Helpful Information

Practical guidance for working with the medicines and preparing for ceremony.

What Is Sacred Hapé

To many indigenous cultures of the Americas, tobacco is a sacred plant known to cleanse both individuals and ceremonial spaces. That is the case for hapé (pronounced “ha-peh”), a powerful, cleansing snuff used by shamans in Colombia, Brazil and Peru — a legal sacred shamanic medicine used by healers of the Amazon basin for thousands of years. The tobacco plant has a strong, masculine spirit — like a grandfather who protects the energy body and always brings you to the present. It is applied via bamboo pipe: a Kuripe (self-applicator, mouth to nostrils) or a Tepi (blown by another person).

The Process of Hapé

You always blow into the left nostril first, to represent a metaphorical death — and then into the right nostril, to represent rebirth. The Yawanawá describe three blow styles: short and strong, to wake up and get present; long and strong, to clean the mind and spirit; and long, starting soft and strong at the end, for meditation and ceremonial use. Beginners: about half a pea-sized amount per nostril.

What Is Sananga?

Sananga is made from the roots and bark of the Tabernaemontana undulata shrub — a powerful eye medicine traditionally used to sharpen night vision for hunting, with a healing power that is more energetic than physical. The drops cause an intense burning that usually lasts a few minutes; it is by leaning into the pain that you cleanse not only your eyes but your mind and spirit. Water-based: refrigerate, 3–4 month shelf life. Honey-based: no refrigeration, up to a year.

What Is Kambo?

Named after the secretions of the giant monkey frog, kambo has been used by indigenous people for centuries to heal and cleanse the body by strengthening its natural defenses. The process: drink about 3 liters of water, small burns are made on the skin, and the kambo is applied to the open points — purging is common, followed by water and tea to rehydrate.

These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. None of our products is intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease. Some of these products contain nicotine and may be addictive.

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