SANANGA

Even though Sananga is famous for its effects on vision and visualization, this medicine is considered to be an indigenous all-purpose remedy. It is applied for febrifuge, emetic, diuretic, calmative, and several other diseases. Furthermore, Sananga is often used to cure skin illnesses (dermatitis), suppress appetite (Jernigan 2009), ease dental problems (Shepard 1999), and counteract snakebite wounds and poisoning, cure eye wounds and rheumatism (Sanz-Biset et al. 2009; Schultes 1979). Another important curative aspect of the Apocynaceae family is its widely explored antimicrobial activity, which showed that this family has strong antioxidant (Pereira et al. 2005), anticancer (Kingston et al. 1977; Gunasekera et al. 1980), antifertility/ contraceptive (Meyeret al. 1973), antipyretic (fever reducing), anti-inflammatory (Taesotikul et al. 2003).

Traditionally, tribes like the Matsés use Sananga as a hunting tool to obtain a sharp perception and concentration and to enable the detection of subtle movements in the dark jungle (Lambert et al 2010). Moreover, the drops can enable strong visualizations of the prey or the plant to be hunted, allowing for a quick and successful quest. Often Sananga is combined with other hunting tools, like Kambo, which further enhance the hunting skills. For most indigenous tribes, hunting means survival and therefore signifies an exceptionally important and crucial ability.

The tribes believe that becoming a good hunter and a good aimer, can only be achieved by using sacred plants. These sacred plants enhance the perception and sharpness, intention, sense of smell, endurance and luck. Therefore, hunting tools like Sananga and Kambo, account for about a quarter of all medicinal plants used in indigenous tribes (Shepard 1999).

Origin, creation and application

Las gotas para ojos de Sananga están hechas del arbusto Tabernaemontana undulata que crece en Acre, Brasil y otros países sudamericanos, y es conocido por la tribu Kaxinawás como «Mana Heins» y como «Becchete» para los Matsés. Mana Heins o Becchete pertenecen a la familia Apocynaceae, la misma familia a la que pertenece iboga (Tabernanthe iboga) (König et al., 2015). La corteza de la raíz de este arbusto primero se muele hasta obtener un polvo muy fino que se filtra varias veces a través de una malla de algodón y finalmente se extrae en un jugo. Cuando se aplica sobre la piel, las hojas de Sananga se suavizan con fuego y se aplican directamente sobre la parte afectada, o el látex de la raíz se mezcla con agua y se aplica con un paño (Van Beek et al., 1984). Sin embargo, también se puede aplicar con una bebida hecha con un extracto de agua de la corteza de la raíz.

Active ingredients and effects

Sananga is said to contain an abundance of alkaloids (Liu et al. 2013), It has been hinted that Sanaga includes the potent active ingredient is ibogaine (König et al. 2015), However, this statement has yet to be scientifically proven. Apart from ibogaine, several other alkaloids, such as coronaridine, quebrachidine, heyneanine, 3-hydroxycoronaridine, ibogamine and voacangine (Van Beek et al 1984; delle Monache et al. 1977) have been thought to also be contained in Sananga. All of these alkaloids have powerful psychoactive effects and a.o. can exert strong antibiotic effects.

There can be slight differences in the composition of Sananga: the Becchete from the Matsés tribe contains Tabernaemontana undulata roots, whereas the Sananga eye drops from the Kaxinawá tribe contains Kunakip (Tabernaemontana sananho) roots. Both of these roots are known to produce strong vision (waimatai) that are very useful for successful hunting (Jernigan 2009).

Dose

Before thinking about the dose, consider carefully your thoughts and the power of your intention: every remedy can only achieve what you are intending.

Only one drop per eye is enough for a powerful Sananga session. We recommend finding a calm and quiet place, either in nature or at home in a peaceful setting and with meditative music. The acute effects will wear off after 10-15 min, yet subtle after-effects can last for days. Make sure you lie down to enable a good application and leave your eyes closed during the session. It is important to apply one drop to both eyes, and do not wait to apply the second eye, apply it immediately to balance out the energies of both eyes. Thereafter, you should blink with your eyelids for a short while to distribute the liquid over the whole eye. Ideally, you find a second person who can apply the Sananga for you.