Kuripe with Snuff Container

Our friends at the Tete Pawã arts and medicine collective have made this beautiful Kuripe. It has a 10ml Rapé container crafted in the finishing of the piece, helping you to keep everything you need at in one place.

This kuripe was crafted using bamboo and resin.

There may be slight varieties from batch to batch since this is a hand crafted product.

This model was made by our handicrafts experts at the Tete Pawã arts and medicine studio. They are located in the upper Juruá region of Marechal Thaumaturgo municipality, way up on the Amazon river. The only way to get there is a two day boat journey or with a four seater airplane. They have been our close partners since 2014, always delivering state of the art handicrafts and their excellent Kuntanawa Rapés.

Kuripe and Tepi

Kuripe and Tepi are two different kinds of pipes for administering rapé, the sacred snuff of the Amazon.

Kuripe

A snuff auto applicator is a V shaped instrument. It is called a “Kuripe” in the native language.

The Kuripe is used in the following way. You load it with the right amount of Shamanic Snuff for your personal need. One end is put in the mouth and the other in the nose. Without inhaling one gently blows the rapé into the nose. Kuripes can be made of different materials. The most common materials are bamboo or bone but they can also be made of metal or wood.

Tepi

A two person applicator is a Tepi. The people in the forest use it for ceremonial rapé sharing. There are an endless variety of models and possibilities. In the old days the indigenous used a long bamboo or reed to blow, as became famous from anthropology movies. Nowadays they are usually a bit less dramatic but depending on the quantity of medicine and strength of the blow, the rapé experience can be very strong.

Application of Sacred Snuff

The secret of a good application is in the way the rapé is blown into the nose. Always before blowing clear and elevate your mind. Think positive and visualize positive things; your intentions will flow with your breath.

There are many different breath strengths and styles that can be used for blowing. The most common blows are named the beija flor (the hummingbird), and the jiboiá (the boa constrictor).

The beija flor is a short and fast blow, the jiboia is long and slow. The beija flor is a more uplifting hit, waking you up. The Jiboia starts gentle and gains strength towards the end. With smaller amounts it is gentle and meditative; with bigger amounts it slowly creeps up on you and gains strength at the end.

You always finish the blow bringing the point of your tongue to the roof of your mouth. This gives an ending to the application, so to speak. It’s a good idea to train a bit without rapé – just take the tepi on its own and practice your technique.

Receiving the Medicine

When you receive rapé, never breath in through the nose – hold your breath and let the rapé enter.

After you have blown yourself, or received the rapé from someone else, it’s best to close your eyes and concentrate. Don’t breathe through your nose but through your mouth and let the rapé sweat a bit. When it starts to run down your throat, either spit it out or blow your nose, or both.

Working with rapé is a cleansing process, so spit out any residence you feel dripping down your throat. Keep some tissue to hand and let nature and the rapé do its work.