Wild Tobacco Mapacho – Sacred Ceremonial Nicotiana Rustica 50g

Mood: Grounded, Focused, Protected
Best For: Ceremony, pipe smoking, offerings and energetic cleansing

Latin name: Nicotiana rustica
Also known as: Mapacho, wild tobacco, masato, thuoc lao
Origin: Peru

In the Amazon, tobacco is not a habit. It is a teacher plant, and mapacho is the oldest of them.

Mapacho, the Wild Tobacco of the Amazon

Nicotiana rustica is a species native to South America, a robust plant with small, trumpet-shaped yellow flowers that grows in open fields and on disturbed ground. Its leaves are smaller and more pungent than those of commercial tobacco, which is why the industry never cared much for it, and why the curanderos of Peru never let it go.

For indigenous peoples of the Amazon, mapacho is a medicine with its own spirit. It is present at almost every ceremony: smoked by the healer, blown over the body and the space, and used as the base of most rapé blends.

How Mapacho Is Used in Ceremony

• Soplada, the blowing of smoke – the curandero blows mapacho smoke over a person’s crown, chest and hands to clear heavy energy and seal the body before and after healing work.
• Cleansing the space – smoke is blown into the corners of a room, an altar or ritual objects, much like palo santo or Agua de Florida are used.
• Offering – a pinch of tobacco is left at the foot of a tree, by water or on the altar as a thank-you to the spirits of the place.
• Intention – before lighting, the intention is spoken into the tobacco. In the Amazon it is said that tobacco carries your words where they need to go.

How to Use

Traditionally mapacho is smoked in a ceremonial pipe or rolled by hand, and the smoke is not inhaled into the lungs. Work slowly, with a clear intention, and give thanks to the plant when you finish. If you prefer the powdered form, try Puro Mapacho, or a ready rapé blend such as Yawanawa rapé.

Warning: For ceremonial use only. Not intended for consumption or ingestion. Keep out of reach of children and pets. In case of accidental ingestion, seek medical attention immediately.