Changa (Xanga), A Smokeable Sacrament

Thoughts on Changa from Bob Otis, founding Chair of Decrim Nature Oakland and Sacred Garden Community’s Chief Garden Steward

I find Changa to be an excellent Initiatory sacrament, useful for relatively new Practitioners and Facilitators. Since it is smoked, it is shorter acting, it commonly does not cause nausea, and Sacred Garden invokes a gentle form that can be titrated for depth of experience. It can be a gentle experience, but it can also offer deep meditation opportunities. Many find that recurring work with this Sacrament over time can help learn and change, move through, and / or let go of deeper issues, opening the way into direct experience of divine presence. I am thankful for beautiful Changa and for the diversity of sacred plants that may bring its spirit.

If you garden, you can create your own Changa in a respectful and careful manner directly from plants. Preparation may require (for example) pickling lime, vinegar and limonene. I recommend respecting these processes as sacred invocations, held in small community ceremonies, cleansed and opened with a prayer / bell or similar and held within careful and sincere ceremonial prayers. For special ceremonies or with lineage holders one may choose to collaborate with leaves from Banisteriopsis and Psychotria spp. Importantly, Changa can be invoked from plants that are less culturally contested, like Passionflower, Syrian Rue, Mimosa, and Acacia. Many varieties of these sacred plants can grow in zones 9 or higher, for example even in places like Oakland, CA. Some of these can be grown in colder Northern climates. May our interactions with living sacred plants and fungi bring existential healing, insight, divine presence and joy. 

Changa in its Global Context

The use of Changa has been growing in popularity ever since an Australian man named Julian Palmer popularized it in the early 2000s. Changa offers a smokable form of n,n-DMT that is typically made by infusing it into MAOI-containing (monoamine oxidase inhibiting) leaves or herbs.

For context, although the two have very different origins and quality of experience, Ayahuasca and Changa are both botanical preparations containing DMT and  beta-carbolines (reversible MAOIs). While both Ayahuasca and Changa can produce powerful psychedelic experiences, they are not the same substance and should not be used interchangeably. 

Ayahuasca is a psychoactive drink that combines MAOIs and dmt (and sometimes extractions from other plants). It is prepared within many traditional and emerging Central and South American “lineages,” and more recently within communities globally. Note that there are widely diverse and passionately held ethical, cultural, economic and sustainability perspectives regarding engaging Ayahuasca (and all entheogens!) that merit careful and respectful attention.

Interestingly, there are Northern and Eastern practices that also combine DMT and MAOIs - for example most notably from Peganum harmala and Arundo donax or Phalaris spp., reported as a meditative aide for active practice within Qalandi and Naqshbandi Sufi communities (See: The Tawny One, Matthew Clark; Secret Drugs of Buddhism, Michael Crowley; other relevant texts by David Flattery, et al). 

Today, Changa is used within many modern or post-modern cultural environments, as a way to experience the powerful effects of DMT in a more gentle and slightly longer lasting form without having to smoke pure DMT crystals.  Changa (as a maoi-bearing leaf matrix infused with dmt) is usually smoked out of a pipe or bong, and the effects are typically felt within seconds, with potentially potent effects lasting 10 to 15 minutes. Changa is considered to be easier to manage in terms of dosing and intensity compared to pure DMT. Compared to vaporized DMT (a popular modern practice) Changa is said to produce a gentler onset with a potentially deeper and longer-lasting experience than smoking DMT by itself. 

What exactly is Changa?

The definition of Changa is up for debate within the psychedelic community. Some people believe that Changa must contain DMT + MAOI, while others think that any mix of herbs with added DMT could be considered Changa. The former can contain extractions from the Yage’ vine or leaves and Chacruna leaves, or (for example) from Mimosa tenuiflora or Acacia obtusifolia and Syrian rue or Passiflora incarnata. Broadly, the mix of herbs can vary depending on who is offering it. Changa is typically smoked. The most potent effects tend to last for 5 to 15 minutes and gentler, relatively easily managed effects can last for several hours. Changa is known for its smoothness and potency, and is often used as a tool for guided journeywork.

What are the effects of Smoking Changa?

Reflecting diverse linguistic and cultural backgrounds, users may report that Changa gives them access to experience described alternatively as immersion within the unconscious mind, higher states of consciousness, alternate dimensions, spirit worlds, even to direct experience of divine presence. They might also see spirit beings, or experience a sense of oneness with others and their surroundings.  Some people may have experiences where they feel like they leave their body. These are at times called 'near-death experiences'.

At lower doses, people often report feeling calm and peaceful during these experiences, including reports of unusually deep, focused and healing meditative capacity. At higher doses, deep “breakthroughs” with profound emotional, visionary, ontological and epistemological content may occur. This can be unusually useful for people who are interested in growing religious experience and insight, in exploring their own consciousness, or for people who are interested in understanding more about the nature of consciousness itself.

Finally, compared to other entheogens, Changa often leaves its Practitioners feeling rested and refreshed immediately after the brief meditation, ready to engage their own healing or interactions with the world in useful, grounded ways.

How To Prepare Changa

Want to know how to prepare Changa, the powerful sacrament? It's all about herbalism. Changa is a unique blend of plants that work together to create a mind-altering experience. The key to preparing Changa lies in collaborating with plants that contain MAOI and DMT and MAOI. 

Three plants that can contain natural MAOI are Passionflower, Syrian rue and the Ayahuasca vine. Examples for DMT include Mimosa, Acacia, Psychotria and other species. Once you are able to meet at least one of these plants in a good way, I recommend learning to collaborate with them. Grow and know them with love, prune their leaves with care and respect! The next step is to dry their leaves and infuse them with refined DMT. The typical method involves mixing dried herbs and DMT in alcohol, allowing the alcohol to evaporate and leaving behind DMT-infused herbs. A 3 to 2 algorithm is common for relative leaf to DMT weight. I strongly advise against attempting this process outside of legally secured protection (e.g. within regulated, decriminalized or sincere, well-formed religious protections) or without proper GxP knowledge and safety measures. Our goal is to provide insight into the process, not to encourage untrained experimentation.

Conclusion

The experience of Changa is different for everyone - as different as each of us are from the other. People commonly report seeing colors and patterns, and feeling more aware of their body. Some people also feel the spirit of the Ayahuasca vine while on Changa - even Changa that doesn’t contain the vine! -  which can be a helpful way to reconnect with that spirit. However, it's important to remember that everyone's experience is different, so it's hard to say exactly what you will experience while engaging in assisted meditation with Changa.

Sacred Garden Community Church considers Changa to be a natural Sacrament, capable of opening the way into a direct experience of Divine presence, even of Divine relationship. Our shared experience within Sacred Garden Community leads us to suggest that this Sacrament will help your consciousness, experience or “soul” move in the direction it is truly seeking to move. We ask together that this direction is towards growing inner healing, peace, deepest existential insight, and thriving for each of us and for all of our relations.

To learn more about Changa consider joining Sacred Garden Community. We share “Plant Time” every Sunday, to learn more in community about the sacred plants, fungi and molecules this Earth and its inhabitants so generously grow! For more information on how to become a member visit our website at www.sacredgarden.life