NOTE: While Silene undulata is one of the most commonly used Latin names for this herb, Silene capensis is also common, and refers to the same plant. Another synonym for the same herb is Melandrium undulatum. I have chosen to use Silene undulata in this article.
African Dream Root (Silene undulata) is a sacred indigenous medicine used in South Africa by the Xhosa people. In the Xhosa language, African Dream Root is known as “iindlela zimhlope”, meaning “white ways” or “white paths”. Xhosa shamans use this herb to have dreams and visions specifically relating to the ancestors; indeed, the people in these tribes believe that African Dream Root gives one the ability to talk directly with one’s ancestors in order to receive healing, guidance, and knowledge. However, African Dream isn’t thought to actually give the dream, but rather, it “shines a white light” on the dream so that the dreamer can actually experience the dream. Silene undulata is also used to initiate new healers/shamans, and can be used to have prophetic dreams or lucid dreams in particular, when the need arises.
Unlike some of the other sacred medicines, African Dream Root is, as its name suggests, a dreaming herb – an oneirogen. As such, this plant is rarely psychoactive, especially when taken as a microdose like most readers would do, but it can produce vivid and powerful dreams, even when taken at low doses. Don’t be fooled, though, about the power of this particular medicine as a healer: dreams are rarely “just dreams”. In fact, for people who are truly looking for a way to heal chronic pain or any other health condition, dreams can be one of the most indispensable sources of information available since they often contain the exact information that YOU need to heal yourself and your family.
After all, reports exist where a single dream, or perhaps a series of dreams, acted to help heal disease or pain in the body quickly and forever. One report, acknowledged in the scientific community, tells of a man who had been suffering from chronic pain for 22 years, but after a single, powerful lucid dream, awoke completely cured of his pain. While this isn’t the case for most people, of course, it proves that dreams can heal, and emphasizes the importance of working with dreaming herbs like African Dream Root as aids to encourage healing dreams during the healing process.
Saponins and Other Pain-Relieving Compounds in Silene undulata
Silene undulata contains the following medicinal compounds (among others not studied or mentioned here):
- Beta-Carboline Alkaloids
- Norharman
- Harmalol
- Harmaline
- Harmine
- Ibogaine
- Triterpenoid saponins
- Ursanes
- Lupanes
- Oleananes
- Hopane
- Phytoecdysteroids
- 20-hydroxyecdysone
Beta-Carboline Alkaloids
The beta-carboline alkaloids, including ibogaine, work with the 5HT2A serotonergic receptors in the body, which may explain partially how this plant medicine works to produce oneirogenic and psychoactive effects. Harmaline, harmalol, and ibogaine have been shown to have receptor binding affinities comparable to LSD, which suggests that these alkaloids specifically are likely agonistic, or work to promote serotonergic activity at the 5HT2A receptors. The harmala alkaloids – harmala, harmine, etc. – also have reversible MAOI properties.
The unique combination of plant alkaloids found in African Dream Root place it in the category of natural “cyclized tryptamines”, a grouping of plant medicines that work in a similar way to produce psychoactive effects – other more famous plant medicines in this category include Tabernanthe iboga (Iboga), Banisteriopsis caapi (yagé; with Psychotria viridis this herb is a key part of Ayahuasca), and Peganum harmala (Syrian rue).
Saponins and Acetylcholinesterase Activity
The triterpenoid saponins in Silene undulata are found primarily in the roots of the plant, which is the main part used medicinally as a dreaming herb. These saponins are also thought to contribute to African Dream Root’s medicinal, psychoactive effects, and indeed, contribute not only an important aspect to the ritualistic preparation of Silene undulata roots in a traditional setting, but may also work to heal the body’s organs. Indeed, natural saponins from plant or animal sources, such as ox bile supplements, can support digestion and detoxification by “sudsing up” the digestive tract to remove toxins and debris.
In the traditional ceremony for preparing African Dream Root – a ceremony which is often performed over the course of 3 days during the full moon – a shaman will use between 250-1000mg of crushed Silene capensis root combined with water (some groups simply chew the root bark, but the preparation described here is most common). This mixture is churned using a fork or a forked stick until the root infusion becomes frothy and “soapy” (this soapiness is due to the saponins in the infusion). Then, the infusion is drunk. Different tribes have different policies for administering the infusion, though it’s common for the froth and the water infusion to be drunk on an empty stomach until the initiate/shaman feels the need to vomit. While this is of course unpleasant, it’s a crucial part of the process, and is widely regarded to be essential in order for the initiate/shaman to be able to receive dreams.
This type of vomiting in a ceremonial context resembles that which many people experience during an Ayahuasca ceremony, albeit with some differences. In both cases, however, the vomiting involved with these sacred medicines is linked to the detoxification of the liver, the gallbladder, and the pancreas. In terms of African Dream Root specifically, it’s worth noting that the gallbladder in Traditional Chinese Medicine is tied directly to the Ancestors; in fact, gallstones are regarded in TCM as the “bones” of the ancestors, and of course, these must be cleared from the body in order for a person to be healthy. Also note that ox bile is another famous saponin medicine that can be taken to facilitate liver and gallbladder detoxification. This suggests that, perhaps, the vomiting that people experience during a ceremony with African Dream Root is actually essential, and that the puking may ultimately be a way of releasing excess bile and toxins from the digestive system in order to “clear” the body and energy field so that it can receive information from the Ancestors with greater clarity.
Plant-based saponins like those found in African Dream Root do have other medicinal properties, however, beyond simply acting to clear the digestive system. Research suggests that plant saponins also have antimicrobial, antifertility, anti-inflammatory, antifungal, antibacterial, antiparasitic, antitumor, and antiviral effects in the body. Another more well-known plant medicine, Panax ginseng, also contains high levels of saponins in its roots – these saponins are thought to play a key role in ginseng’s wide-ranging therapeutic effects. In African Dream Root, oleanolic acid (an oleanane) and ursane as alpha- and beta-amyrin have also been found to have antidepressant and anxiolytic/anxiety-relieving effects when used as isolated medicinal compounds.
All of the plant-based saponin types found in African Dream Root have acetylcholinesterase (AcHE) inhibiting activity. This is especially relevant when considering how this plant medicine works to produce vivid dreams, since the REM sleep state is brought on by an increase in cholinergic and glutaminergic activity in the brain, specifically of cholinergic neurons that are only active during REM sleep and not when a person is awake. This means that, when a person is dreaming during REM sleep – this is the sleep state when we dream – their nervous system is uniquely active in a way that it is not active during waking hours. Indeed, many people say that they feel more rested when they’ve dreamt the night before, even if they can’t remember their dreams well, which may be due to a specific type of activation of the central nervous system that can only occur during REM sleep. The AcHE inhibiting activity of African Dream Root would naturally encourage more cholinergic activity – both that which is unique to the REM sleep state as well as a type of cholinergic activation in the thalamus and cortex that only occurs during wakeful states – which could explain more clearly why this particular plant medicine works to produce lucid dreams in particular.
The ability of Silene undulata to inhibit AcHE may also have therapeutic potential in treating health issues involving problems with memory or awareness, such as Alzheimer’s disease, dementia, Lewy body disease, and Parkinson’s disease, as well as with depression. All of these conditions are also associated with disturbances in the sleep cycle, especially with the REM sleep state; African Dream Root may help support healthier sleep cycles and more or longer states of REM sleep, which could potentially help improve memory and awareness and relieve emotional and physical discomfort and/or pain.
Phytoecdysteroids
The one reported phytoecdysteroid – there are likely others that haven’t been reported on yet – found in Silene undulata is 20-hydroxyecdysone. This particular phytoecdysteroid may have mild free radical scavenging / antioxidant activity. Recent research also suggests that 20-hydroxyecdysone may have some therapeutic applications in the treatment of obesity and on improving muscle strength in the lower limbs – albeit when administered at much higher doses than what’s found in African Dream Root microdoses.
Other Medicinal Uses of African Dream Root and Related Silene spp.
Beyond its use as a dreaming herb, Silene undulata is also used traditionally to treat fever and delirium in Xhosa groups. The leaves of the plant are also reported to treat tuberculosis in South Africa. To prepare the leaves for this purpose, 2 liters of hot water is poured on 400g of tender leaves and left to steep for 30 minutes before drinking; 75mL of the prepared tea is then taken 3 times per day for 1 month.
Related Silene species, like S. bellidioides and S. pilosellifolia, are also used by Zulu tribes as a love charm emetic, to treat scrofula, to relieve fatigue/sleepiness, in tonic baths to strengthen the body after illness, and, like Silene undulata, to promote healing dreams of the Ancestors. Other Silene species plants with medicinal properties include:
- Silene acaulis – used to treat colic in children
- Silene cucubalis – juice is used to treat ophthalmia
- Silene nigrescens – Tibetan medicine prescribes the flowers of this plant to treat hearing loss, specifically that which is caused by a blockage of the otic canal and/or volvulus
- Silene dioica – seeds are used to treat snakebites
- Silene szechuensis – Chinese medicine uses this plant as an antipyretic, analgesic, and diuretic medicine.
- Silene vulgaris – used as an antianemic, anti-inflammatory, sedative, and antitoxin herb; the young shoots and leaves are also used culinarily in the traditional foods of Turkey, Austria, Spain, Germany, and Italy
- Silene latifolia – used as a soap-substitute for washing clothes
- And many, many more (there is an extensive list of Silene plants that I won’t cover here)
African Dream Root as a Sacred Medicine to Heal Ancestral Traumas
African Dream Root has a long history of traditional use as a medicine to facilitate communication with and healing of the Ancestors, but why should this matter to you, Dear Reader, when it comes to healing chronic pain or other major health problems? Most people in the modern world are unaware of their ancestors and of their origins, with only a handful of people having any idea where their family came from and what their family story is. In traditional cultures, however, it’s customary to retell the family story yearly to the entire family and/or community; these traditions exist in all cultures, but many of them have been lost in the more westernized parts of the world. We’ve grown apart from our Roots, and as we lose our footing in our Family Stories, ultimately this causes pain and dis-ease.
This may be a far-out concept for a lot of people reading this, and I get that. The idea of “ancestral healing” and “ancestral trauma” was once foreign and strange to me also. How can someone else’s trauma from hundreds, or even thousands of years ago, affect you? We can look to other more widely accepted systems of medicine and psychology – like Constellations Therapy or even Ayurveda and Traditional Chinese Medicine, for example – to understand this in a logical way with our left brains, but in order to really feel in your body how these Family Traumas affect you, you’ll have to put some trust into a medicine like African Dream Root. What’s true for my Family Tree may or may not be true for your Family Tree. But let’s look at the left-brained, logical basis for why the healing of ancestral traumas is indeed important for healing chronic pain and dis-ease.
In Constellations Therapy, it’s accepted that traumas get passed down from parents to their children, sometimes for many, many generations. A lot of people will, for example, understand that alcoholism is a kind of “inherited trait” and that it “runs in families”; what people don’t know or observe consciously, though, is that diabetes, glucose intolerance, and other similar issues of the pancreas also tend to run in these same families. In Chinese Medicine, the pancreas is the organ of Trust and Distrust. Alcoholism itself often originates as the result of some kind of trauma where a person feels the need to “self-medicate” and dissociate from uncomfortable, painful emotions, but unfortunately, alcohol use in families also leads to, yes, problems of Trust and Distrust, and further traumatization of children, partners, and sometimes even siblings, parents, or other more distant relatives. Thus, the trauma of one person gets passed down as a trickle or a flood, sometimes for many generations.
Trauma takes many forms: abandonment, war, murder/suicide, abortions and lost children, immigration, and sexual and physical abuse are all common trauma themes that come up, but trauma can be more subtle and insidious, too. No matter the pain that your ancestors suffered, this inevitably created a specific familial dynamic when they were alive that forever altered the “shape” of the Family Tree. You exist in the Tree, therefore you’re affected by it.
But the Tree can be healed. Healing often starts with stories: so, as you read this, consider what you know about your own family and family history as of now. Do you see any patterns? What may have happened (or did happen) to your family in the recent past that was serious and damaging? How do you feel when thinking about your family and your ancestors?
Now, I’m going to go a little further out to talk about the more distant Ancestors and the idea of Ancestral Potentiation. In homeopathic medicine, remedies become more potent and powerful the LESS of a substance exists in the remedy. The most powerful remedies have absolutely no trace of the medicinal substance they were based on in the first place, yet, these are also some of the remedies that can effectively cure serious mental, emotional, and physical conditions. Indeed, homeopathy is another system of medicine that acknowledges that health is a multi-layered thing, and that often, mental or emotional disturbances are the first to resolve; physical health problems heal later after the mind and emotions are at peace again.
So using the homeopathic model of medicine, let’s consider Blood and DNA. Your blood contains DNA, and according to research, this DNA probably comes from Ancestors in the last 7-10 generations (approximately). But what about the ancestors that came before that? Do they even matter? The answer is certainly YES. In fact, your ancient ancestral traumas may be more powerful and cause greater effects on your health and life than the more recent traumas through potentiation – the less of an ancestor’s DNA you have, to a point of having none at all, the more powerful their relevance is likely to be in your life. So indeed, it’s important to consider both the recent and ancient traumas that your Ancestors endured in order to understand your own life and health situation.
As you consider your family history (and your place in it), and if you choose to work with medicines like African Dream Root, you may start to notice patterns in your physical health that relate to patters in your Tree. Take note of these. If you have a dream that feels like a story, or where you meet someone that you experience as an Ancestor, write it down. If you receive an Ancestral story, it’s essential to write it and ideally to then tell it to another family member in order to release the Ancestor so that he/she can cross over to a more peaceful place. Even if you can’t prove the stories with facts – though, if you search, you may be able to find factual evidence to back up your dreams and impressions – still tell these dream-based stories as fact, since they often are. Your Family’s Story is Your Story. Working to heal the crooked and painful parts of the Family Tree can heal the crooked and painful parts in your own body and mind, and can pave the way for other future generations or other parts of the tree to also begin the healing process.
Resources
Wikipedia (2025). Silene undulata. Retrieved October 16, 2025 from: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silene_undulata
Alhawarri, Maram B., et. al. (2025). Potential Serotonin 5-HT2A Receptor Agonist of Psychoactive Components of Silene undulata Aiton: LC-MS/MS, ADMET, and Molecular Docking Studies. Retrieved October 16, 2025 from: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/38561607/
Ovcm, Lou (n.d). Possible Triterpene Saponins in Silene capensis. Retrieved October 16, 2025 from: https://www.academia.edu/20521290/Possible_Triterpene_Saponins_in_Silene_capensis
Nyazema, Norman Zimunda, et. al. (2024). The use and potential abuse of psychoactive plants in southern Africa: an overview of evidence and future potential. Retrieved October 17, 2025 from: https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/pharmacology/articles/10.3389/fphar.2024.1269247/full
Mamadalieva, Nilufar Z., et. al. (2012). Phytoecdysteroids from Silene plants: Distribution, diversity, and biological (antitumor, antibacterial, and antioxidant) activities. Retrieved October 17, 2025 from: chrome-extension://efaidnbmnnnibpcajpcglclefindmkaj/https://www.redalyc.org/pdf/856/85624607001.pdf
Lawal, I.O., et. al. (2014). Phytotherapeutic Information on Plants Used for the Treatment of Tuberculosis in Eastern Cape Province, South Africa. Retrieved October 17, 2025 from: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1155/2014/735423
Wikipedia (2025). 20-Hydroxyecdysone. Retrieved October 17, 2025 from: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1155/2014/735423