What is Rapé?

Rapé (pronounced “ha-peh”) is a sacred tobacco mixture containing pulverized natural substances from several Amazonian plants. The core of most rapé snuffs is the tobacco species Nicotiana rustica. This Amazonian tobacco, also known as mapacho, is used extensively in tribal rituals and is much stronger than N. tabacum, the type of tobacco found in cigarettes. In addition to the tobacco, rapé usually includes the alkaline ashes of other plants such as cinnamon, tonka bean, clover, banana peel, mint, smashed roasted seeds and a significant number of medicinal plants but many shamans keep the exact ingredients of their particular rapé a secret. Rapé is also known as ‘healing powder’ and is usually absorbed through the nostrils by sniffing or inhaling the substance through a blowpipe during shamanic rituals and meditative practices. Traditionally, Rapé is administered by using a pipe made from bamboo, which is blown through each nostril on both sides. It can be self-administered using a V-shaped self-applicator pipe which connects the mouth to the nostrils. It can also be administered by another person using a blow pipe which connects the blower’s mouth to the other person’s nostrils. The self-applicator pipe is known as a ‘kuripe’ and the blow pipe is known as a ‘tepi’.

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NüNü, a special form of rapé, comes from the Matses tribe and is a sister medicine to Kambo and a visionary snuff used to ground, focus, gain clarity, and for the Matses on their hunt to connect with the spirits of the jungle and animals. It is a very special and potent medicine made from Mapacho leaves (tobacco) and combined with the ashes of the Mocambo tree bark (Cacao) which are toasted, crushed, and fine powdered. Other Rapé varieties are available which also come from different tribes of the Amazon, each having its use and benefit during the ceremony.

The use of tobacco by indigenous tribes in South America, such as the Kaxinawá, Nu-nu, Yawanawá, and Katukina, is profoundly entrenched in their culture, and has been employed at least since the Mayan civilization for ritual, medicinal and recreational purposes.

 

The use of Rapé is both a spiritual and physical cleanse whereby purging deep-seated toxins, allows the recipient to come out the other side of the experience feeling calmer, more focused, and more in line with their true self. Rapé is traditionally believed to be sacred and holds the power to clean the third eye, decalcify the pineal gland and bring a sense of grounding and a deep-felt connection with mother earth.

 

It is also said that rapé releases emotional, physical and even spiritual illnesses, easing confusion and negativity. Also, some of the physical benefits of blowing snuff into the mucous membranes of the nasal passage are the release of pressure, toxins, and congestion in that specific area.

 

In ceremonial events, it is often used to connect with higher realities. To clearly see the origins of a disease or problem, shamans of the Amazon jungle sometimes use rapé before they treat a patient. Often hunters use the snuff to see where the prey is hiding, as rapé enhances the ability to stay focused and alert.

 

Blowing snuff immediately generates a highly intense and overwhelming feeling in the nose and the mind. A few minutes later, it gives a sense of grounding and opens the awareness of oneself. There are a lot of different rapé blends on the market, and each of them has a unique character and profound purpose.

 

The blow immediately focuses the mind, stops the chattering, and opens the entire freed mindspace for your intentions. Rapé helps to re-align the user with their energy channels and with their higher self, and to intensify their connection with the world and the universe. In addition, rapé paves the way for detoxifying the body and cleans out all excess mucus, toxins, and bacteria, thereby, assisting in fighting colds, sniffles and certain kinds can even help with the flu.  Blowing the Tepi involves an intimate connection between the rapé giver and receiver. Both are closely connected by mouth, nose and by breath, and both need to open and allow the other spirit and intention to enter, permitting the healing to take place.  After blowing, it is recommended to sit with the medicine and meditate for about a half hour or so.  It is best to remain with the eyes closed, while inhaling and exhaling slowly (more effective through the nose), enabling a thorough grounding and maintenance of focus.

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You always blow into the left nostril first to represent a metaphorical death, and then into the right nostril to represent rebirth. According to the Brazilian Yawanawa Tribe, there are three different ways to blow rapé:

 

• Short and strong: to wake up and get present

• Long and strong: to clean the mind and spirit

• Long, starting soft, and strong at the end: for meditation, entering into a trance, ceremonial use

 

You should try to keep the rapé in your nostrils for as long as comfortably possible so the medicine can be absorbed through the bloodstream.  It is best to breathe in through the nose if possible for this.  Then, you can blow your nose with tissue as many times as it’s necessary for you.

Rapé can help in the following ways:

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• Focus and sharpen the mind

• Clearing a person of bad energies in preparation for intention setting

• Detoxes the body & mind and clears the energetic field. Because of this, rapé is often used in conjunction with other plant medicines.

• Clears sinuses of mucus and bacteria, thereby helping to combat colds and respiratory ailments.

• Provides a calming, grounding effect on the emotions that lasts much longer that the initial sensation.

• Can be used in conjunction with other treatments for addiction and mental illness.

For indigenous Americans, tobacco is medically used as a cure of certain diseases, sores, wounds, and as a defense against insects (Curtis 1935) and also as an analgesic and narcotic substance that eases fatigue, pain, hunger, and thirst (Elferink 1983). Rapé enters deep into the nostrils, thereby cleaning out any residual mucus and exerting potent antibacterial effects (Pavia et al. 2000). If the body is too congested with toxins, vomiting can be a side effect that leads to a thorough cleansing. There are even special tobacco blends (Machiguenga snuff) that are made to counteract influenza and other diseases (Russel & Rahman 2015). Furthermore, the tobacco that is contained in most Rapé blends can potentiate the healing capacity of other medicines like Kambo. Moreover, in its original sense, tobacco is even a hallucinogen. It contains two alkaloids, namely harman and norharman, which are closely related to harmine and harmaline (Janiger et al. 1973). These two beta-carbolines inhibit monoamine oxidase (Herraiz et al. 2005), leading to anti-depressive and stimulatory effects (Farzin 2006).

 

As Rapé contains nicotine, its use increases the brain blood flow and affects the release of several stimulatory neurotransmitters, such as epinephrine, acetylcholine, and dopamine (Wolk et al. 2005, Cryer 1976; Domino et al. 2000), thereby heightening your focus, presence, and intuition and opening the body to higher communication and holistic thinking and understanding. As mentioned above, Rapé has the reputation of decalcifying the pineal gland, which is involved in melatonin secretion, circadian time perception, and the function of the immune system (Skwarlo-Sonta et al. 2003). Even though, this has not been confirmed by scientific studies, this is of great interest, given that degenerative diseases, such as Alzheimer's disease and Parkinson´s disease, and fluoride or mercury exposures can lead to calcification of the pineal gland (Luke 1997; Luke 2001).

 

The calcification of the pineal gland can easily be tested by magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) that show the degree of calcium phosphate on the gland. Furthermore, even normal aging has been associated with pineal gland calcification and decreased melatonin production (Kunz et al. 1999), whereas children rarely show calcified pineal glands. Moreover, it is suggested that our polluted water, which is often filled with hormones and residues of pesticides, as well as food additives, excess sugar and sweeteners, can lead to calcification of the pineal gland.

 

Pineal gland calcification has also been shown to be associated with decreased melatonin levels and a high risk for ischemic stroke, intracerebral hemorrhage (bleeding), and with breast cancer (Kitkhuandee et al. 2014; Cohen et al. 1978). This risk for stroke was still higher when the patients were also affected by high blood pressure, diabetes and high cholesterol/triglycerides (Kitkhuandee et al. 2014). The most prevalent movement disorder, Parkinson's disease, is also affected negatively by decreased amounts of melatonin (Polimeni et al. 2014). The main pathological event in Parkinson's involves the destruction of dopaminergic neurons, through oxidative damage. Melatonin can prevent this oxidative damage to occur (Antolín et al. 2002), making melatonin a possible preventive treatment in Parkinson's and other diseases where oxygen radical-mediated tissue damage occurs.

 

In sum, melatonin enhances brain plasticity, interacts with the immune system, counteracts oxidative stress within the nervous system, and is a key hormone in circadian-time perception and other crucial biological functions. Tools like tobacco snuff and rapé that potentially promote a healthy pineal gland function by counteracting its calcification and heightening its melatonin production are of great interest.

 

References
 

Antolín I, Mayo JC, Sainz RM, del Brío Mde L, Herrera F, Martín V, Rodríguez C (2002) .
Protective effect of melatonin in a chronic experimental model of Parkinson's disease. Brain Res.;943(2):163-73

 

Curtis, M.M. (1935) The Book of Snuff and Snuff Boxes, New York, Bramhall House

 

Elferink JG. (1983). The narcotic and hallucinogenic use of tobacco in Pre-Columbian Central America. J Ethnopharmacol.;7(1):111-22.

 

Farzin D, Mansouri N (July 2006). "Antidepressant-like effect of harmane and other beta-carbolines in the mouse forced swim test". Eur Neuropsychopharmacol 16 (5): 324–8.

 

Herraiz T, Chaparro C (2005). Human monoamine oxidase is inhibited by tobacco smoke: beta-carboline alkaloids act as potent and reversible inhibitors. Biochem Biophys Res Commun.;326(2):378-86.

Janiger O, Dobkin de Rios M (1973). Suggestive Hallucinogenic Properties of Tobacco Medical Anthropology Newsletter;4(4): 6-11

 

Kunz D, Schmitz S, Mahlberg R, Mohr A, Stöter C, Wolf KJ, Herrmann WM (1999).
A new concept for melatonin deficit: on pineal calcification and melatonin excretion. Neuropsychopharmacology.;21(6):765-72.

 

Kitkhuandee A, Sawanyawisuth K, Johns NP, Kanpittaya J, Johns J (2014). Pineal calcification is associated with symptomatic cerebral infarction. J Stroke Cerebrovasc Dis.;23(2):249-53.

 

Kitkhuandee A, Sawanyawisuth K, Johns J, Kanpittaya J, Tuntapakul S, Johns NP (2014). Pineal calcification is a novel risk factor for symptomatic intracerebral hemorrhage. Clin Neurol Neurosurg.;121:51-4.

Luke J (1997). The Effect of Fluoride on the Physiology of the Pineal Gland. Doctoral thesis, University of Surrey.

 

Luke J (2001). Fluoride deposition in the aged human pineal gland. Caries Res.;35(2):125-8.

Pavia CS, Pierre A, Nowakowski J.(2000). Antimicrobial activity of nicotine against a spectrum of bacterial and fungal pathogens. J Med Microbiol.;49(7):675-6.
 

Polimeni G, Esposito E, Bevelacqua V, Guarneri C, Cuzzocrea S (2014). Role of melatonin supplementation in neurodegenerative disorders. Front Biosci (Landmark Ed).;19:429-46.

Russell A, Rahman E (2015). The Master Plant: Tobacco in Lowland South America. Bloomsbury Academic; 1 edition.

 

Wolk R, Shamsuzzaman AS, Svatikova A, Huyber CM, Huck C, Narkiewicz K, Somers VK (2005). Hemodynamic and autonomic effects of smokeless tobacco in healthy young men. J Am Coll Cardiol.;45(6):910-4.,