I tried Calea but was allergic to it. So I looked for an alternative. Sachahambi (active at aya.com) talks about this amazonian plant, Ilex guayusa. It's available at some vendors:
QuoteYes, I have worked with Wayusa (spelling I prefer) and in fact I am named for this plant in Runashimi, Wayusa Warmi or Wayusa Woman. It has many healthful uses, supposed to promote long life (and you feel like you can live a long time when you drink it every day) and it has also been called "Amazonian viagra." But it is mainly used by the Indians for to promote clarity of dreaming and clarity of dream recall.
Traditionally, they arise 2 1/2 hours before sunrise and drink Wayusa together and discuss their dreams and the messages in them, and plan the day based on the messages in the night's dreams. (That is also the time in which the traditional myths, legends and oral histories are passed on, because the dreams will be in the language of the myths; mythology is a people's collective dream-language so that their dreams present in a more or less common language.) This time of day, they call Wayusa time, and say that Wayusa works best for promoting clear dream recall if you arise at this hour, and they are right. I think that it actually interacts with some brain chemical that the body releases at this time (if your circadian rhythms are not disrupted by artificial light).
It is also drunk before going to sleep to promote clarity of dreaming. (The people there don't talk about "lucid" dreaming, simply clear dreaming.) The interesting thing is that Wayusa (Ilex guayusa) is said to have the highest caffeine content in the world, yet, in weaker brews at least, it doesn't disturb sleep. This is because it seems to be bound somehow in a time-release forms, and also because it seems bound the same way that caffeine is bound (as "mateine") in its close relative Yerba Mate. Like Yerba Mate, it does not make you feel caffeinated, just alert and with a feeling of clarity and well-being.
The Indians also drink Wayusa in the fasting period before an Ayahuasca ceremony, since it promotes clarity of vision in the ceremony, and they drink it during the Ayahuasca ceremony as well. The Indians where I live when in Ecuador don't add it to the brew, though I have heard of that done elsewhere.
Other Indian groups, like the Achuar, have a variety of Wayusa (Wayus in their language) which is emetic, IOW causes vomiting. They drink it in the morning to cleanse their stomachs of the contents from the night before. (Interestingly, the Cherokees used a relative of this plant, known as Black Drink, in ceremonies -- which was also an emetic and reportedly psychoactive.)
