It's amazing how you describing Silene Capensis was an absolute replication of my experience with it. Grinding it was a hassle (I did it the old fashioned way - mortar and pestle), the froth tastes bad, I too found that shaking the container was preferable to using any wooden instruments and I too had some non-lucid dreams that could be attributed to these effects. I have them all documented in my journal, and I took the root for over a month I believe. Funnily enough I still have it after all these years, maybe I'll give it another go.
Nice post. Upvoted. Check out my post on Galantamine+Choline for a real kick in the head.