Flicking the Dream Bean

Rumored to be a favorite amongst shamans, this oneirogen is said to be a surefire way to induce vivid, lucid dreams. Lucid dreaming can be a useful tool for exploring the subconscious, and many believe that these dreams connect us to the spirit realm. It’s easy to see why the African Dream Bean would be enticing, but it’s difficult to find good information on. Scientific research on the plant seems to be virtually nonexistent, and firsthand accounts were nearly as hard to come by.

I first heard of this plant on Reddit, so I began my search there. I had no problem finding people who claimed to have tried this plant, but few had any details to offer about the experience. Many claimed the dreams it had given them were too personal to share. TikTok wasn’t any more helpful. I did find a few stories scattered around other web forums, but most involved mixing the plant with other substances. These weren’t helpful as I was primarily interested in the effects of the plant when used alone.

About the African Dream Bean

One thing I was able to find was some information on the plant itself. The African Dream Bean is the seed of the African Dream Herb, known scientifically as Entada Rheedii. Contrary to what its name might suggest, the African Dream Herb can be found all across Asia and Australia, as well as Africa. The seeds have even been known to occasionally wash up on the shores in Florida.

The plant is a climbing vine that typically grows near large bodies of water or in other high-moisture areas. It produces a fruit similar to that of a large, woody pea pod, and the Dream Beans are found inside these pods. The seeds have a hard, woody exterior, and measure an average of 50 x 35mm.

My Experience

One bit of info that I’d hoped to find and didn’t was dosing instructions. I was also unable to determine a consensus on the preferred method of ingesting the seeds. Many reports I read mentioned how much the user consumed and their method of consumption, but there weren’t enough details given about the overall experience to determine whether it was effective. The doses also varied wildly, ranging from a pinch of ground seed powder to several whole beans.

With this in mind, I decided to consume the dream bean a couple of nights in a row. I’d change at least one variable each night so I could try the bean in a variety of ways. Reports had mentioned smoking the bean, making it into a tea, eating it raw, and roasting it. I wanted to try each of these methods at least once before deciding whether I thought the bean was effective.

Day 1 – Cracking the Dream Bean

I put off starting this experiment for several days, mostly because I had no idea how to go about getting the thing open. Smashing it with a hammer seemed like a good way to lose half of the meat inside while also alarming my neighbors. My internet search had suggested using a mortar and pestle, but that had sent the bean flying out of the bowl and across the room, unfortunately still in one piece. A nutcracker sounded promising, but I didn’t have one of those on hand.

I finally had some luck crushing it with a pair of pliers. It took several attempts, squeezing in various spots across the bean, before it cracked open, but I was finally in!

The First Taste

For this first experience, I had decided to just eat the meat raw. I’d already worn myself out getting the thing open, so I wanted to keep the preparation as simple as possible. This way also allowed me better control over the amount I was consuming. Given that I had never interacted with this plant before and was home alone for the night, I wanted to do an allergy test before getting started. I don’t have any food allergies that I’m aware of, but better to be safe than sorry.

The meat was the same creamy white as an almond. The smell was also similar, although it had a distinct bitterness to it. Texture-wise it seemed a little odd. There was a chalkiness to it that I hadn’t expected. All in all though, it wouldn’t have seemed out of place with any other nut.

Several hours had passed since I’d had dinner, and I’d had enough skin contact with the bean to determine that I wasn’t likely to experience a reaction that way. I took a tiny nibble and sat down to wait. As expected, the initial taste was also close to that of a nut, but the aftertaste was much more bitter.

Half an hour later, I was still feeling okay enough to rule out the plant as a potential allergen. I washed the rest of the dream bean down with a cup of mint tea and settled in to watch an episode of Crazy Ex-Girlfriend. The tip of my tongue and my lips went slightly numb almost immediately. It felt very similar to the effects of kava kava. Within about 10 minutes, the nausea had kicked in, and in another 15, my scalp was starting to feel a little tight and tingly.

Dream Time

These are all symptoms associated with psychotropic plants, so I decided it was about time for bed. The only problem was I wasn’t the least bit sleepy. I don’t know if it was excitement or nerves or too much caffeine, but I just wasn’t tired yet. So I did what any knowledgable herbalist would do and made myself a cup of chamomile tea.

After finishing my cup, I crawled back into bed again. Maybe this time I’d be able to sleep. I laid there for a few minutes with my eyes closed, trying to will myself to sleep. It was a bit warm, so I rolled over, trying to find a cool spot on my pillow. Still nothing. Annoyed, I glanced at the clock as I rolled over again. Then I looked a second time. It was 3 AM! Maybe I had fallen asleep after all.

Grabbing my dream journal and a pen, I searched my memory for a trace of what I might’ve been dreaming about. There was nothing. I’m not sure I even reached a deep enough sleep to dream. It was a little disappointing, but I still had a few things to try. Like Thomas Edison would say, I didn’t find a way that worked, but I ruled out one that didn’t.

It was still a few hours earlier than I needed to be up, so I went back to sleep.

Day 2

The next day was a little rough. The poor sleep had me in zombie mode for most of the afternoon. I was also making enough trips to the restroom to question whether the dream bean be a diuretic. (This didn’t seem to be an issue any other day, so I’ve since ruled out the idea.) And despite my fatigue, I couldn’t wait for the second trial of my experiment. It didn’t seem like the day would ever end, but finally it was bed time.

Some of the sources I’d found suggested that heating the plant material might be necessary to activate its psychotropic compounds. So for this round, I decided to mix it into my evening coffee. (Yes, I drink coffee at night. It’s a bit of a problem, but my caffeine addiction is a topic for a different article.) Here’s the recipe for my Dreamy Mocha for those who are interested:

Despite the caffeine, I fell asleep much quicker than the previous night. When I woke up, I remembered dreaming and had a vague sense of being aware that I was dreaming, but hadn’t achieved full lucidity. I laid in bed with my eyes still closed, trying to remember what the dream had been about. After a few minutes, I suddenly panicked, convinced that I was going to be late picking my boyfriend up from work. Then I woke up a second time. I still had almost an hour before he’d be off.

I’m still not sure what happened here. I couldn’t tell if I had fallen back to sleep or if the whole experience of trying to remember my dream was, in fact, a dream.

Day 3

My boyfriend was home for the third night of my experiment, so he decided to join me. After some better sleep, I was thinking a little more clearly, and it seemed unlikely that the coffee the night before had provided sufficient heat to activate any compounds that might be within the plant. We decided to try vaping it and see how that turned out.

We put roughly 1/4 of the bean I’d opened the night before into a dry herb vape and headed to the back porch. It was a beautiful night, so we planned to enjoy the stars while we waited for any effects to kick in.

Initially we set the temperature to 370ºF, but that didn’t seem to be quite hot enough. We ended up settling on 420º. Once we started to feel sleepy, we split and ate the remaining plant material inside the vape, then headed inside. Roasting it seemed to be the way to go, at least as far as taste goes. It enhanced the nutty flavor, while removing any bitterness found in the raw form.

This trial produced roughly the same results as the previous one. I had a sense that I’d just been dreaming and that it was a rather odd dream, but there were no details to speak of. My boyfriend reportedly roughly the same experience.

Day 4

We’d tried a few different methods of preparation at this point without much success, so this time we decided to try blending the dream bean with another dream herb, blue lotus. This was by far my favorite method of consumption.

We used a little less than 1/4 of a bean this time and filled the remaining space with blue lotus petals. It was another nice evening, so we built ourselves a bonfire and sat out in the backyard for an hour or so. Since we were outside for quite a bit longer than the night before, we both ended up vaping quite a bit more. When we decided to turn in for the night, we again split the roasted pieces of dream bean left inside the vape.

We still weren’t really sleepy, so we put on some music for a bit. A half hour might’ve gone by. I’m not really sure as time was beginning to act funny. Colors were a little distorted, and we both had a serious case of the giggles. This went on for nearly 4 hours before the effects had finally worn off enough for us to get some sleep. Neither of us could recall dreaming at all the next morning.

Final Thoughts About the Dream Bean

Most plants that enhance dream recall do so by preventing the mind from entering the deepest stages of sleep. This increases the odds that something will disturb you during the dream stage, allowing you a better chance of remembering. The dream bean definitely seems to work in the same way.

After 4 nights of trials, I was worn out. I’d originally planned on continuing the experiment for a full week, but decided to end it at this point. My sleep quality was definitely being compromised. I didn’t want to reach a point where I was too tired to dream. I still have more ideas for the dream bean, but they’ll have to wait for a time when I’m better rested.

Moxie

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