Shamanic Medicine Glossary

Kuripe: A self-applicator tool that allows an individual to administer Rapé to themselves. It is typically V-shaped, enabling the user to blow the snuff into their own nostrils.

Mapacho: A type of wild tobacco native to the Amazon, commonly used as a base ingredient in Rapé. It is known for its high nicotine content and spiritual significance in shamanic practices.

Rapé (Hapé,Rapeh, Hapeh): A traditional snuff made from various plants, including tobacco, used by indigenous tribes in the Amazon for medicinal and spiritual purposes. It is typically blown into the nostrils using a special applicator.

Rapé Ceremony: A ritualistic event in which Rapé is used to facilitate spiritual healing, meditation, or community bonding. These ceremonies often involve chanting, prayer, and the guidance of a shaman.

Shamanic Snuff: Another term for Rapé, highlighting its use in shamanic and spiritual practices.

Tepi: A blowpipe or applicator used for administering Rapé. It is designed for use by another person to blow the snuff into the recipient's nostrils.

Cipó Titica: Thin, partially hollow vine used as a traditional burning tool for Kambo application. Its ember-holding properties and hollow structure allow practitioners to blow through it to maintain heat. Also known as Ember Vines.

Dot (Point / Gate): The small burn mark made on the skin prior to applying the Kambô secretion. Multiple dots may be used depending on the individual's needs and experience.

Frog Secretion: The bioactive substance collected from the Phyllomedusa bicolor, used during Kambô rituals for its purported healing properties.

Kambô: A healing ritual involving the application of frog secretion from the Phyllomedusa bicolor, used by indigenous tribes for physical and spiritual cleansing.

Kambo Ceremony: The structured ritual during which Kambô is administered, typically involving preparation, intention setting, application, and integration.

Kambo Stick: Hand-carved wooden surface used to collect fresh Kambo secretions during frog "milking." The secretion dries into a hard glaze within a day, enabling safe storage and transport.

Kambo Powder: Dried secretion scraped from Kambo palettes into powder form. The increased surface area is thought to create stronger effects than standard dried glaze.

Kambo Shaman (Facilitator/Practitioner): An experienced guide who administers Kambô, ensuring the safety and spiritual integrity of the ceremony.

Peptides: Bioactive molecules found in Kambô secretion, believed to have various health benefits, including antimicrobial, pain-relieving, and immune-boosting properties.

Phyllomedusa bicolor: The scientific name for the Giant Monkey Frog, whose secretion is used in Kambô ceremonies.

Arkana: Energetic shield or protection developed through plant dietas and ceremonies. Shamanic teachings say arkanas form layers of spiritual armor, each linked to specific plant spirits and dietas.

Altered State of Consciousness (ASC): A mental state differing from the normal waking consciousness, often achieved through drumming, chanting, meditation, or the use of entheogens, allowing deeper connection to spiritual realities.

Animism: The belief that all objects, places, and beings possess a spiritual essence or consciousness, often forming the foundational worldview in shamanistic practices.

Ayahuasca: Sacred brew made from Banisteriopsis caapi vine and DMT-containing plants, used for healing and spiritual insight.

Ceremony: A formal event led by a shaman that involves a series of rituals and practices aimed at honoring spirits, invoking healing, or marking significant life events.

Chacapa: Ceremonial rattle made of bound dried leaves (usually Marosa) used by Amazonian healers to direct energy, cleanse spaces, and modulate ceremony intensity through distinct rustling sounds.

Dieta: An Amazonian shamanic practice involving isolation and strict dietary/behavioral restrictions while working with plant medicines. Practitioners abstain from certain foods and activities to purify themselves and develop spiritual sensitivity. Duration varies from days to months.

Divination: A practice in which a shaman seeks insights or guidance from the spirit world, often using tools like runes, stones, or other symbolic objects.

Drumming: The rhythmic beating of a drum used in shamanic practices to induce a trance state, facilitate a journey, or call upon spiritual helpers.

Entheogens: Substances, often derived from plants, that are used in some shamanic traditions to induce altered states of consciousness and facilitate spiritual experiences or healing.

Huachuma: Sacred cactus (San Pedro) used in healing ceremonies.

Icaros: Sacred songs used in ceremonies to direct healing energies and communicate with spirits.

Journeying: A core shamanic technique where the shaman enters an altered state to travel to the spirit world for guidance, healing, or information. It often involves visualization and interaction with spiritual entities.

Lower World: A spiritual realm often associated with the natural world, ancestral spirits, and power animals. It is accessed by shamans for grounding, healing, and retrieving lost soul parts or power.

Maestro/a: Master healer who has completed extensive plant dietas.

Maloka: Ceremonial roundhouse where healing rituals and ceremonies take place.

Mareación: The visionary state or "force" of medicine plant effects, especially during ayahuasca ceremonies.

Medicine Wheel: A symbolic representation of the interconnectedness of life, often used as a tool for personal growth, healing, and spiritual guidance. It typically incorporates the four directions and elements. (Incorporated into our Shamanic Supply logo!)

Middle World: In shamanic cosmology, this refers to the physical world or the plane of existence where humans and nature coexist. It's often considered one of the three primary worlds, alongside the Upper and Lower Worlds.

Pajé: A term used for a shaman or spiritual leader in certain indigenous cultures. The Pajé often prepares and administers Rapé in ceremonial contexts.

Power Animal: A spiritual guide or protector in animal form that offers wisdom, protection, and strength. Shamans connect with their power animals during journeys or rituals for support and guidance.

Purga: Ceremonial cleansing through plant medicines that induce physical purging.

Ritual: A set of actions performed in a ceremonial manner to communicate with the spirit world, invoke protection, offer gratitude, or facilitate healing and transformation.

Shaman: A ceremonial leader and practitioner in shamanistic traditions who interacts with the spirit world through rituals, trance, and altered states of consciousness to heal, gain wisdom, and guide their community.

Shamanism: A spiritual practice found in various cultures around the world that involves a practitioner (the shaman) reaching altered states of consciousness to perceive and interact with a spirit world and channel these transcendental energies into this world.

Soplada: Ritual blessing/cleansing using tobacco smoke or perfumes.

Soul Retrieval: A healing practice in shamanism where the shaman journeys to the spirit world to recover lost fragments of a person's soul due to trauma or loss, thereby restoring wholeness and vitality.

Spirit World: An invisible realm believed to exist alongside the physical world, inhabited by spirits, ancestors, and other entities. Shamans communicate with these beings to seek guidance, healing, and knowledge.

Soul Retrieval: A healing practice in shamanism where the shaman journeys to the spirit world to recover lost fragments of a person's soul due to trauma or loss, thereby restoring wholeness and vitality.

Tabaquero: Healer specializing in sacred tobacco (mapacho) practices.

Totem: A sacred object, animal, or entity that holds spiritual significance and serves as an emblem or guide for an individual or group. It often represents personal attributes or lessons.

Trance: A state of focused attention or altered consciousness that shamans enter to connect with the spirit world. It can be induced through drumming, dancing, meditation, or other ritualistic practices.

Upper World: A spiritual realm in shamanic cosmology associated with higher spiritual beings, teachers, and guides. It is often accessed for guidance, wisdom, and enlightenment.

Vegetalista: Plant medicine specialist who has learned directly from plants through dieta.

Vision Quest: A rite of passage in some shamanic cultures where an individual seeks spiritual guidance or vision through fasting, solitude, and meditation in nature.