Sacred Snuff: The Ancient Wisdom of Amazonian Hapé

Hapé, a sacred blend of finely ground tobacco and herbs from the Amazon, has been used for thousands of years in healing ceremonies to calm the mind, cleanse the spirit, and enhance spiritual focus.

Oct 25, 2024

We've covered the topic of tobacco a lot here at Tripsitter (read about it here or listen to a podcast ep about it here).

This controversial herb has earned itself a strong negative connotation in the West, yet remains viewed as a powerful medicine and master teacher in indigenous cultures around the world.

The tobacco plant is not black and white. Nicotine, the active ingredient, is certainly a poison, but it’s also a powerful medicinal agent when used properly.

Today, we're going to talk about a particular style of tobacco from tropical South America called hapé (pronounced HA-PAY) — which is exclusively used in healing rituals. It’s often used alongside other visionary plants like ayahuasca, San Pedro, or Kambo frog medicine.

It's becoming popular outside South America for its ability to calm the mind, cleanse the spirit, and sharpen focus. While hapé can certainly be used safely under these circumstances, it’s also important to address some concerns around over-using hapé as well.

Here's everything you need to know about the sacred snuff, hapé.

What Is Hapé?

Hapé (also spelled rapé) consists of a finely ground tobacco mixed with other herbs which is then blown (insufflated) into the nostrils. The powder then absorbs into the bloodstream through tiny microcapillaries lining the inside of the nose.

Hapé has been a sacred tool for indigenous tribes in the Americas for thousands of years.

While it’s becoming quite popular around the world these days, hapé’s roots are deeply intertwined with Amazonian tribes like the Yawana, Matse, Huni Kuin, Nukini, and Kuntanawa, who have passed down secret recipes for generations. These recipes contain specific herbs believed to carry additional medicinal and spiritual qualities.

Traditionally, there are many uses of hapé, which can vary greatly geographically — but the most common uses include:

Calming and grounding — to quiet excessive thinking
Cleansing — to purify the physical & energetic body of negative thoughts or energies
Guidance — to receive clarity about certain questions or problems
Expectorant — to clear mucus from sinuses
Anti-headache — to treat mild to moderate headaches
Mild euphoric — as a social tool, much like how one might share drinks
Nootropic — to improve focus & concentration while hunting or working

In the book Plant Teachers, Jeremy Narby outlines a Western scientific perspective of tobacco, exploring why it's seen as a medicine. It’s worth noting that not all hapé contains tobacco, but it is, by far, the most common base used to make hapé powder.

Nicotine: Medicine or Poison?

Nicotine, the primary alkaloid in tobacco, is a bit of a double-edged sword. It starts to cause side effects (mostly nausea/vomiting, sweating, and malaise) at doses of around 60 mg and can be fatal at doses of around 500 mg or higher.

However, nicotine also carries impressive medicinal qualities when used in much lower doses. It's a perfect example of the old adage, "The only difference between medicine and poison is the dose."

For reference, a typical cigarette delivers around 2 mg of nicotine, and a hit of hapé usually contains between 3 and 5 mg (depending on the formula and type of tobacco used).

Nicotine resembles the neurotransmitter acetylcholine, which is involved in everything from learning and memory to voluntary muscle contractions. By mimicking this neurotransmitter, nicotine is able to bind to the nicotinic receptors located throughout the brain and nervous system to exert its effects.

The effects of nicotine range from enhanced focus and mental energy to euphoria and relaxation.

Nicotine interacts with the following neurotransmitters:

Dopamine — Involved in the rewards and pleasure pathways in the brain. It’s believed to play a role in making nicotine addictive.
Glutamate — Associated with learning and new neural connections, and nicotine could have cognitive benefits.
Endorphins — Act as the body’s natural painkillers and induce feelings of pleasure and euphoria.
Epinephrine (Adrenaline) — Involved in the fight or flight (stress) response and inducing a sense of wakefulness and vigilance.

Nicotine has also been demonstrated to offer potent antimicrobial properties.

A report in Wired highlighted how nicotine and related alkaloids can promote the growth of new blood vessels and balance overactive immune systems.

Nicotine is even being researched for a growing list of neurodegenerative conditions such as Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s disease.

Of course, like so many substances, how nicotine affects the body depends on the dose and frequency. Chronic (long-term) use or high-frequency nicotine consumption carries the most risk.

Is Hapé Safe?

When working with hapé, side effects should be expected. The tribes call these reactions “cleaning.” This includes symptoms such as dizziness, nausea, sweating, vomiting, and diarrhea. Not everyone will experience these effects, but it’s best to be prepared.

From a Western perspective, tobacco snuff, or “smokeless tobacco,” does contain carcinogens. Other common concerns regarding snuff products are the risk of heart disease, dental problems, and potential complications during pregnancy.

Most experts suggest hapé carries the potential for addiction as well. Traditionally, hapé is used only in ceremony — it is NOT used casually in the way one would smoke a cigarette. Like many indigenous perspectives on plant medicine, there’s wisdom in this approach.

Disciplined ceremonial use prevents people from abusing the plant and establishes a level of respect for the plant and how it should be used.

How to Use Hapé (Rapé)

Hapé is traditionally used by blowing fine ground-up powder into the nostrils with special pipes. These pipes can be carved from bone or wood or be a piece of bamboo or reed.

There are two different types of hapé pipes:

Kuripe — A hapé applicator shaped like a “V” for self-administering, also called “curipa.”
Tepi — Commonly called a hapé pipe. A single long hollow tube is often made of bone, wood, reed, or bamboo for one person to “blow hapé” for another. Also called “tipi.”

Traditional Kuripe Made From Bamboo, Clay, & Cordage. Used For Self-Administering Hapé.

What is a Hapé Ceremony?

While one can create a ceremonial container to use hapé within, the best introduction is with an experienced and trained facilitator. Tradition states that having someone blow hapé for you means they are “putting their life force into you” — so choose someone you trust.

Hapé is often given outside for spiritual and practical reasons — such as a connection to nature — and you’ll be spitting, sneezing, and perhaps purging.

The person giving or “blowing” hapé will sit across from the receiver. The blower will choose the appropriate amount based on the person’s experience level, the strength of the hapé, and other factors developed through experience with using the plant.

What To Expect: A “Typical” Hapé Ceremony Step-By-Step

The hapé will be measured into the blower’s hand. They will say prayers, give blessings, or set intentions.
If it’s your first time, the shaman will direct you. The usual instructions are to stay relaxed with your mouth slightly open.
The pipe is inserted into one nostril while the blower exhales into the hapé pipe with their chosen breath (a nuance developed by trained hapé shamans).
The receiver will feel a short burning sensation, and then the pipe will be inserted into the other nostril and hapé blown again.
The receiver thanks the blower and finds a quiet spot to sit with the experience, which can last from a few minutes to hours in some cases. Effects can vary significantly, ranging from physical body sensations to insights to, in some cases, visions.

How to Give Yourself Hapé

Self-administering hapé is possible using a kuripe. This is best done in a quiet space where you will not be disturbed, ideally in nature and with a specific intention. Set and setting apply when using hapé. Having access to a bathroom and tissue paper is necessary in case of purges.

How to Self-Administer Hapé: Step-By-Step

Measure out the amount of hapé you want. A pea-size dose for each nostril is a typically recommended starting point. Measure both doses into your hand.
Put the first dose into the applicator. Insert the long end of the applicator into your nose and the short end into your mouth.
Blow forcefully but not too hard. This exhale is not exclusively about force, although a strong blow is required. Tribes in the jungle have many different types of blows, each connected to different animals and with different effects. Experiment to find what works for you.
Fill the applicator with the remaining hapé and do the other nostril.
Close your eyes, relax, and breathe.

What’s in Hapé? (Hapé Active Ingredients)

Because there is no standard practice for how hapé is made, and its production is spread between many different tribes and now commercial producers, there's no standard formula.

Most hapé contains finely ground tobacco along with some sort of tree ash and other locally sourced medicinal plants.

1. Tobacco

A typical hapé blend contains tobacco, ashes, and a wide variety of medicinal herbs and spices. However, not all hapé blends contain tobacco, and some can even contain psychedelic compounds like DMT (dimethyltryptamine).

Many hapés are made from a base of Nicotiana rusticana, a tobacco plant native to South America. Other names include “mapacho,” “corda,” or “moi.”

Rusticana notably has 20x the amount of nicotine of the common commercial Nicotiana tabacum.

2. Alkaline Ash

The other main ingredient is ash from hardwood trees, typically chosen for medicinal or spiritual significance.

While one would assume the active alkaloids in the plants are destroyed, in the book Shamanic Snuffs Or Entheogenic Errhines, Johnathan Ott explains that the perspective of the tribes is that the spirit of the plants is contained in the ashes. Working with ashes for therapeutic purposes is a practice found around the world in Ayurveda, such as Bhasma, and a modern alchemy practice known as spagyrics.

These are ritually prepared with both the wood and bark of the tree and make the tobacco more alkaline (raising the pH), which may help absorb active compounds, like nicotine, making the snuff more powerful.

Many different trees are used to reproduce ash for hapé. Typically, the bark is used, as it is seen as having more medicinal properties, although sometimes the wood is included.

The trees used often go by local names, which vary between tribes and regions, so sorting out different species and Latin classifications is tricky.

Some examples include:

Txunú, Tsunu, Sanu — Possibly Platycyamus regnellii, but the classification is contested. Some sources say it is Pau Pereira.
Pau Pereira — Geissospermum vellosii, or Geissospermum leave.
Murici — Byrsonima crassifolia.
Cacao — Theobroma cacao hulls are sometimes used as well.

3. Other Medicinal Plants

The rest of the composition varies greatly. For medicinal effects, fragrance, and flavor — dozens of medicinal and aromatic plants can be included. These might be dried or added in their raw form, and some can be psychoactive, so read the label!

Some common examples include:

Cinnamon — Miconia albicans. Added to smooth out the effects and cut some of the harshness.
Tonka bean — Dipteryx odorata, a common additive to smokeless tobacco products.
Mint — Mentha spp., quite a few varieties exist. Provides a menthol-like flavor and cooling sensation.
Nutmeg — Myristica fragrans (contains a powerful deliriant).
Yopo — Anadenanthera peregrina (contains DMT).

Key Takeaways: Hapé & Sacred Tobacco

Hapé is an ancient medicine that’s quickly spreading around the world as plant medicine becomes more popular.

While this rise in popularity has brought some economic and cultural interest in traditional plant medicine practices of many Amazonian tribes, the use of hapé is quickly becoming a casual vice for many users.

The roots of this preparation are medicinal and spiritual. It's used to facilitate a deeper connection with the self and with nature.

Modern applications are starting to fall more in line with the way we use commercial cigarettes. The high nicotine content has people using it as an alternative to stimulants or vice for escapism and stress relief. Neither of these methods is considered a proper or safe way to use hapé.

The spread of hapé represents an excellent opportunity to trigger greater curiosity and respect for tribes that still exist today and carry profound knowledge of plant medicine. However, the best way for hapé to assist with this is through intentional, responsible use.