HELPFUL INFORMATION
To many indigenous cultures of the Americas, tobacco is a sacred plant known to cleanse both individuals and ceremonial spaces. That’s the case for hapé (pronounced “ha-peh”), a powerful, cleansing snuffused by shamans in Colombia, Brazil and Peru as part of important medicinal rituals. Hapé is a legal sacred shamanic medicine that has been used by healers of the Amazon basin for thousands of years, a tool that our ancestors of the jungle received from our grandfather tobacco and have held it and walked with it since the beginning of time.
The Tobacco plant has a strong and masculine spirit. It is like a grandfather who protects the energy body and always brings you to the present. These are very rare, sacred, powerful, and profoundly healing and cleansing miracle medicines, and are made in a very sacred and labor-intensive process. This form of medicine is prepared by successive grinding and sifting of tobacco, medicinal plants, barks and ashes from the sacred fire in a subtle alchemy. Although hapé can be prepared with various plants, the presence of the grandfather tobacco helps to order and balance the other medicines, to direct them with a specific purpose. At the same time, tobacco is the door of connection with the spirit and with the universe, helping us to awaken the essential purity of oneself, and of each medicine. Traditionally, hapé is applied 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 called ‘Kuripe’, which connects the mouth to the nostrils. It can also be administered by another person using a blow pipe called ‘Tepi’, which connects the blower’s mouth to the other person’s nostrils.
The Process Of Hapé
Hapé is blown with an applicator into each nostril, balancing the two hemispheres of the brain, our feminine and masculine side, yin and yang. You always blow into the left nostril first to represent a metaphorical death, and then into the right nostril to represent rebirth. To receive the medicine we must be receptive, still and holding our breath. Closing the glottis prevents snuff from going down the throat and bronchi. The blow also helps us heal individualism, and reminds us that we need the other, that certain medicines are taken by oneself and others are received from the hands of a brother or sister.
The blend is blown high up into the nostrils and immediately focuses the mind, stops the chattering, and opens the entire freed mind space for your intentions. Furthermore, hapé helps releasing emotional, physical, and spiritual illnesses and eases negativity and confusion, enabling a thorough grounding of your mind. Likewise, rapé is used 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, hapé 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.
In a blow we receive the blessing of the wind Spirit, clearing our perception, clearing the mind and opening the higher energy channels, to connect with the highest of our being. Upon receiving a puff of hapé, the medicine rises, cleaning, ordering and aligning our energy field, especially the centers or chakras of the 3rd eye and crown, and from there up and down the spine, “the Tree of Life.” It is also medicine for the body, helping to expel mucus and parasites from the frontal and paranasal sinuses. Eliminates headaches, dullness and lightheadedness by relieving pressure on the skull. It is also an excellent healing and antibiotic applied to wounds, especially those containing sage and lavender. Hapé is also a medicine for Vision. Some native peoples prepared it with certain power plants, for that specific purpose, such as yopo, cebil or imburana. According to the Brazilian Yawanawa Tribe, there are three different ways to blow hapé:
- 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
Generally, we suggest a half a pea-sized amount of hapé for each nostril for beginners, and then increasing the dosage after prolonged use of one type of hapé. However, hapé is a live spirit with its own wisdom. As you become more open and mindful, you will grow more sensitive to the medicine. Everyone has naturally difference tolerance levels, so some people may require larger doses, and others smaller doses. Please experiment to see what works for you personally. If you have a lot of phlegm or mucous in the back of your throat, dripping down your throat, or in your mouth, please spit it out in a bucket immediately, as it’s toxic or negative energy that is being released and expelled. You do not want to swallow it back inside. In order to prevent the hapé from dripping into your throat, you will want to keep your tilted forward so it will drip down through your nose and not in your throat. You should try to keep the hapé in your nostrils for as long as comfortably possible so the medicine can be absorbed. Then, you can blow your nose with tissue as many times as it’s necessary for you.
Sananga is made from the roots and bark of the Tabernaemontana undulata shrub a “milkwood” species in the family Apocynaceae. For traditional Amazonian tribes, Sananga is a powerful eye medicine used to sharpening night vision for hunting. For modern seekers of spiritual healing, however, Sananga does more than help with hunting. Often used as a precursor to Ayahuasca and Kambo ceremonies by the tribes of Brazil, these powerful eye drops have a healing power that’s more energetic than physical, and that has the capacity to increase spiritual insight in the minds of those who use it. its proper usage beforehand.
Administering Sananga
The human eye is a particularly sensitive organ, which means a Sananga ceremony can be painful. These sacred, shamanic eye drops cause an intense burning that usually lasts a few minutes, but experienced practitioners say this pain is an important part of the healing process. Shamans advise you breathe deeply into the intensity to gain the most from its benefits—it is by leaning into the pain that you can cleanse not only your eyes but your mind and spirit as well. Once the pain leaves and the Sananga is no longer in your body, you’re left with a feeling of immense relaxation. Because of its cleansing properties, sanaga is often used in preparation for an ayahuasca ceremony.
Water base Sananga must be keep refrigerated and has a shelf life of 3-4 months. Honey based Sananga does not have to be refrigerated and has a shelf life of up to a year.
Kambo is a highly effective, natural medicine that has been used for thousands of years by the tribes of the Amazon rainforest including Peru, Brazil, and Colombia. It’s named after the poisonous secretions of the giant monkey frog, or Phyllomedusa bicolor. The frog secretes the substance as a defense mechanism to kill or subdue animals that try to eat it. Indigenous people have used kambo for centuries to heal and cleanse the body by strengthening its natural defenses and warding off bad luck. It was also believed to increase stamina and hunting skills. The peptides in kambo are noxious to the human body, so the immune system becomes hyperactive in an attempt to purge the toxicant from your system—hence, the vomiting, inflammation, and severe flu-like symptoms. Many practitioners describe kambo treatments as “vaccinations,” due to its ability to intensely activate the immune system.
What do people use it for?
Indigenous people have used Kambo for centuries to heal and cleanse the body by strengthening its natural defenses and warding off bad luck. It was also believed to increase stamina and hunting skills. These days shamans and naturopathic practitioners still use it for cleansing the body of toxins, as well as treating numerous health conditions. The peptides in kambo are noxious to the human body, so the immune system becomes hyperactive in an attempt to purge the toxicant from your system—hence, the vomiting, inflammation, and severe flu-like symptoms. Many practitioners describe kambo treatments as “vaccinations,” due to its ability to intensely activate the immune system.
Kambo is believed to help with a range of conditions, including:
- addiction
- Alzheimer’s disease
- anxiety
- cancer
- chronic pain
- depression
- diabetes
- hepatitis
- HIV and AIDS
- infections
- infertility
- rheumatism
- vascular conditions
What’s the process like?
The first part of the process involves drinking about 3 liters of water. Next, the practitioner will use a burning stick to create a number of small burns on the skin, resulting in blisters. The blistered skin is then scraped off, and the Kambo is applied to the wounds. From the wound, the Kambo enters the lymphatic system and bloodstream, where it’s said to race around the body scanning for problems. This usually results in some immediate side effects, especially vomiting. Once these effects begin to fade, the person will be given water or tea to help flush out the toxins and re hydrate.