR> <div> So, that in a nutshell is a brief overview of my limited understanding of the Ubulawu plants. I became interested in this group of plants because I have been an herbalist most of my life and I have always used dreaming and related endeavors as my personal spiritual path. I have over the course of a lifetime accumulated many experiences with altered states of consciousness and the phenomenon such as out of body experiences, lucid dreams and the like. I have experimented with things from time to time that I hoped would enhance my abilities. For example, I own an Audio Visual Entrainment device and have used hemi-sync technology and biofeedback as ways to technologically enhance my abilities. It has been interesting, but not all that fruitful as far as results go.</div> <bR> <div> I cut my teeth on pranic yoga practice at the tender age of fourteen. Meditation and breath control were the initial techniques that started me down this very interesting path. In the course of a few weeks I went from being a standard issue human being to being an explorer of multi-dimensional realities. It strangely enough has however never been a path I was alone on; right from the very first experience I have been helped by mysterious unseen forces that usually remain invisible to me no matter what state I view them from. They are the wallpaper in the background of my life and the partners of my spiritual endeavors. To this day I am not sure how to classify them, these unseen helpers, but I want to acknowledge that this unfolding that I have experienced over the years has been a joint venture of sorts. I may not be able to explain to anyone's satisfaction whom or what these unseen forces represent, I only know that they have been essential in my development as a human being and as an explorer of the unchartered dimensions of potentialities in consciousness. I am also not certain as to whether or not these forces have changed or evolved as I have grown, it is simply a mystery that I have learned to live with and in that process I have also come to appreciate in a round about way, all the things I have been gifted with in this life.</div> <bR> <div> That being said, let me jump back into my strange adventures with the ubulawu plants so far. As I have said before, I have always had an interest in herbology, especially ethnobotany. The relationship of people and their plant medicines is infinitely fascinating to me. I consider myself fortunate to live on a planet that is so big and diverse, that I will barely be able to scratch the surface of all that interests me, even if I am so lucky as to have a very long  and productive life. Having now touched lightly upon the mysteries of mycology and especially the local ethno-knowledge of my immediate surrounds, it is only natural to reach out farther from my home base into the endless sea of possibilities out there. </div> <bR> <div> In doing internet research on dream enhancement, I stumbled upon Silene capensis, the first and perhaps the only ubulawu plant to make itself known on American shores. The claims for oneirogenic transformation seemed to me sort of unbelievable in light of the fact that this plant was not any kind of a hallucinogen or narcotic. Not that I have anything against those sorts of things mind you, but they only have a limited usefulness in a life that is filled with full time work and family responsibilities.</div> <bR> <div> I was intrigued and continued to dig up what little information existed online in regards to the way these plants are used. I looked high and low for accounts of both tribal and recreational use and found it confirmed in a variety of situations as an effective oneirogen; dream enhancer. It eventually became a matter of simply sampling it for myself, this being possible only because it seemed like an experiment that wouldn't in any way impede the flow of my present life. Being unable to ignore the tickle of curiosity, an online site was found that carried it and a tiny amount was ordered. Thus began my first adventure with the African mysteries.</div> <bR> <div> When it arrived in the mail, it was tucked in amongst some other intriguing herbs from far away places. It resembled a packet of little broken sticks, it looked more like little branches than roots. I had second thoughts in regards to the rendering of its chemistries into a cold-water decoction, so I decided to do what any herbalist would logically do, I tinctured the roots instead. Into a canning jar they went, covered in a nice sanitary layer of vodka, they were left to soak for a month. Every once in a while I dug the jar out of my dark bathroom cupboard and gave it a little look-see and a shake to keep things perking. This did not render any froth, the saponins perhaps became bound by the alcohol in the mixture.</div> <bR> <div> By this time I had just by luck rather than design, finished with a lovely round of bowel cleansing and ozone baths. I was about in as purified a state, as I was likely to ever get. I strained some of this strange brew into a little bottle with a dropper in it. I was a little uncertain as in how much to start with, but knew that it was taken in small amounts for the most part, so caution would be advised. I started with a couple droppers full one fine morning on the required empty stomach. I swished it all around in my mouth for several minutes before swallowing. This is a good procedure to follow with an unknown herbal as many are transdermal in nature and may in fact be deactivated by stomach juices. Since this was all an educated guess, this was a good way to begin. It tasted rather nasty, not because the root itself was unpleasant, but because almost all tinctures taste nasty due to the alcohol itself, a side effect that can't be helped. I repeated this procedure after lunch, dinner and before bed. At no point did it make me feel queasy. This was a good sign because nausea would indicate that I had had too much. Dosage in fact is limited by potentially purging any overly ambitious amounts right back out of your system. A nice safety feature I did not want to test. </div> <bR> <div> Night one was uneventful. My dreams and the quality of them seemed quite normal. Night two was entirely another story. I had six long, and colorful dreams. I recalled them all upon waking, they were clear and detailed, one right after another. I was very impressed with my clarity, usually this sort of thing wouldn't be possible without waking up to record each one as it happened. The third night was also remarkable. I seemed to have just one very long and very detailed dream. This in and of itself seemed quite unusual. I decided to follow this first initiation with a holiday that was ubulawu free, to see if there were any after effects or negative repercussions. </div> <bR> <div> Over the next few nights, I seemed to have a random sampling of very vivid dreams, which actually wouldn't be considered too far off my normal state. Satisfied that nothing was amiss so far, I decided to start a second round, with the goal of going at it much longer this time.</div> <bR> <div> Night one was uneventful and night two contained a “big dream.” I would define this as an important dream that contained a message or a prophecy for me. This was quite interesting, but it was the third night that was truly astounding. In the dream I was having, I was aware of being at a place where animals are being cared for. I was working with a horse and this involved a sort of hugging meditation with my head lying on top of his. I found this to be very pleasant. Down near this moat or slough filled with this murky reddish water was a couple of friends that were working with snakes. They kept motioning for me to come over and join them. I was reluctant to do so, working with a horse seemed like a much better deal than fooling around with big snakes. Did I mention big? These were about twenty foot pythons sleuthing around in the murky depths of the water. I finally and somewhat reluctantly wandered over to see what was going on. </div> <bR> <div> These two teachers were capturing these pythons and then somehow calming them and they wanted me to try it too. It seemed important to do, but I have to admit to feeling a little squeamish about taming snakes. They instructed me in the capturing of a snake by getting into the water with it and making a quick grab for the head. After securing the snake by the head, I was to pin it behind the head under my left arm and immediately place my right hand into the snake's mouth. This insertion of fingers was done behind the teeth towards the back of the jaw and caused the snake to chew vigorously on my hand. I could feel the bones of my hand being ground between these bony feeling plates in the back of the snake's mouth, which was unpleasant to say the least. Next I could release the snake from under my left arm enough to begin stroking it at the back of the head with my left hand. Much to my surprise, this seemed to immediately calm and tranquilize the snake and the chewing on my hand became very slow and gentle. </div> <bR> <div> After a period of tranquil stroking, the snake was gently released into the water. Now, I had to demonstrate my skill by accomplishing the whole feat again with a second snake of the same size, maybe they were twins? At any rate, everything went very smoothly and after I released the second snake I got out of the water and stood on the shore examining my right hand for damage. It seemed a little bruised and battered and I decided I should give it a good washing. By luck, there was a faucet right next to me equipped with a nice bottle of a green liquid soap. I became very fixated on carefully washing my hand when I sensed a movement out of the corner of my eye. There was no time to respond as a big python suddenly reared out of the water and snapped its head around like a whip, striking me squarely right in the crotch. Not only was this startling, it was painful! I let out an involuntary yelp and the next thing I knew, Tim was shaking me awake from what must have been interpreted as a nightmare.</div> <bR> <div> I would certainly classify this dream as a vivid dream! It was not lucid in the sense that I was aware that it was a dream while it was happening. It more so seemed like a “big dream,” but I didn't have a clue what it should mean. The two friends that seemed to be instructing me couldn't be recalled at all after the fact. I can't remember what they looked like or who they were, there was only the sense that I was somehow acquainted with them, whoever they were. This was definitely a dream to be noted in my journal, it seemed to be important.</div> <bR> <div> Later that morning at work, we were having a slow day at the front desk. On days like these where I have no specific work assignments or deadlines to meet, I am allowed to surf the internet to my hearts content. Of course I went in search of more information on the ubulawu herbs of Southern Africa. I happened across a website that had a transcript of an interview of a healer who was describing the initiation rites of her tribe, both past and present. </div> <bR> <div> In the past, initiates were expected to go to the river and capture a big python and bring it back to their village. The only way this dangerous mission could be accomplished safely was if the ancestors gave their approval in the form of calming the snake for the initiate, so the deed could be done without a fatality. Needless to say I was breaking out in goose bumps as I was reading this account. </div> <bR> <div> In modern times the initiates still went to the river, but they had the option of bringing back whatever the ancestors presented to them. In this particular case the individual brought back some bones that were found and this was deemed by the villagers to be the blessing of the ancestors and the training could then proceed. This whole story just blew me away. Was I to interpret this dream as some sort of an initiation? What about the presentation of the evidence to my village? How was I supposed to do that? Why did that darn snake whack me in the crotch anyway? So I would awaken and remember???</div> <bR> <div> I pondered these things briefly and decided to act in the only way I could. I emailed this amazing tale to a friend wise in the ways of the other worlds and told him that he was a part of my “village”. </div> <bR> <div> Next, after a weekend filled with yet more dreams, I met with my local cronies, we loosely call ourselves the “Spirit Group.” I then dutifully rendered to them a detailed report on my recent adventures. I wondered just how far my village should reach? Should I tell this weird tale to friends and relatives, casual acquaintances? Are these adventures a secret? So many questions, so few answers. I guess time will sort it all out.</div> <bR> <div> Day six; the amazing dreams have continued. In nights past it has usually been one long, detailed dream, well remembered upon awakening. Last night was no exception, but the content of this dream was once again very instructional in nature. It seems that the ancestors or whoever they are, have taken me in hand. Strangely, I do not remember the beginning of the dream in question, but at the point in which I recall, I find myself in the middle of a very intense lesson on possession. I am being specifically instructed on how to do an exorcism! In the first example I am confronted with a victim who has an uninvited guest clinging to them like a piece of Saran Wrap. In this situation I seem to be instructed to surround both of them with an intensity of feeling that somehow easily causes the clinging spirit to drop loose from its victim. </div> <bR> <div> Now I am being shown by doing, how to evict an internally lodged spirit possessing someone from the inside. This would be a true horror movie type possession where the victim is being controlled and manipulated from within. This is definitely a more serious and difficult matter to deal with. A child is the victim and I find myself instructing him to focus on the invader intently while blowing the invader out through his mouth in a violent exhalation. I place my mouth on his and powerfully suck the errant spirit into myself with an equally huge inhale and then turn away and blow it back out again. I am to focus on fire as I do so, so that the spirit is seemingly incinerated as it is expelled. This strikes me as part of a serious punishment so that the spirit won't be foolish enough to try this again. Even as I do it, the seriousness of the situation calls for swift and decisive action. This seems to be a very serious business indeed.</div> <bR> <div> After I awaken, I begin to ponder the merits of such a talent. Surely there isn't a big demand for exorcists in the society in which I live? Also, I can see the cultural advantages to being raised in a society in which the matter of spirit possession is scoffed at and perhaps invalidated in our skepticism. Somehow, this is actually a protective belief to have, and it is a strange privilege to not have to feel vulnerable to this sort of an invasion. Our disbelief in the possibility of such matters protects us, how ironic! </div> <bR> <div> So, I truly have no idea how I will utilize such a skill. I am fascinated that I am being taught how to do things by actually doing them. There is no doubt in my mind that this hands on style of tactile teaching is a totally impressive way for me to understand things, as least as far as I can understand them; all considered. I am after all a white woman that has spent half her life in the Alaskan bush. At first glance, it seems like this is a long stretch from being a tribal member of the Xhosa people in Southern Africa! 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