The Therapeutic Use of Wild Tobacco in the Amazon Rainforest

Known by many names around the world, in the Peruvian jungle commonly called mapacho or sacred tobacco, bot. Nicotiana rustica is a very potent species of tobacco that holds a special place in the hearts of the Amazon people. Westerners may find the concept of tobacco being a medicine extremely difficult to grasp, but for the South American traditional healers called tabaqueros N.rustica is not only a valid and culturally approved natural remedy, but often the only plant they would agree to use in their medicinal practice. To understand their unbiased relationship with tobacco, we need to take a look at a much bigger picture – from indigenous, intimate and intentional use of tobacco to the catastrophic misuse of its energy that resulted in a mass addiction on a global scale. Let’s talk about the spirit of tobacco.

Sacred Apukuna of Peru

In the Inca mythology the term Apu was, and still is, referred to a mountain-entity that has a powerful spirit and is alive. Body and energy field of the mountain together form a ‘Wasi‘, which in the Quechua language means “home” or “temple”.

Despacho Ceremony with Q’ero Elders

Despacho is a beautiful, old tradition in the Q’ero lineage of Peru that has been used for centuries for a variety of occasions and celebrations. It can be said that it is generally used to celebrate all sides of humane experiences – births, deaths, expressions of gratitude – but a profound observer may soon realise that the despacho ceremony has multiple layers and may also be used for a deeper physical and emotional healing in order to restore harmony and balance in one’s life.

It also serves as a direct prayer and offering to Mother Earth (Pachamama) and many spirits from the Q’ero pantheon.

The Motherland of The Mother

I am often being asked about the difference between experiencing medicine at the source in the jungle and doing samas with native tribes (dieta with plants) versus the experience of the medicine around the world, usually served in a quick weekend or week-long retreats. A complex question, but just take a look at that video, tap into it, and you might just sense the difference right away.

Kené – The Visual Language of Nature

Shipibo designs and art, known as Kené, express an energy matrix woven through all of creation. Inspired by nature and observation of the environment it not only is rooted in the shamanistic visions but, more importantly, in the profound connection with the ecosystem the Shipibo-Conibo tribes are settled in. As such, Kené is not just an art style but it does belong to the ecosystem and is present, in the first place, in plants and animals throughout the Amazon basin.

The Flower of Mapacho Gathering

This is a gentle reminder for a spectacular astral event to come and a call to connect! Wherever you will be on that glorious night, my dear Earthlings, let’s connect for that event, watch the spectacular dance of the Sun, the Earth and La Luna together and share our experiences after.

Suí Fínn – The Mysterious Passage Tomb

Seefin, the ancient Neolithic passage tomb, located on a 650m high mountain in the North County of Wicklow, Ireland is a spectacular place that resonates with peaceful, dormant energy. A slightly older (yes, you got that right – older) brother of the Egyptian pyramids, the site, that is now understood to be a part of a series of tombs located on the neighbouring peaks (Seefingan and Seahan also have similar large cairns covering passage tomb), is dated to approximately 5000 years old and was created in the Neolithic period by pre-Celtic architects of a forgotten civilization. The name ‘Seefin’ originates from the Irish Suí Fínn, which means ‘Fionn’s seat.’

Pu’uloa Petroglyphs

“We come to Pu’uloa because we want what’s best for our keiki (children). Pu’uloa holds two on my children’s piko. Their kupuna (elders) brought them here and created puka (hole) where their piko (cord) would rest, sealed under a stone. These two keiki, now adults care for me, their own ‘ohana (families), as well as our entire ‘ohana.” – Minnie Kaawaloa, Hawaiian Elder.

Postcards from Gaia: Pura Tirta Empul

 

Bali speaks to me with water, rain, flow and a strong sensation of purification and acceptance. And like a river pushes me forward with its current into something new. I have recently visited Pura Tirta Empul (Holy Spring in Balinese), a Hindu Balinese water temple located near the town of Tampaksiring, Bali, Indonesia, founded around a large water spring in 962 A.D.

The Spirit of Mapacho

Sacred Tobacco (bot. Nicotiana Rustica), wild tobacco, known as Mapacho is one of the most important plants in the indigenous shamanistic practices. Shamans from the jungle consider it a Master Plant and the main tool in every shamanistic ritual.

Just a Family Meeting

¿Que hora es? – asks our Maestra Juana, as the day slowly changes into the night.

– Son las ocho. – somebody replies and, as with the touch of a magic wand, the rainforest starts its cacophonic concert of buzzes, pings, and rustles of hundreds of insects, birds, reptiles, and mammals. The jungle never sleeps.

Nature opens its portal. Permission to enter is given.
The night is about to unfold.

Noya Rao – The Path of Truth

Noya Rao is almost a mythical tree that grows in the Amazonian forest. Little to no information is to be found on this majestic tree, and it’s all for a very valid reason, that needs to be underlined in the first paragraph – to protect it. Within the Shipibo-Conibo tribe’s traditions, who are widely considered to have the most symbiotic and very conscious approach to plant-based medicine, Noya Rao is generally seen as the great-great-grand Mother of all the other plants. Little information is to be found about this sacred plant online, so here is what I have learnt from the local communities, my Maestra and from my own research, narrowing it down to only what is allowed to be shared by its guardians.