This thread is about galantamine, which is a relatively safe alkaloid to experiment with, but I added a bit of information on the calabar bean (an extremely dangerous substance, which should probably be avoided by anyone who wishes to remain among the living) in order to share the knowledge of this particular class of substance with others here.
Galantamine is an alkaloid found in Galanthus caucasicus, which is used by some to increase the likelihood of them becoming lucid in dreams. In other words, to induce lucid dreaming. In my opinion, this earns galantamine the title of sacrament as I believe the phenomenon of carrying ones ordinary consciousness into the dream world to be a spiritual phenomenon. Galantamine is an acetylcholinesterase inhibitor, meaning it increases the amount of acetylcholine in the brain. What interests me is the fact that muscarinic acetylcholine binding induces nausea. For example, scopolamine is commonly used to treat motion sickness due to its anticholinergic activity (namely its ability to block muscarinic ACh receptors).
Galantamine is a very interesting substance, I recommend reading up on it:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GalantamineI naturally have frequent lucid dreams most nights but I intend on testing out its lucid dream inducing properties as soon as I get a hold of it. Galantamine should be taken with lecithin (or any other choline source) to avoid depleting ones acetylcholine levels.
The calabar bean contains an acetylcholinesterase inhibitor (basically just a substance which increases the amount of acetylcholine in the brain) called physostigmine. It basically induces the opposite effects of anticholinergics like datura (which block acetylcholine receptors) so it can be used to reverse the effects of anticholinergic intoxication and vice versa.
As with most pharmacological compounds, one must exercise extreme caution with acetylcholinersterase inhibitors but like anticholinergics, one should exercise an exceptionally high degree of caution with this particular class of substances. To give you an idea of the dangers, nerve gas is part of this family of substances. The calabar bean is extremely dangerous too. In medicine, the main use for physostigmine is to reverse the effects of anticholinergics (i.e. in cases of accidental datura ingestion). Conversely, a shot of atropine directly into the heart is used in medicine to reverse the effects of nerve gas.
Here is the history section from the calabar beans wiki page:
They constitute the E-ser-e or ordeal beans of the people of Old Calabar, being administered to persons accused of witchcraft or other crimes. In cases where the poisonous material did its deadly work, it was held at once to indicate and rightly to punish guilt; but when it was rejected by the stomach of the accused, innocence was held to be satisfactorily established. A form of dueling with the seeds is also known among the natives, in which the two opponents divide a bean, each eating one half; that quantity has been known to kill both adversaries. Although thus highly poisonous, the bean has nothing in external aspect, taste or smell to distinguish it from any harmless leguminous seed, and disastrous effects have resulted from its being incautiously left in the way of children. The beans were first introduced into Britain in the year 1840; but the plant was not accurately described until 1861, and its physiological effects were investigated in 1863 by Sir Thomas Richard Fraser. The bean usually contains a little more than 1% of alkaloids. Two of these have been identified, one called calabarine with atropine-like effects, and the other, the drug physostigmine, used in the treatment of anticholinergic syndrome, myasthenia gravis, glaucoma and delayed gastric emptying.
So it was literally purge or die for those on trial. A fairly insane system of justice in my opinion, while purging can be a spiritual phenomenon, it can just as easily be a purely physical phenomenon. I'm fairly sure I could maintain my innocence in a trial like that, but people who can't purge easily wouldn't stand a chance.
