Sanango Plant Medicine (or Sananga) usually refers to two completely distinct types of traditional medicine used in Shamanic and Curanderismo healing practices.
These two “sanangos” are either made from Chiric Sanango (the Brunfelsia grandiflora plant) or Uchu Sanango (the Tabernaemontana sananho plant). In Latin America, it’s common that a healer that specializes in working with these plants is called a Sananguero.
Chiric Sanango
Chiric Sanango is a flowering shrub (see the lead image of this post) and part of the Nightshade plant family, also popularly called kiss-me-quick or yesterday-today-and-tomorrow. The roots, leaves, bark, and extracts of the plant are traditionally used as remedies for several health conditions.
Think of combating ailments and discomforts such as fever, colds, flus, nervousness and anxiety, snake bites, inflammations, syphilis, rheumatism and arthritis, but also used as a remedy for Leishmaniosis, a serious parasitic disease caused by certain types of sand flies.
On a psychological level the plant helps to gain increased clarity of mind, confidence, calmness, self-esteem, and decisiveness.
The root of this Master Teacher Plant is also used as an addition to the Ayahuasca brew to strengthen its emotional, hallucinogenic, and spiritual purifying effects.
After ingestion of Chiric Sanango one can experience strong side effects that include chills, fatigue, weakness, itchiness, nausea, convulsions, spasms, abdominal aches, and vomiting.
Uchu Sanango
The leaves, pulp, bark, root, and latex of the Uchu Sanango plant, also called Lobo Sanango (lobo is the Spanish word for wolf and as such it’s also called the Wolf plant), are used to prepare topical or oral medicines to treat various health issues, such as inflammatory diseases, anxiety, stress, eye-sight problems, memory issues, muscular and skeletal ailments, and Leishmaniosis.
In a more general sense, Uchu Sanango is thought to help purify one’s mind, body, and spirit of negative energies.
Uchu Sanango can also be part of a Master Plant Dieta, or used in Sanango ceremonies, cooked together into the Ayahuasca brew, or alternatively used as a preliminary cleansing and purifying treatment before engaging in Ayahuasca ceremonies.
Immediate side effects after taking Uchu Sanango may include dizziness, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, sweating, blurry eyesight, and loss of physical coordination.