lastochka

The universe keeps forcing Dune on me. I love Frank Herbert’s books and think the Dune movies have been well done. But it’s too violent for me to shift to regularly. I always wake up here randomly. And I don’t know why I literally hate the desert. My family visited the Gobi edges one year in this reality. I was so miserable. I prefer places with forest and ocean. Hopefully, both combined. Now a desert by an ocean. I don’t know maybe I could change my mind. However, I did come across the trailer for Dune Messiah and that it looked well put together. Anyways, I was resting peacefully, minding my business, and then I was suddenly aware I was in my apartment in Dune. Completely unplanned and unwanted.

The audacity for my subconscious to make me live in Arrakis. You know I was totally meant to go to IX (a heavily implied Asian descended culture of the later novels). Anyways, I don’t think I was Fremen nor was my husband. I think we kind of just came to Arrakis as kids during the Jihad. I see him in every universe, and it’s so fun. It’s like what the hell are you doing here? And the baby too? We were speaking a different language that wasn’t Chakobsa but a dialect of the Fremen Language formed by settlers from different planets. What we spoke was kind of a mix of what I can identify as some blend of Turkmen, Korean, and Kyrgyz. But the accent was really weird. I don’t know how to describe it. Anyways, we were all standing in the hall with my friends. Why we all had short bobs I do not know. I have literally never cut my hair in this reality. We were all wearing still suits because we came from outside. The still suits were much lighter colored to match the desert than what was depicted in the movie, and was slightly different in design. And I was basically upset with my husband. The reason is pretty stupid to mention. Apparently, he worked as security in like the outer regions of Arrakeen. To appease me, he was like do you want to go out to eat and I was like okay. And I handed my son to my mom who was upstairs.

So, our house had like this small rectangular shaped entry way. There were short stairs leading upstairs and I knew my family was up there. Everyone in Arrakeen was pretty much in family clans who lived communally either in big townhouses in quiet neighborhoods or in a series of floors within the high rises near the palace. We weren’t super wealthy or Fremen so we just owned a townhouse in a neighborhood not far from the city. The architecture was definitely very Soviet influenced. It is on a completely different scale and materials. Townhouses are made out of bricks, and mud. I’m not sure on the specifics of the high rises. Arrakeen is huge. Bigger than the area of Tokyo with way more people. It’s just this big sprawling city in the desert with a small man made river and some greenery nearby. The land is mainly flat. Few hills. The buildings are super tall and monolithic. But there is a section of completely black buildings and skyscrapers that are used by the elite. It’s basically a big f u to the poor as the rich don’t care about black coloring drawing in heat as they can afford to air condition it. Those buildings have really cool lounges which we planned to go to. Depending on the level was how weird it was. The higher of the floor, the richer. Those people liked their inner circle and we had ours. So, we usually hung around the lower or mid tiers where people just used spice, drank, and hung out. No, people don’t dance in Arrakeen lounges. We all sat around and talked.

The buildings are so tall with the bottom of the city virtually not being seen. It’s just one sky scraper after another and it must continue for at least five to six miles. The poor people live below in shanty towns (mostly non Fremen) where they work and constantly die building up Arrakeen. Life expectancy of the poor is so low because of all of the menial labor they do. Me and my husband went to one of our favorite places to eat before hitting the meet up spot with our other friends. Rich people regularly go to the bottom to get food or buy cheap goods. Usually, there is some security but the Fremen guards instill so much fear it’s not a problem. Food here is actually pretty normal with a fusion of dishes. We got some type of fried dish of antelope meat mixed with grains.

Did I mention cars are not self-driving. My husband drove us there. There were kind of like cars that hovered because of how dense the understory of Arrakeen is you can’t really fly there. Poor people just walk to where they want to go. A type of highway system exists for only the upper classes to use. Anyways, as we passed I looked at the neighborhood. I literally had no awareness any other universe or reality existed. But I felt free and made my own decisions. I changed my mind about a thousand times before we reached the destination. Clustered in between the buildings are courtyards for the rich. It is like a huge trees reserve and botanical garden. Money. I don’t really know about this as I never handled money here. Everything was just kind of settled up by the men around me and I would look around at other stuff. The poor don’t really look you in the eye. They just kind of scuttle around.

Men work, women stay at home. Upper class women can do whatever they want with their day. We have desert spas near the lush but patchy terraforming fields I guess to grow plants stolen from other planets. Many drought tolerant species. I went with my friends who were a mix of single and married with kids. There are also cute little restaurants and play areas in the different districts. Me and my mom friends basically just hung out all day with our kids and were so upped on spice that we could party all night and crash a bit in the morning. Sandworms are basically a tourist trap now. You can go on excursions with Fremen guides who will basically steer one and you can ride. Brothels and sex slavery is more of a thing for Fremen and really elite families to do rather than people like me who were resettled. We were outsiders but became rich due to basically selling out our home planet in the Jihad. I would say the ranking of social classes is Fremen, those like me, pilgrims, and then people brought to build and terraform Arrakis by the Emperor. Those in my class we kind of do our own thing and work security. We also aren’t religious and don’t follow Alia’s teachings. That isn’t a problem as long as we stay out of the way and are good subjects.

Atreides propaganda is pretty much handled through those type of projectors in the film. I guess it’s an exception for him to distribute these things amongst his discretion. Basically, there are some surveillance cameras in Arakeen matched with recordings over it. No one ever sees the Emperor or his court around town. They go out probably but we don’t hear about it. Sometimes, audio recordings are played on loud speakers throughout Arakeen. It’s like eight a.m. what do you want, nobody cares about how you’ve conquered the umpteenth planet. But television shows or media like that isn’t a thing. Also the time was different. We used something called the Henring (Fenring - in my dialect we pronounced F as H) Army Battle System which was basically the time and tracking of time to organize the Jihad simultaneously. It was named Fenring after Caladan was relinquished by the Fenrings. From then after it was used by the upper class who contributed to the Jihad and during it.

I would always call the realities I shift to: my reality as the very presence of you changes the nature of that reality. Think about ientering realities as entering a body of water. You will slightly change the ph, introduce new bacteria, and disturb the sand/waves. Most of this is negligible in an ocean, lake, or large pond. But we can easily drastically affect a small puddle. A simple stomp can scatter a great deal of a shallow puddle. I think, no I know personally reality is like that, your preconceived biases inform and mold your reality. If you think the new films of Dune is what you’re going to get when going there, that is the world of the Dune. Likewise, I am more of a reader of the Dune books and had my own idea of what the world was like based on my lived experience. When reading the book, I interpreted I more through what the Soviet Union looked like and operated as in my head canon. As Frank Herbert did not have a lot of description of stuff in his novel. It was mainly the philosophy and moving the plot but he doesn’t really get into daily lives. And my subconscious basically just filled in the blanks based on my preconceived notions. I think I was only there for about 26 hours, but I was able to recall all of this when I woke up here.

I feel like people don’t talk about how it can take a few minutes upon waking up to reacclimatize. For like three or four minutes, I’m slowly coming down from being in another reality. Like oh I have to do that thing later, wait that’s not here. Maybe I should go across the street to this building. Arakeen is just out my window, wait no it’s not. Thank god I didn’t stay there long. I mean it was cool but I hate shifting to Dune.

Looking to herbs to automatically make you shift is setting yourself up for failure. Out of my experience, there is nothing that you can manufacture that will instantly make you shift. That is more a mental thing. But you can use herbs and mushrooms to put you in the right space to affect the affirmations that you are telling yourself and to make your desires reality. The ideal state for shifting is to be relaxed, sedated in the mind (I don’t know right way to say it), and just pure flow. This is so hard to translate but I don’t but it’s that feeling when you’re completely calm in mind and you’re not even thinking. Your consciousness just pulls your desires and it happens without you really paying attention. People can shift without this but this has pretty much been how I shit. These rankings are based on my personal experience not the overall effectiveness.

African Dream Root 7/10 ⭐️

This is used by the Xhosa people of South Africa. I don’t know any of this ethnic group personally, so I followed what I could find online. I bought the sticks first online. And I grinded these by hand using a big rock I found outside and a stone cutting board my grandmother had. It took like half an hour to get all of it into a fine powder and I still had some bark bits. But I mixed this daily with cold water and drank it before eating. It gave me very vivid dreams from what I remember and it made everything cinematic. It makes my dreams more lucid and I’ve been able to pick what I dream about. I ran out of the sticks and transitioned to tincture form. I drop the liquid under my tongue before going to sleep. I haven’t really felt anything different than my usual vivid dreams. But I’m going to try taking more with caution and doing it awake. I’ve been using it maybe three months now.

Labrador Tea 4/10 ⭐️

This herb, specifically Rhododendron tomentosum, grows in Hokkaido and Sakhalin as well as many other northern latitudes. I think in the west it is more associated with Native Americans like the Dene, but I remember picking it with my grandfather to help with stomach aches. It’s kind of easy to overdose so I would suggest you ask someone experienced what to take. I picked it by myself and just did whatever made me feel happy. Big mistake. I brewed the tea with the leaves and then decided I would chant. Chanting is a meditation technique that I use to bring me into a trance state. More on that another a time maybe.

So, my grandparents (on dad’s side) live in an out of the way place in Hokkaido off the coast. I visit them a lot as it’s not that far away. I feel people think that Russian citizens can’t like leave Russia but I’m a Japanese citizen through my father and I’ve never had a problem. I just fly to China and then take a flight to Japan. Anyways, I’m off track but I sat outside. I love to shift or meditate outside whenever possible because it’s much easier to stay awake and it’s more peaceful. But it can be hard to find a safe place in some cities. Out here, I’m not particularly worried about my safety. I kneel on the grass or sand or maybe sit against a tree. Then I started chanting. And it worked for a little bit. I felt very light and airy until I vomited because I took too much. I was knocked out for a couple hours after that and just fell asleep. When I took less, I didn’t really feel a difference.

Blue Lotus Tea 3/10 ⭐️

I had a struggle finding good quality herbs. I ordered it online from two separate places. And each of them tasted different. One was really bitter while the other was mild. I think one of these wasn’t the real thing and just a look alike. The first batch I brewed as a tea. I never do additives like honey or sugar for my tea. It did give me very vivid dreams but it slowly fizzled out over the third day.

Mugwort 6/10 ⭐️

Mugwort is like a weed in Europe and parts of Asian and you can pretty much find it everywhere her. And I find it all the time on the roadside, and meadows near my house. I usually just brew it as a tea. And I take it a couple hours before bed and it helps with my flashes. Using this method in the middle of the day, I had a very surreal experience but I’ll talk about it on another day. I also used this as an essential oil with diffuser and it would fill the room. I really recommend this the most of I you want to encourage a relaxed demeanor and flashes. It decent weed my mind.

Valerian Root 10/10 ⭐️

This is my go to when it comes to relaxing. Anytime I know I want to shift or need a wake back to bed. I brew this with some lavender or chamomile. I feel so heavy and calm that it’s easy for me to get sleep paralysis. I would definitely recommend taking this one.

Lavender, Chamomile 7/10 ⭐️

I would recommend mixing this with other things to create a stronger effect. But this is a pretty routine herb.

Mushrooms are not that traditional in Sakhalin and Hokkaido. I had to go to Kamchatka to really find out more about this. Fly Agaric was the only big one that I researched. It was used all the way from the Sami to the Chukchi. I’m really weary of trying thing like Ayahuasca as I’m of the opinion with really psychoactive things like that I want to know from the source (ie. the natives who harvest it traditionally) and I’m not really interested in traveling to Central or South America.

Fly Agaric 5/10 ⭐️

The Koryak people call this mushroom wapaq. It was used all over Siberia by indigenous shamans but I think it can be bought anywhere. You might recognize its use in Mario. If you decide to use this, I would suggest using this in the company of someone experienced. I remember back in the day that it was something my great grandfather’s wife used to pick and sell. Because I’m not familiar with mushroom, I went to a predominantly Koryak/Chukchi village in Kamchatka to get it. The woman who harvest it and dries it wasn’t necessarily a shaman but she was able to walk me through it.

Basically, she made a tea with the dried mushrooms and I went to the back room of her house. She also gave me another tea of lavender. Then I just meditated and laid down. I fell asleep pretty quickly but remember I was in a sleep paralysis state and was lowkey hallucinating but not quite. I was still in a good level of control of my mind. This is probably because I meditate and visualize every night for about a decade. But I was able to think about what I wanted and it felt more like a cinematic dream then shifting. Then I had a series of weird dreams. However, I was able to open a portal and woke up in a completely new reality but as a white woman. Now, this was weird because I have no desire to be white and blonde. In my base life and every other iteration, I’m always dark haired, northeast Asian but I have blue eyes. I’m not significantly European only like a small amount of Caucasus and Turkic related dna so that is probably the cause of my eyes. But I do not look mixed more like an Asian who is wearing contacts. So, imagine my surprise to be this pale, green eyed, and blonde girl.

I remember this so vividly and wrote about it right after. This new life was located in San Francisco near where my mother used to live. When I visited and lived with my mother there, I always thought it would be so cool to like live over by Golden Gate beach. Shifting is like the instant transfer of your awareness. When I shift even randomly, I know right away what I look like, where I am, and the context of it all. Just like this reality. I heard cars and ocean waves because right out my window was the bay, and on the other side was the highway. My bed was white wooden with pink sheets and everything was decorated very late 2000s. I sat up in my bed and checked my phone and it had all these names from people that I knew were my friends. Everything was clean and quiet. I could see my closet with all my clothes hanging up nice and neat. And I could see the bridge in the distance covered in blue light from early morning. Anyways, after checking my phone I snapped out of it and woke up back in her house.

After this experience, she gave me more dried mushrooms and told me how to dose. I tried these mushrooms for a few days on and off. I had more of these strange experiences but I found it hard to control and pinpoint where I wanted. And the shifts were very brief. I think with more experience I could fair better.

Where to buy

I would suggest buying local or at least organic. I like to make my own mixes. The reason isn’t for snobbish reasons but when you buy a pre made tea bag. You never know the ratio. In a lot of pre made teas from major brands, it’s usually just a small amount of the herb that you actually want. I know in the U.S. when I lived in San Francisco I would often go to Chinese run stores to see what herbs they had. Rarer herbs like African Dream Root and Blue Lotus can be found on Etsy. But I don’t think Egyptian Blue Lotus is always what they sell. I think a lot of people are selling other Asian variants.

How to use

I would always consult with someone when taking stronger herbs especially if you are a newcomer to taking this. I’m lucky to live in Russia and I can meet with many indigenous peoples nearby that know how to use these things. But I remember living in the Bay Area and other parts of Northern California, that wasn’t possible. Many of your local herbalists have booths at farmers markets or stores. So, don’t be afraid to just ask the proper dosage. I find most people are helpful and passionate about herbalism if they are selling it. Trying to dose it by yourself can sometimes go badly. And tell people that you are doing this just in case you convulse if you are using something like Labrador tea.

Costs

It can definitely be expensive and gouging the right price can be difficult. Buy a small sample size to see if it even does anything. And if possible ask where they source it from. You want to make sure they’re not just repacking and up charging. I’m really thorough so I ask for a picture of it growing. Also, if it’s a herb you know that you like consider growing it. Many herbs function like weeds (in growing pattern) and you can literally just plant and minimally water it and it will still grow. I grow my own chamomile with my grandparents and it barely needs any tending. Hokkaido is famous for its lavender and I remember as a kid we’d splurge and order some from there. I’ve never been but I’ve always like the kind they grow there. But I remember California had some nice lavender there too.

Brewing

I use an electric tea kettle just because it’s easier. You can use a cup and a microwave but a tea kettle allows you to steep it in there. I would recommend a stainless steel or aluminum over a glass one. That’s just a personal preference. It doesn’t matter what the brand is. When using powdered herbs, it’s kind of difficult to not get a thick slurry at the bottom. I usually just add a little mix vigorously until I have the full cup of tea. Always make sure to research what you are taking by the way.

That’s pretty much my guide to herbs. It is in now way comprehensive but a good start. I’ll be back later this week or early next week with a guide to how I utilize trance states and meditation.

I used to be leydenkilgore as of last year 2025. Since then, I’ve had a lot of change of my life from having a baby, moving back to my homeland in Russia, and getting used to a more modest lifestyle. I honestly for a few months forgot about shifting with all I had going on. It actually felt like I had lost my abilities when I focused on running my family’s fishing business, reconnecting with my father, and being pregnant. It wasn’t until about late last month that I even considered manifesting again as I feel I have everything I wanted.

I think that shifting can mean something different to everyone. I have my own personal beliefs around how shifting works. This has been formed on my own childhood raised in strict Buddhism, reading the works of others, and my own experiences with reality. I believe that our realities are formed by our waking minds over a period of years from around 4 to age 10. That’s when I remember reality really setting in, and the line between real life and make belief is solidified. This can be changed at any moment in life by simply aligning your thoughts with reality. The optimal state to transform your reality is in a state where your logical mind is quiet (not absent). Some people can do this on ayahuasca, trance states, meditation, and even sleep. Others can’t seem to get a hang of it.

Why is that? There are some people that can learn to knock a few arrows on target in six minutes, while another man will lose his toe in five. Everyone has different muscles activated throughout childhood. It’s just like how some people are confident and effervescent, while some apologize to the door when they run into it. Some simply have not worked this out. You can fix this by simply working on baby steps. I mean convince yourself that you or your deity of choice has caused a success. So, say you are crossing the street and as soon as you get there the sign is ready for you to go. Your mind did that. It’s a sunny day and you can go outside, believe you did that. Go on and on with that until you are confident.

When you are confident, begin forming pictures in your mind. You have to be sure this is what you want. I find that you are able to shift easiest when you want it badly. Not in a “I don’t believe I can make it but I have it to go now.” Just calm and cool, this is what I want and you are all in. Keep doing that, you’ll get there.

A lot of people in the early days of shifting suffered from being misled by “teachers” who claimed to know the answer. They were then distracted by making scripts, rules, and methods that confined the brain. Literally all you have to do is train yourself to want to be where you desire and you will.

My shifting journey left below