WORKING WITH SACRED TOBACCO IN THE SHIPIBO TRADITION
Mapacho — known botanically as Nicotiana rustica — is the wild tobacco of the Amazon, and one of the most revered plant medicines in the Shipibo healing tradition. Unlike commercial tobacco, mapacho is used in its pure, natural form, with no chemical additives.
Nicotiana rustica contains a significantly higher concentration of nicotine than Nicotiana tabacum — the variety used in all commercial cigarettes. While commercial tobacco contains around 1–3% nicotine, some studies have recorded concentrations of up to 18% in mapacho.
Although tobacco is often a controversial subject in the modern world, mapacho is understood from a very different place within the Shipibo tradition.
In this tradition, shamanic knowledge is acquired through years of dieta with different plants. One of the most respected specialisations is that of the tabaquero — a shaman who has dieted mapacho for years to master its curative properties — and who maintains a direct relationship with the Spirit of Tobacco. This is one of the many specialisations of Maestro Niwen Koshi (Heberto García).
ONE PLANT, TWO WORLDS
Commercial cigarettes contain hundreds of chemical additives and produce carcinogenic tars when burned. Pure mapacho, by contrast, is worked with in specific doses, with intention and within a ceremonial context — conditions that define its nature and its effect.
Modern research has begun to explore the complex effects of nicotine and tobacco alkaloids, including their influence on cognition, inflammation and neurological processes. For Shipibo healers, however, mapacho has long been understood as a powerful plant medicine whose strength depends on purity, intention, dosage and ceremonial context.
The difference in nicotine concentration is key: when ingested in ceremonial quantities and under proper guidance, mapacho can induce deep states of trance unlike those associated with Western tobacco.
At Onikano, mapacho is present in most ceremonies, rituals and healing encounters. It is worked with in three distinct forms — smoke, rapé and liquid tobacco — each with its own tradition, its own intelligence and its own place in the Shipibo healing system.
MAPACHO SMOKE RITUALS
Smoke is one of the oldest healing tools known to humanity — and in shamanic traditions across the world, it has been used to cleanse, protect, diagnose and communicate with the forces that govern health and illness.
In the Shipibo tradition, mapacho smoke plays an extremely important role — not secondary to other medicines, nor preparatory, but a primary force in its own right.
In the hands of Maestro Niwen Koshi, smoke is a living intelligence — a bridge between the visible and invisible worlds.
When he blows the smoke with a specific purpose, it begins to speak. The forms, movements and symbols that appear within it become a language — a direct communication with the Spirit of Tobacco, one of the most ancient and powerful allies of the Shipibo healers.
The Maestro works with mapacho smoke to enter trance and diagnose the condition of those in his care.
Smoke rituals are also used for spiritual purification and energetic protection. They help extract heavy energies — whether arising from within, through repetitive thought patterns, emotional disturbances or accumulated tension — or from external influences, such as difficult relationships and dense environments.
In addition to keeping unwanted spirits away, this procedure actively attracts benevolent spirits, who, according to Shipibo shamans, feel an insatiable desire for mapacho.
The soplada — the way the smoke is blown — is an art in itself. It carries prayer and intention.
The Maestro commands a fascinating repertoire of techniques — long, sustained sopladas; short, sharp blows; dense, concentrated clouds; rapid bursts in succession; lighter and more dispersed flows — each one serving a distinct purpose within the healing work.
Even experienced smokers discover, when they try to replicate it, that intentional blowing of mapacho smoke is a discipline in itself — apparently simple when performed by the Maestro, and profoundly complex the moment one attempts to imitate it.
RAPÉ MEDICINE RITUALS
Of all the plant medicines created through the deep knowledge of Indigenous Amazonian tribes, rapé is perhaps one of the most intimate and mysterious — blown directly into the body through the breath of the shaman, carrying with it centuries of accumulated knowledge, intention and prayer.
Rapé — known in Shipibo as repocati rao poto — is sometimes translated as “tobacco snuff”, but this Western term does not capture its true meaning. It is not a single plant or a recreational substance, but a carefully composed Amazonian medicine: a blend of dried, finely ground mapacho and other selected plants, each chosen for its specific purpose. Protection, cleansing, energetic activation, heart-opening, removal of blockages, spiritual focus — each formula carries its own intention, its own intelligence and its own lineage.
The preparation of rapé is a sacred ritual in itself, as demanding and intentional as the brewing of Ayahuasca. The shaman works in a protected space, in direct communication with the spirits of the plants, channelling their healing properties into the medicine. The connection with the spirits of the plants is considered even more important than their active ingredients — which is why rapé should never be prepared by someone without the necessary experience and spiritual formation, even if they have access to the formula.
In the Shipibo culture, this medicine was prepared only by the Merayas — the most advanced healers of the tradition, who scrupulously guarded their formulas. The formulas for rapé were transmitted from teacher to apprentice, and in many cases taken to the grave. This is why today, many Shipibo people no longer associate tobacco snuff with their own culture — a living tradition interrupted by the loss of those who carried it.
However, thanks to the written legacy of Yosi Ocha (Don Guillermo Ramírez) — grandfather of Niwen Koshi and one of the last great Meraya masters — the authentic formulas were not entirely lost.
Today, the rapé used at Onikano is prepared and ícaroed by the Maestro himself — spiritually charged and activated through his intention and connection with the plant spirits — carrying within it not only ancient formulas, but knowledge that continues to deepen through his own meditations, visions and direct communion with the masters who came before him.
The most powerful way to receive rapé is from a shaman within a ceremonial or ritual context. Although rapé can be self-applied, receiving it from the Maestro carries a different depth: the medicine is guided by his intention and the healing energy transmitted through his breath. At Onikano, the Maestro applies rapé according to the individual needs of each participant. During ceremonies, the doses may be stronger and can support those who find it difficult to let go of control or allow the body to purge.
Rapé is blown into the nostrils with a special pipe — tipi — traditionally made of wood or animal bone. Receiving this medicine requires presence, openness and respect. The experience can feel intense, especially the first time, and may bring coughing, sweating, tears, dizziness — and sometimes nausea and purging — reactions considered a normal part of the cleansing process.
On a subtle level, rapé stills the mind, sharpens perception and creates the inner silence necessary for genuine receptivity. It quickly induces a meditative state — one of focus, clarity and presence. It can support intuition and inner vision, preparing the body and spirit to work more openly with visionary medicines.
LIQUID TOBACCO RITUALS
The ritual of inhaling liquid mapacho — known in the Shipibo tradition as repocati rao — has been passed down through generations as a powerful form of cleansing and healing.
This medicine is prepared by soaking mapacho in a small quantity of water and allowing it to macerate until it becomes a dense, dark liquid, absorbing the full potency of the tobacco. Since nicotine is highly water-soluble, its high concentration is understood to contribute to the medicine’s powerful cleansing effect.
In earlier times, this ritual was performed in every household, especially for children — a practice that belongs to its cultural and historical context. Grandmothers often held the responsibility of caring for their young ones, using liquid tobacco, as well as huito, ajosacha and mucura. The ritual was usually performed in the morning hours. Afterwards, the children would bathe in the river and drink its water while diving and swimming. In this way, the grandmothers ensured that their grandchildren grew strong, healthy, active and clear-minded.
According to Shipibo healers, tobacco has a direct connection with the energy of Mother Earth. When liquid tobacco is applied through the nostrils, it cleanses the energetic channel that runs through the body from the feet to the head — the channel that connects us with Mother Earth and cosmic energy. For this reason, the ritual helps to centre the mind and ease stress and low mood.
At Onikano, liquid tobacco is used as a complement to the work with Ayahuasca.
According to the Maestro, the human body is like an onion — it has many layers, and the medicine cleanses them one by one. Once the first layers have been cleared, denser energies may begin to emerge from deeper levels.
These toxic energies do not always respond in the same way — they can develop their own defences and resistance. For this reason, it is sometimes necessary to change medicine and work with different types of energy. Tobacco, by its strength, fulfils this function precisely: it stirs and extracts energies that Ayahuasca may not always be able to reach.
Negative energies are not released only through purging or extracted by the ícaros. One technique the Maestro frequently uses is vaporisation — a process through which the energy of the tabaquito dissolves and dissipates toxic energies accumulated in the body.
This ritual is performed when the Maestro considers it necessary. The liquid is applied to the nostrils with a dropper. The initial sensation may be uncomfortable — hiccups, tears, dizziness, nausea and purging may arise — and these are considered signs that the medicine has begun to work.
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