The Real Deal

Mugwort

Citation: New Believer. "The Real Deal: An Experience with Mugwort (exp37057)". Erowid.org . Apr 19, 2006. erowid.org/exp/37057

BODY WEIGHT: 185 lb

I first heard of the dream-enhancing ability of the herb online and its effects on one's ability to have and remember dreams. Seeing as I have never been able to remember much about my dreams, and I had smoked marijuana perhaps a little too much over the last few years, I decided to give this substance a try. All that was needed was a short jaunt over to my local herbarium (which sells glass pipes, the San Pedro cactus and other psychoactive substances as well). I purchased an ounce of this green herb for $1.35, not bad at all!I had planned on smoking the mugwort, but the propriator of the herbarium told me that all I really had to do was to double wrap the herb in a plastic bag and keep it under my pillow.I ran into my friend on the way home, and told him what I had purchased and what its properties were supposed to be. He seemed interested, and since I had a huge bag of the stuff, I gave him enough to roll about two joints.When I arrived home later that evening, I placed a small amount of mugwort into my now-useless glass bong and took a few hits. The taste and harshness of the smoke was minimal, and I found this substance to be, at the very least, a good substitute for those who are considering quitting smoking either tobacco or cannabis (the greenness of mugwort is very close to MJ!). I did notice a small high very similar to bud that lasted about a half-hour (though I later discovered that the 'high' only works when I smoke it sporadically). I put the remainder of the herb underneath my pillow and then picked up a novel that I had been meaning to read for a long, long time. After reading a little while I soon became drowsy and eventually nodded off to sleep.All that I had read about this herb indicated that its most striking effect was the enhancement of colors, and viddy colors I would! When I awoke the next morning I recalled perhaps the most vivid and entertaining dream that I have ever had in my entire life.I dreamt that I was in some kind of a museum. I knew it was a museum because there were sculptures and pieces of artwork hanging all around me. There were also present with me friends that I had not seen for a long time, friends from high school who had first introduced me to cannabis and LSD. As we admired the artwork around us, the 'curator' or some other person (his role wasn't defined, he just 'seemed' to be a person of some authority) came and told us that if we really wanted to see something, we should head around back to where another building was. He explained that most people couldn't see this structure, because it had been cleverly hidden by mirrors to prevent curious onlookers from discovering its secrets. We all agreed that this sounded like great fun, and decided to go see it.Sure enough, we all passed through a maze of mirrors and soon climbed a small, sloping hill and eventually came upon a huge, vibrantly red building shaped sort of like the Alamo. I cannot stress enough how enhanced the colors were, it was like a psilocybin mushroom trip. There were lots of people milling around, and they told me, 'You've really got to see what's down there! It's amazing!' So, I entered the doors of this building, and found that it was really nothing more than a kind of waiting room. Its walls were black, save for small holes in the walls that were painted bright white and held ordinary house plants. Everyone told me to keep going, and eventually I reached what looked like an industrial elevator. Someone told me that if I wanted to see what was in this building, I had to go down the elevator. My friends were really keen on this idea, but something inside told me that I could not trust these people. I pursuaded several of my friends to leave with me, but others decided to stay and descend into whatever room existed on the lower floors. My dream ended here.When I ran into my friend later in the week, he told me that he too had had a very vivid, colorful dream, though his dream involved a poker game with gigantic, glowing cards.As I said earlier, I had never really been able to enjoy the dreaming experience before I tried this herb, and needless to say, I'm very thankful for this plant. This herb is the _REAL DEAL_, and since its psychoactivity occurs only while I'm asleep, there's very little danger in the authorities criminalizing it.