RE: Shamanism, tobacco & ayahuasca: what to expect and how to prepare.
Hi - I found this an interesting article. I've been living in Paraty (RJ, BRazil) for the last two years. There's actually a lot of neo-shamanism (and not so "neo" shamanism) going on around here, but not many of the practitioners work with tobacco tea (smoke, yes, always). One exception in my experience was a healer from the mountains of Argentina. He trained up in Peru and has ended up merging his own traditional indigenous practices with that of ayahusceiros of the Amazon. Before his ceremonies, or certainly your first one with him, you drink a LITRE of the tobacco tea!! He he, in Ireland we talk about tobacco tea as a joke referring to the rain water that gathers in ash trays in pub beer gardens, although I'll have to say it doesn't taste much better (I imagine - I never did try the Irish tobacco tea!). It has an amazing purgative effect, a great way to start an ayahuasca ceremony as probably you will already have vomited by the time the first dose of ayahuasca is served. Probably I will share some more of my experiences from shamanism and Santo Daime here in Brazil, so feel free to follow. Ahooo!
Thats a lot of tobacco tea! I never drank tobacco tea. My teacher in school told me that you will die from a tea of just one cigarette. I guess he was wrong. I now grow tobacco in my space in Vienna and use it for ceremonies only.
Thats the seeds sprouting :)
Maybe she was referring to the chemicals in the cigarette!!!! Ugh, i wouldn't want to drink the tea of commercial cigarettes. The tea I drank was from organic tobacco plants from the mountains, grown with love and respect.
Yes maybe. How is the tea made then? From fresh leaves, dry leaves or fermented leaves? I would not prepare it myself, but I am curios. I do use Rapé though from time to time:
He brings a big saucepan of water to the boil and then very lightly simmers it after putting in the dried tobacco leaves. He's careful to only stir it in one direction and says various prayers which are a secret. Usually it is left to cool down and is drunk cold. Usually drink down in one go a large glass. Then you wait for the effects to come on, which might be some nauseousness, maybe vomiting.
Yes rapé is used a lot around here. That's a pretty little applicator that you have there. I've also seen people consecrating sananga, and kambo during cerimonies.