INTRODUCTION
Here begins a journey into knowing one of the most remarkable and most Sacred plants on the planet. Over the last 20 years I have been privileged to get to know this little plant known as Kanna (Sceletium tortuosum as the Latin binomial), and have been humbled by its profundity.
My learning and experience has been from both a theoretical perspective, by studying its history, traditional uses and its unique and highly complex chemistry, and practically by growing and using Sceletium in many forms – from sophisticated pharmaceutical extracts of full or partial alkaloid spectra, to the traditional whole fermented Kougoed (“chewing stuff”) of the Khoisan.
It has taken me many years to fully appreciate the depth and subtlety of this herb and I continue to learn and be amazed. As a dedicated lifelong student of ethnobotany and plant pharmacology I have come to see the unique niche that Sceletium and the Mesembrine alkaloids occupy. While there is a richly broad range of “effects” engendered by the thousands of pharmacologically significant plants, only Sceletium has the ability to open the heart (or emotional center) in the direct way that it does.
Not only does it regenerate the capacity for deep empathy and love, it also mediates the entire mind and nervous system in the direction of calm, clear centeredness and spacious feeling. Sceletium brings emotional and mental balance, provides connectedness and grounding, and allows the mind to find its natural equilibrium. And it does this with more power and consistency than any other plant I know.
In this age of sensory overload, stress, busyness, anxiety and disconnection that so many people suffer, Sceletium is the perfect ally, and a most precious treasure. Truly my respect for the wisdom of this plant only deepens as I get to know it more intimately.
We hope that you will enjoy the content on this site and find it useful (we have tried to make it the most comprehensive resource on the Web) – and (especially) that you will take the opportunity to get to know Sceletium by trying it for yourself.
While it has obvious benefits for dealing with any forms of anxiety, depression or obsessive-compulsive behaviour (for which it is unsurpassed in clinical efficacy), it is also of great use as a simple bodily relaxant and mental clarifier, engendering a state of deep calm and fullness. And personally, I consider its greatest gift to be the way it opens the heart, facilitates communication, heals relationships and enhances intimacy and loved-based sexuality.
Growing only in a small arid region of Southern Africa, this tiny succulent ground-cover has been used and revered by the San (Bushmen) and Khoikhoi (Hottentot) people of this part of the continent for longer than history records. This legacy, which they have lovingly stewarded since ancient times, is their gift to us, and a gift whose timing for the needs of the world today is perfect. It is truly the great plant of the Heart, enlivening the Heart where it is active and restoring the Heart where it has been lost.
