Hapé, also commonly referred to as rapé, is a natural plant medicine made primarily of mapacho tobacco, sacred ashes and plants by different tribes in Brazil deep in the Amazon jungle. In its final form, it is a fine powder that is administered up the nose directly going into the blood brain barrier which is why it is so powerful to help with negative thoughts in the mind and to quiet the mind.
This sacred medicine helps to connect to oneself while bringing in a sense of peace, calmness, groundedness and clarity with a greater outlook on life. It helps to shift your perception of the way you look at life.
It is very cleansing to the entire mind, body, and spirit. It is impossible to have a negative experience, as it will always bring clarity to what is needed for you in life.
Setting Up a Hapé Ceremony
A gentle breath filled with prayer and intention is required to blow a pea-sized amount of this sacred tobacco powder up your nose. According to shamans, the breath, the sopolada and intent are critical in dispensing the Amazonian snuff hapé in ceremonies, which are profoundly healing.
A shaman administers the tobacco-based snuff into the nasal passages, one through the left nostril, which represents death, and one through the right nostril, which represents rebirth.
Each of these soplada blows is accompanied by a rush of a warm sensation into the nasal cavity and third eye, which clears the nasal passages and mind, and leaves the individual feeling relaxed, grounded, and reinvigorated.
Hapé is a sacred plant medicine that practitioners use to cleanse themselves of negative energy, ground, meditatie, connect to the spiritual realm and go within for a deeper connection to self.
Choosing a Hapé Blend
The tobacco used to make hapé, Nicotiana rustica, or mapacho, comes from South America and can be as much as 20 times more potent than the Nicotiana tabacum species found in American cigarettes. Other herbs and plants often culturally relevant to indigenous tribes preparing hapé are typically mixed with different ashes of plants and trees.
Many practitioners regard purging as a benefitt of the purification ritual as the medicine is cleansing you. Cleaning symptoms can be sneezing, purging, nose running, tears, and coughing.
Though tobacco is typically the main ingredient in hapé blends, you can find some that do not contain any tobacco. Apurina in particular is a blend that is only sacred plants that are harvested during the dry season and is very beautifully aromatic and gentle.
Choosing a Pipe
Hapé is administered, into each nostril through a device called a kuripe pipe. You can find these made of many different materials such as bone, bamboo, ceramics and woods. Hapé pipes are typically decorated with bright paints in their sacred kene patterns, feathers, animal teeth, snake skin, armadillo tails, beadwork and crystals.These are designed to be used by one person.
A kuripe pipe is obtainable for self-administration of snuff, but this should only be tried after receiving a two-person ceremony by a shaman a few times. By having the experience, you will understand the respiration and blow techniques used to achieve the desired goals.
A tepi pipe, is the pipe a shaman would use to administer the medicine to you who has control over the soplada breath and the ceremony. These can come in various different shapes and sizes such as an L shape, V shape, U shape or a long straight line shape, they are used by the person blowing on one end while the person receiving is on the other end of the pipe.
This ritual creates an incredibly intimate connection between the giver and the receiver. The one who blows holds an intention that they wish to send to the receiver and is transferred through energy.
This energetic exchange is crucial in ensuring the benefits of the ceremony and one must be initiated with the spirit of hapé grandfather tobacco in order to actually blow the spirit of the hapé medicine to the other person. When initiated you are essentially blowing the spirit of the hapé, grandfather tobacco and your intention to the other person. A very sacred and intimate ritual. 
Setting Your Intention
A medicine such as hapé is an ally that can help you to achieve your goals in life. Treat this medicine like a friend and speak to it daily. The most significant tool in a hapé ceremony is your intention and prayer. This alone has the power to create change, combined with the power of the sacred medicines and your life will be transformed.
Whether you're seeking mental, physical, or emotional healing, it's up to you. No matter what you're seeking, or if the ceremony is done alone or with others, you must have the utmost respect for the ceremony, the medicines and the tribes that make this medicine. It is a very long ceremonial process to make this medicine.
The ceremony and medicine itself are sacred and must be treated as such in order to reap the most benefits and value from the ceremony.
FAQ:
What is a HAPÉ?
Hapé is a very sacred shamanic medicine, made by indigenous tribes of South America, primarily found in Brazil aa. Hapé’ is pronounced ‘haa-pay’ in English. Indigenous Hapé is a rare medicine to come by and very sacred to the tribes of South America. It is used for deep connection to the spirits, animals and Mother Nature, it is very cleansing and powerfully healing.
This sacred medicine takes days to make and is a very labor intensive process made in a ceremonial way, out of various Amazonian healing medicinal plants, leaves, trees and seeds from Amazonian rainforest. Calling in the spirits to help assist those who come to this medicine for deep healing and connection to the source of the creator.
What is a HAPÉ ceremony?
A hapé ceremony is a very sacred ritual to create a connection to the spiritual realm and create a deeper connection to self, to cleanse negative energies and to quiet the mind. Hapé is traditionally used before and or during an Ayahuasca ceremony to create a clear connection to the spirits and to receive information and healing. Hapé can also be used on its own, separate from an Ayahuasca ceremony.
What is Hapé used for?
Hapé is used to cleanse and heal the body, mind, and spirit. It can help with many different things, including anxiety, depression, PTSD, bad habits, negative thoughts, negative energies, lethargy, insomnia, cravings, headaches, migraines, chronic pain and fibromyalgia just to name a few.
The healing will be different for each person, and each person will experience it uniquely as we are all upon a different stage of our healing process.