Sceletium tortuosum — kanna — grown organically in Cape Town and drawn down into a fine, water-soluble extract. It dissolves into a cold drink, and it is taken a pinch at a time.
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Important — do not combine with antidepressants
This product contains Sceletium (Kanna), which affects serotonin. Do not take it at the same time as SSRIs or other antidepressants or serotonergic medications (including MAOIs) — combining them can be dangerous. If you take any antidepressant, or you're unsure, please consult your doctor before using this product.
Sceletium Extract
$23.00
Sceletium Extract
$23.00
Size
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Sceletium (Kanna)
Sceletium tortuosum
Mood · Social · Calm
A succulent native to South Africa, traditionally fermented and chewed to lift the spirits and settle the nerves.
Benefits, preparation, pairings, and how to use, all in one place.
A succulent native to South Africa, traditionally fermented and chewed to lift the spirits and settle the nerves.
Heart & Emotion
Rapidly lifts the mood and softens social edges.
Calm & Stillness
Provides a grounded state of calm resilience.
Nature's empathy enhancer.
Known as 'Nature's MDMA' in some circles, though much gentler and safer.
“Traditionally fermented in animal skins to reduce oxalates and potentiate the alkaloids.”
Do not combine with SSRIs or MAOIs.
Chew, tea, or extract.
Ingredients
Highly concentrated water-soluble Sceletium tortuosum extract + manitol.
Suggested use
This is a highly concentrated extract. Start low and use with care.
Suggested use:
• Take a small pinch directly on the tongue
• Stir into water, juice, tea, or a smoothie
• Blend into a herbal smoking mix
Suggested amount:
• Start with a very small pinch
• Increase gradually only once you understand your sensitivity
• This product is strong and should be used cautiously
Effects and sensitivity may vary depending on the person, method of use, body weight, and tolerance.
Do not combine sceletium with SSRIs, SNRIs, MAOIs, antidepressants, or other serotonin-affecting medication unless advised by a qualified healthcare professional. Not recommended during pregnancy or breastfeeding.
The product, in detail
Sceletium
Kougoed, reduced to a powder
Sceletium tortuosum — kanna — grown organically in Cape Town and drawn down into a fine, water-soluble extract. It dissolves into a cold drink, and it is taken a pinch at a time.
The plant
A succulent from the dry country
Sceletium tortuosum is a low, sprawling succulent of southern Africa's dry interior — soft fleshy leaves on woody stems, close to the ground, flowering white. Kanna is one of its names; kougoed, the Afrikaans one, means something to chew, which is how it was taken.
The Khoikhoi worked with it for hundreds of years, dried and chewed and shared in company. The older preparation was a fermentation: the plant bruised and left to sweat, traditionally in an animal skin, which reduces its oxalates and changes the alkaloids it carries.
The plant this extract is made from is organically grown in Cape Town.
The extract
What a water-soluble extract is
An extract is the plant with most of the plant taken out. The material is drawn into a solvent, the solvent is driven off, and what is left is a fraction of the original weight carrying the compounds the process was aimed at. That is the reason the dose here is a pinch rather than a spoonful: this is not leaf.
Water-soluble is the second half of the description and the practical half. The powder disperses into a cold drink rather than sitting on top of it, which is what makes a glass of water a sensible way to take it at all.
The other thing in the vial is mannitol, a sugar alcohol used as a carrier. A concentrated extract is a very small amount of very fine material, and a carrier gives it enough bulk to be handled, measured and dissolved evenly. It is doing a physical job, not a botanical one.
How to take it
Start at a pinch and stay there a while
A very small pinch, straight onto the tongue or stirred into water, juice, tea or a smoothie. It also goes into a herbal smoking mix, which is the one method that is not a drink.
Increase only gradually, and only once you know how you respond to it. How much is enough varies with the person, the method, body weight and tolerance.
Sceletium is not to be combined with SSRIs, SNRIs, MAOIs, antidepressants or other serotonin-affecting medication unless a qualified healthcare professional has advised it, and it is not recommended during pregnancy or breastfeeding.
2g vial
2g of powder · amber glass
The packaged size, and the one the printed label is written for.
10g jar
10g of the same powder
Five times the vial, for someone who already knows the plant.
Bulk, by the gram
The same extract, unpackaged
Blending, or buying past the packaged sizes.
Resin, 20% alkaloids
A resin rather than the powder, by the gram
A different preparation of the same plant, sold in bulk.
Resin, 10% alkaloids
The same resin at ten per cent rather than twenty
The lighter of the two bulk resins.
What's inside
What's in it, per vial or jar
The powder
per vial or jar- Sceletium tortuosum extract · Organically grown in Cape Townwater-soluble
- Mannitol · A sugar alcohol, for bulk and even dispersalcarrier
The two things in the vial, in the order we list them. The extract is lab-tested for consistent alkaloid content, and given as 75.7% mesembrine.
Before you start
A note on informed use
Plant medicine deserves preparation. For most people this is gentle and uneventful, but some situations call for a conversation first.
Talk to someone first if:
- You take prescription medication of any kind
- You or your family have a history of psychosis, schizophrenia or bipolar disorder
- You have a heart condition or blood pressure that isn't well controlled
- You are pregnant or breastfeeding
- You simply aren't sure whether this is for you
SSRIs and other antidepressants
They compete for the same serotonin receptors, and can dull the effect substantially. People who feel nothing at all are often taking one without having made the connection. It doesn't rule anything out; it does mean the timing is worth discussing with your doctor first.
Unsure where you sit? Email support@cosmicbazaar.com before you order — we would rather answer questions than take a sale someone regrets.
Our guarantee
If it isn't right, we make it right
Replace it, refund it, or talk it through — whichever leaves you better off. Reach us at support@cosmicbazaar.com and a person answers.
About the brand
Cosmic Bazaar
Cosmic Bazaar is our own house apothecary, a curated shelf of adaptogenic herbs, tonic powders, capsules, and ceremonial botanicals. From shilajit and ashwagandha to sacred lotus, these are the plant allies we reach for most.
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