Nymphaea caerula (Sacred Blue Lotus)
Going back many years now I was very interested in experimenting with psychoactive plant derived substances that reputedly enhanced ones ability to experience higher dimensions or altered states of consciousness. One plant I was particularly interested in due to it’s historical use by Egyptian priests and depictions in Egyptian art was the Sacred Blue Lotus or the Blue Lilly of the Nile as I knew it back then. I was particularly drawn to this plant because I read that it could be used to help induce lucid dreaming experiences or if not taking one to that level of lucidity during dream states then to enhance dreams giving them an extremely vivid quality. I had experimented with a few different mind altering substances considered to be psychedelic in nature and found them to be interesting but did not feel that they particularly gave me anything spiritual. When I say spiritual I’m referring to higher feelings or mystical experiences that don’t involve huge changes in perception but I still feel in my heart that certain psychoactive chemical do have a place in the world through their use as a medicinal treatment and their potential to grant personal insight into ones own nature.
The Blue Lotus however proved to be different. Firstly I’d like to explain the two different ways in which I experimented with this plant. The first time I managed to purchase the plant material I was told the product was material from the Blue Lotus plant soaked in extract from the flower. I smoked this through a water pipe before I went to bed. It was on this occasion that I experienced one of the more profound vivid/lucid dreams I’ve had. This happened only a couple week after I had purchased a book on Astral Travel with an esoteric dream symbol guide in it for dream interpretation. The second time I experimented with the Blue Lotus I drank a glass of wine that had lotus petals soaking in it for a few days. On this occasion I had no significant dreams that night and in fact the drink was quite disagreeable with my digestive system. It made me feel very physically relaxed but mentally excited which essentially kept me from going to sleep immediately after ingesting it. My dreams that night were very mundane in content with no obvious symbolism present but rather just the normal everyday things in life. It was almost like I was living my daily life through my dream by going to work as usual with my daily routine. … Continue Reading