All Things CHANGA: An Essential Guide
This is something that I’ve wanted to write up and detail for a while. My intent is to cover as many bases as possible and make this as comprehensive as possible for all those that are interested in developing a relationship with changa and for those that have already been in the fray.
Let’s start with some links:
The Art of Changa, a guide to making the perfect blends.
Confusing changa guides (how much MAOI ?)
Detailed Changa Explanation (beginner friendly)
Changa Musings
Changa - DMT-Nexus Wiki
These next two are shared for safety reasons. There are many contraindications relative to harmalas. Please do your research and your homework and use your best judgment.
Known substance-interactions and their effects - DMT-Nexus Wiki
Known substance-interactions and their effects - DMT-Nexus Wiki
Known substance-interactions and their effects - DMT-Nexus Wiki
WHAT IS CHANGA?
Changa is a smokable blend of herbs that are infused with both harmalas and DMT. Any infusion with just DMT is typically referred to as enhanced leaf. The addition of harmalas is what makes changa unique and why it tends to be known as “smokable Ayahuasca.”
The MOLECULES.
Often, people use freebase DMT and full spectrum harmalas. Each of which is extracted. Smoking the plant matter of plants that contain these molecules isn’t very effective on its own. However, this doesn’t mean that adding plants that contain MAOI and DMT can’t be done. For example, I have blends where I have infused Chaliponga and Caapi with harmalas and DMT.
All the same, you have options. If one wants to use a full-spectrum DMT, do it. If you want isolated harmalas, try it out. I have blends where there is only harmine that is infused with the DMT into the herbs. Harmine may be the softest and friendliest of the harmalas (with harmaline being the harshest) See what works for you.
All this is to also say that unless you are worried about contaminants that can affect health, one need not be too concerned with recrystalization of the DMT before infusing it into a blend.
Selecting HERBS.
There are a plethora of herbs to select from.
Depending on the strength and amount of a blend made will likely dictate how many herbs in total you can get away with using that will still create a cohesive and evenly distributed blend. Typically a blend that has 1g harmalas, 1g herbs, and 300mg harmalas can be up to about three or four different herbs in total that allows for a good balance of all the herbs in a dose. This isn’t a mandate, it’s a suggestion, so I also think you should do what your intuition tells you as well as do what you want.
There should almost always be a “base” herb that there is more of than any other herb and that is highly absorbent. This is important as the goal is to get as much of the freebase molecules into the herbs as possible in order to honor the ratio intended. Three of such herbs are mullein, marshmallow leaf, and raspberry leaf. I find mullein to be the most absorbent.
Every herb has its own character and gifts to add to the experience. I will give my description of some, but I encourage you to try them out and see what you’d say about their character. You can do this by smoking them one at a time and noticing effects. I personally infuse them and try them together, because relationships in general are not developed in a vacuum. You may notice that some herbs don’t jive with others. Be mindful.
Here is a list of herbs that I use and what I think about their additions and effects:
-Mullein: Soft, easy on the throat, gentle in “spirit”
-Marshmallow Leaf: Fluffy, soft, “kind”
-Raspberry Leaf: Sweet, pleasant, uplifting.
-Passionflower: Weak MAOI, expansive, heart center opening
-Blue Lotus: Adds a dreamy quality, relaxing, connecting
-Damiana: Tasty, elaborate, synergistic
-Pao D’Arco: Grounding, centering, dominant
-Skullcap: Soft, yet exhilarating, somatic, relaxing
-Sage: “Cleansing” clearing, harsh on the throat
-Chaliponga: Dominant, unpredictable, “Eshu,” “Trickster energy”
-Caapi: Soft, “pedagogic,” releasing
-Calendula: Kind, holds on well in the space, “protector energy.”
Ratios.
The more you want the experience to be like DMT alone, the less harmalas one should use. The more of an Aya experience one desires, the more harmalas they should add.
The more harmalas in the blend, the slower the come-up tends to be. At the same time, that means you spend a while wondering how far you’re going to go.
What seems to be “typical” in some regards is 1g DMT, 1g herbs, and 300mg harmalas. But like Aya brews, there’s nothing set in stone about that. Some people consider such a combination to be very strong, preferring blends with less DMT. Some people like it really heavy with harmalas and DMT opting for a 1:1:1. The trick isn’t about some magic number, like how much DMT will likely give a breakthrough, but what balance is suitable for what purposes.
I’ve found that having blends that are harmala heavy are more meditative and medicinal on a somatic level, while DMT heavy blends are more like… DMT and have the benefit of being more in line with a typical psychedelic experience, just lengthened and softened by the harmalas and a reset to the default mode network. Now, these observations are dependant on dose, of course.
Harmala heavy blends may cause more instances of purging, not unlike with Aya.
If I had to give a minimum amount of harmalas to suggest, I’d say no less than 200mg per gram of DMT.
Infusion Methods.
I’d first like to detail my method, as I came across it looking for a way to evenly distribute all of the herbs as well as the DMT and harmalas in the blend. This is important in order to generate a type of consistency between sessions with the same blend.
There are two effective solvents for this endeavor. IPA or grain alcohol. I prefer the grain alcohol because it can help to better preserve the smell as well as color that makes it visually appealing as well as aromatic. Makes it more meaningful to our symbolic minds. IPA will dissolve alkaloids better than grain alcohol.
- Place desired amount of DMT, harmalas, and herbs into a small jar (I used one of those short stubby Ball jars).
- Pour in ¾ to ⅘ of your desired solvent.
- Place lid on the jar (I add a paper towel over the top before screwing the lid on to prevent any spillage.
- Swirl that thang!
- Looking at the bottom of the jar, see how much of the alkaloids, harmalas in particular you can see. Then swirl it again. Harmalas are not as soluble as DMT it also has a higher melting point. You can give the jar a hot water bath to aid in dissolving the alkaloids, I personally don’t. I want the first heat it all feels to be from my lighter. There’s something esoterically symbolic about heat and fire, especially with all of this.
- Allow to steep for your desire amount of time. At least a day. But you can feasibly allow it to sit for a couple weeks. The longer it sits, the more it infuses, the better it looks, the more aromatic it is. Swirl on occasion paying attention to the bottom of the jar, keeping an eye out for any undissolved alkaloids. And swirl when you see them. Doing this enough will eventually dissolve them or at least thrust them into some of the herbs.
- When you’re ready, take the lid off and place the jar in front of a fan and begin the evaporation process, stirring occasionally.
- *Note for those that want to retrieve almost all of the alkaloids that may be on the jar. When you take the lid off, allow it to air evaporate for a couple days, periodically placing the lid back on and swirling to get whatever is remaining on the sides above the top layer of alcohol back into the alcohol. Keep doing this process until the alcohol is primarily below the herbs of the blend. From this point, place the jar in front of a fan and periodically scrape the inside of the jar to push any alkaloids stuck to the glass back into the alcohol.
- There’s a certain point where you can allow to air dry further on a flat surface to increase surface area. I personally don’t do this because the inside of the jar I consider to be a “sacred space.”
- Allow it to dry longer than you think it needs to. Just trust me.
- Smoalk it and let me know how it goes
Some people like to dissolve the DMT and harmalas first and then add their herbs. I prefer to combine everything from the outset so that the infusion of the molecules into the herbs can happen sooner, and the blend overall can then steep less in the vessel.
I’ve come to find that any residual DMT or harmalas left on the inside of the infusion vessel to be marginal, however, for those that want to get as much as they absolutely can into their blends, do the following directions in #8 above.
Another manner is very simple. Dissolve alkaloids in chosen alcohol. Spread desired herbs on a dish tightly packed. Pour over alcohol with alkaloids. Allow to dry. This way is quick and simple, but leaves much to be desired in terms of even distribution and consistency of experience.
Recipes:
- My Favorite Anytime blend: 1g DMT, 300mg harmine (or full spec), 500mg mullein, 250mg blue lotus, 250mg passionflower.
- Sit down and shut up blend: 1g DMT, 300mg full spec harmalas, 500mg caapi, 500mg chaliponga.
- Better Be Grounded blend: 1g DMT, 1g harmalas, 1g mullein.
- Good Morning Hyperspace blend: -500mg DMT, 600mg harmine, 250mg mullein, 250mg raspberry leaf, 200mg peppermint, 150mg damiana, 150mg chaliponga/caapi leaf mix.
- Let Me Be blend: 1g DMT, 300mg harmalas, 500mg mullein, 250mg Pau D’Arco, 250mg Damiana.
- I Don’t Know What Just Happened blend: 1g DMT, 300mg harmalas, 400mg marshmallow leaf, 150mg damiana, 150mg blue lotus, 300mg chaliponga.
- Let’s Float blend: 1g DMT, 300mg harmalas, 500mg marshmallow leaf, 250mg calendula, 250mg chaliponga.
- Therapeutic Blend 1: 500mg DMT, 400mg harmalas, 1g mullein.
- Therapeutic Blend 2: 300mg DMT, 1g harmalas, 1g mullein.
- Hold on to Your Butts!: 1g DMT, 1g harmalas, 1g mullein.
SMOALKING Advisory.
Bongs seem to be popular in that they allow a greater volume of smoke to be inhaled that’s been filtered through water and isn’t very harsh, all things considered. But if you have leather lungs, a straight pipe or bubbler will also suffice. One may also want to smoalk joints of their changa. A bit wasteful as something is always being burned, but hey, it’s your changa. Due to the lower vaporization point of DMT compared to harmalas, I would suggest avoiding vaporizing methods like using a GVG. When using a vaporization device, it’s hard for it to not be a primarily DMT experience with a little bit of harmalas as a part of it. Combust your changa. Now, you can still do the float method, where you suck the heat and flame down rather than directly lighting the blend.
Because changa is changa, there isn’t as much need to weigh doses in order to not go too far or take on more than one can handle. Take a hit, hold it, see where you’re at. Want to go further? Hit it again. Still not there? Hit it again. Easy as that. You’re not going launch out of yourself with the same rapidity. You have more agency. If DMT alone is a rocket, then changa is a space shuttle.
However, if you would like to weight your hits in order to know how much of what you’re getting, just break the ratios down in units that are easy to work with and then augment from there. For example, if I want a hit with 30mg DMT from a blend that is 2.3g in total (1g DMT, 1g herbs, and 300mg harmalas), then start with 10mg of DMT. 10mg of DMT mean there’s 10mg of herbs and there are 3mg of harmalas. So, 30mg of DMT means there’s 30mg herbs and 9mg harmalas, so the overall dose is 69mg.
Extra Notes and Thoughts
Not to be dogmatic, but what you’re getting yourself into (or what you’ve gotten yourself into), is some pretty sacred and divine stuff. Treat it as such. Approach it as such. Have reverence as you craft your blends. I like to meditate about what I’d like to experience and/or accomplish with a blend I’m considering. I find it purposeful and mindful to “pray,” speak to, and meditate over blends as they infuse (and during the infusion process) and evaporation processes. I create a ceremony for making changa as well as smoalking it. Connecting deeply will only enrich your connection to the entheogenic glory.
Philosophically, I’m a skeptic, we don’t seem to know much if anything in my eyes, but I still treat this with as much reverence as my heart can muster. It hasn’t done me wrong.
I hope this helps. I’ll likely add to it with anything I may have forgotten, so stay tuned I suppose.
From the bottom of my heart
One love
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. Ohh synchronicity sometimes. The primary herb I planned to use in my blend that I locally foraged is mullein, which you've covered that herb and several recipes with it. I also have not ran into a resource that outlines the personality / energetics that different plants bring which is quite enlightening.
