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.
Mapacho is seen by them as a friendly spirit, a guide, who can help us navigate in the realm of plant spirits and who can protect us from dark entities. The art of harvesting wild tobacco is known and practised in the jungle for centuries. Indigenous shamans who only work with Mapacho spirit are called Tabaqueros.
In the Amazon jungle tobacco is used in many forms; smoke, smudge, sniff, powder and even liquid. Unlike popular tobacco sniff, called Rapeé, fresh Mapacho leaves contain a lot of natural “organic” energy and are pure, meaning no other plants or additional indigents are used in the process of production. In the native environment, tobacco juice is often used to clean sinuses from infections and tobacco sniff is used to “sharpen senses” before hunters enter the rainforest.
If you want to hear more about this amazing plant and its medicinal properties and the work of Tabaqueros, stay tuned to my page and consider attending Pangean lectures and workshops, dedicated to indigenous traditions of the Amazon basin.
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