Properties of this Ra'peh selection:

YAMINAWA TSUNU CLASSIC - Pao Pereira, mixed Mapachos and Amyruca. Super powerful, cleansing and supremely energizing.

What is Ra'pe?

Ra’pe/ Ra'peh (pronounced “Hah-pey”) is considered to be a powerful, cleansing snuff used by shamans in Brazil and Peru as part of important medicinal rituals. To many indigenous cultures of the Americas, tobacco is a sacred plant known to cleanse both individuals and ceremonial spaces.

Ra'pe is often made of several Amazonian plants. The core of most Ra'pe snuffs is the tobacco species Nicotiana rustica. This Amazonian tobacco, also known as mapacho, is used extensively in tribal rituals and is much stronger than N. tabacum, the type of tobacco found in cigarettes.

In addition to the tobacco, ra’pe usually includes the alkaline ashes of other plants such as cinnamon, tonka bean, clover, banana peel, or mint, but many shamans keep the exact ingredients of their particular ra’pe a secret.

Harvest

Ra'pe is sourced from a number of indigenous tribes in the Amazonian regions of Brazil and Peru, including the Apurina, Huitoto (or Witoto), Kanamari, Katukina, Kaxinawa, Kuntanawa, Matses, Nukini, Shanenawa, and the Yawanawa. Often, a blend’s name will include the name of the tribe and sometimes the name of the shaman who made it.

Benefits of Ra'pe

• Helps focus and sharpen the mind.
• Clears a person or space of distracting, bad energies in preparation for intention setting.
• Detoxes both body and mind and clears your energetic field. Because of this, rapé is often used in conjunction with ayahuasca ceremonies.
• Clears sinuses of mucus and bacteria, thereby helping to combat colds and respiratory ailments.
• Provides a calming, grounding effect on the emotions that lasts much longer that the initial sensation.
• Can be used in conjunction with other treatments for addiction and mental illness. 

Harmala Alkaloids

The particularly potent variety of tobacco called Nicotiana rustica contains high amounts of beta-carbolines, including the harmala alkaloids harmane and norharmane. These alkaloids are also found in the Amazonian vine Banisteriopsis caapi, one of the principal ingredients in ayahuasca. They are MAO-inhibitors that stimulate the body’s central nervous system by inhibiting hormones like serotonin and norepinephrine. The presence of these harmala alkaloids supports evidence that tobacco has antidepressant properties similar to those of ayahuasca and other psychedelics. These biochemical qualities would help explain the “grounding” feeling experienced by many people.