Healing Addiction with Mapacho
When I say that one of the best ways to cure a tobacco addiction is to learn to work with mapacho, the sacred tobacco of the jungle, most people will look at me like I’ve gone mad. I mean, this plant-healing world can be crazy. But I stand by this truth, so come along if you want to understand why.
There Is Nothing to Forgive
During my first tobacco purge, I found myself crying because I felt so awful for having smoked tobacco without the respect and intention he deserved. His response was there was nothing to forgive. He explained to me that I had come to him the best way I could have with where I was at the time and that I came to him with intention, even if it was not conscious. I needed grounding very much to protect and recenter my energy, which he provided in the best way that I could receive at that time.
This really set the stage for renewing my relationship with him. Just like with any relationship, there is room for change and growth when we shift how we come to it. He also gave me permission to forgive myself and begin peeling away the internal criticism that can chip away at our self-worth. Hence, mapacho opened the door to a shift in our partnership together in that one statement. While this still meant that I now needed to learn to come to him in a more aligned way, it was the first step on the path.
So, if you are struggling with an addiction to tobacco, first realize that he loves you. And while the relationship you currently have with him may have served you for a time, when you are ready to shift how you communicate with him, this door is available to you, too.
Working with Intention
Another extremely important aspect of transforming your relationship with tobacco is learning to work with intention. Becoming deeply in touch with our intentions in every step and action is a core part of tobacco’s medicine, and I believe it is actually a part of why he simultaneously holds the potency for addiction.
When we are unconscious of our intentions or do not have them when working with mapacho, we will lean on him without fully knowing why or being aware of when we are actually called to work with him. This easily rolls into using him at any time we are bored, need a distraction, or even when we need his grounding and protective elements but are not aware; that is why we are reaching for him. Not having the intention and sense of sacred connection when working with him in that way is what leads us into addiction because, really, it is that connection that we seek. While there are many factors, seeking connection is often at the core of addictive behaviors, but it is also a path away from the addiction.
Beginning to check in with the spirit of mapacho before using him, welcoming him in to connect, and giving him respect and gratitude before just taking him puts you in a state of being that recognizes him as a conscious being. Treating that conscious being with respect and changing our relationship with him has a massive impact on moving toward a sacred exchange rather than addictive grasping. Setting a firm intention, even to spend time together, opens the door to a different way of being. We are then coming to him in a new way, from a new place, so the foundation of that relationship is different.
A Constant Work In Progress
There is one thing to remember in this process. Mapacho is highly addictive and has vastly more nicotine than commercial cigarettes (though not the added chemicals). Working with him in this way takes constant awareness of your intention and how you are coming to him every single time. If you begin to fool yourself that just because you say hello and say that you have an intention to sit with him, all is well; please know that he knows the true intention of your heart. You can fool yourself, but not him.
My caution here is to begin to be aware of what you intend from deep within your heart space. Because mapacho sees this so clearly and responds to how we come from this place, he helps us to learn to feel what is coming from this center with deep clarity. Getting to that space of really understanding what we are bringing to this relationship can dig up some shadowwork around how we show up in other relationships, for ourselves, and in the world. It can also show us the ways that we deceive ourselves.
But these are such magical lessons that mapacho can invite us to, which bring us not only to a more aligned, honest, and intentional relationship with him but also with ourselves, others, and everything we encounter. He is truly a master if we are open to his, at times, difficult but massively loving teachings. And as his smoke has been used by many traditions to commune with other beings and plants in the spirit world, a true connection with him can usher in the connection that we have been actually searching for from the beginning.
About the Author
Lindsay Calliandra Rose is a Medicine Carrier, an accomplished herbalist, Plant Medicine integration specialist, and a woman with a profoundly sacred relationship with nature. She began her Plant Medicine journey many years ago with Ayahuasca and Huachuma, and she has completed multiple Master Plant Diets with beings like Rose, Bobinsana, Juniper, Jurema, Cacao, Oak, and Blue Water Lily. Lindsay is an initiated server and carrier of Hapéh. She now works as a preparation and integration guide for those answering the call to work with sacred medicines, and she is apprenticing in the art of guiding Master Plant Diets as well. She is a passionate advocate of safe and transformative experiences with the plants, and she loves helping people navigate these mysterious spaces with grace, love, and support.
