Sunday, February 03, 2008

invitation to balance and exhault the human/tobacco relationship

Dear Friends,

Tobacco is one of the most popular plant allies, and is much maligned, managed, loved and misunderstood.

Have you ever wondered if the official propaganda that we hear about Tobacco is not essentailly factual, righteous or true?

I have. The truth is that the government and anti-smoking advocates aren't giving us a whole or accurate picture. I can rightly say that responsible, spiritually beneficial Tobacco use is possible. The best example I can think of are Tobacco shamans in the Amazon who chain smoke and cure people of phychosomatic disease with magick.

Many people smoke, yet few DIY it. Tobacco seed is hard to come by after all. It's an f-ing government controlled substance! Yet I have some seed for Nicotiana rustica, of the cultivar which Cherokee native people evolved with in Katuah/Southern Appalachian region. I grew some this summer, and smoking a blunt rolled up in a mullein leaf was one of the most amazing rituals I've ever done. I smoked once a week for two months and there was a mutual exchange of TLC between the plants and I. So this isn't hearsay, folks, it's a treasured part of my story. I'm planning togrow another round of this Cherokee variety in the coming months.

Now I have a lead for gettting some SHAWNEE variety, the kind of tobacco that the original peoples of the Cincinnati area grew and smoked. If you are interested in chasing down this seed with me, you will be embarking on an incredible journey of self/other discovery that will probably culminate in a series of workshops, rituals and debaucherous, sultry summer evenings.

Contact werebrock@riseup.net for information on joining the fun.

Yours in loving anarchy,

Badger

6 comments:

D. Lollard said...

I effectively quit tobacco with the new year, but we have some of those rustica seeds from Mtn. Gardens, and I'd love to think I could use it beneficially! Mullein is cool. Shawnee tobacco might be a little more locally adapted for central Illistan.

Anonymous said...

We have Nicotiana glauca growing wild around here. I've read different and conflicting things about whether it can be smoked or not. Not really much information. I wonder if you're familiar with it?

Mary Kinirons said...

don't forget to ask the guy about bringing other people!!

Unknown said...

J.L. Hudson's Ethnobotanical Catalog of Seeds- awesome, inexpensive, well stocked and has good info. They have some glauca seeds and I thought I'd share:

(http://www.jlhudsonseeds.net/SeedlistN.htm)

NEW--Nicotiana glauca (=arborea). (a!,h) NICO-15. Packet: $2.00 Click for photo »
'TREE TOBACCO', 'DON JUAN', 'ISIL-PIVAT' (Cahuilla Indian name). Bright yellow, tubular shaped 1 1/2" flowers in large, pendant clusters. Graceful tree or shrub to 20 feet, with striking glaucous-blue foliage. Argentina. Grown outdoors in the Southwest, or as a stately tub plant in the North. Sometimes grown as an annual in the border for the bold foliage. Valued by Indians for smoking, chewing, drinking, and medicinal uses. Said to contain only trace nicotine, its major alkaloid is anabasine, similar in action, but much less toxic. Highly toxic to aphids. Hardy to about 15°F. I have had it flower in a 3" pot when 1 foot tall. Attracts hummingbirds and sphinx moths. Fresh seed often dormant, and needs GA-3, but seed a year or two old germinates readily in 1 - 2 weeks.

Unknown said...

hey, check this out. the Amerikkkan government says that Nicotiana rustica is growing wild in Illinois! check out the range map here:

http://plants.usda.gov/java/county?state_name=Illinois&statefips=17&symbol=NIRU

Panic in New York said...

Waz up Badger?