Hapé (or rapé) is a sacred Amazonian medicine revered for its ability to ground, cleanse, and align the spirit. However, working with this powerful tool requires care, respect, and intention to unlock its full potential. In this guide, you’ll discover 13 common mistakes people make when using Hapé—such as improper dosing, skipping prayer, or neglecting sacred space—and learn practical tips to avoid them. Whether you’re seeking deeper healing, spiritual alignment, or a stronger connection with Father Tobacco, this guide will help you honor the medicine and enhance your practice.

Mistake 1: Using Hapé With a Weakened Force

• Why it matters: Father Tobacco’s force can weaken over time, especially when Hapé is removed from the jungle. Improper storage can further diminish its sacred energy.
• How to avoid it: Source your Hapé directly from trusted tribes or practitioners who honor traditional preparation methods. Store it in a glass jar (not metal, which can zap the force faster) and keep it in a cool, dry place. In our online Hapé Training, we also teach you how to recharge your Hapé to ensure Father Tobacco’s force stays strong and vibrant even outside the jungle.

Mistake 2: Not Knowing the Source or Prayers in Your Hapé

• Why it matters: Hapé carries the prayers and intentions of those who prepare it. Some tribes or individuals may work with energies or intentions that don’t align with your values, including black magic (which is more common than you’d think). Father Tobacco is a powerful carrier of intention, so using Hapé with negative energy can affect your experience and spiritual path.
• How to avoid it: Always source your Hapé from a trusted and reputable provider. Ensure the preparation aligns with pure, positive intentions and traditional practices. Our Hapé Apothecary offers high-quality, ethically sourced Hapé made with respect and care, so you can trust the energy and prayers infused in the medicine.

Mistake 3: Skipping Intention and Prayer

• Why it matters: Hapé is a vehicle for intention, which is why I often refer to tobacco as the crystal of the plant kingdom because of its ability to be easily programmed, much like a crystal. Without prayer or clear focus, you miss a significant opportunity to maximize the benefits of the medicine, as its potential for healing and alignment diminishes.
• How to avoid it: Before application, take a moment to center yourself. Set a clear intention, whether for grounding, cleansing, or spiritual insight. Infuse your prayer into the medicine as you prepare it. In our training, we delve deeply into how to powerfully infuse your prayer into the medicine, sharing both modern techniques and traditional methods to enhance your connection with Hapé.

Mistake 4: Incorrect Dosing

• Why it matters: Using too much Hapé can lead to an intense process you may not be prepared for, while using too little might not align with your intention or activate its full potential. The amount of Hapé should match your purpose—whether it’s for energy, relaxation, or healing.
• How to avoid it: Adjust your dose based on your intention. For more energy, use a smaller amount with a strong, focused blow. For relaxation, use a larger amount to allow the medicine to ground and calm you. If your goal is deep healing, use more Hapé than usual and prepare yourself for a profound process, which may include emotional release or purging. We cover these dosing techniques and more in detail in our online Hapé Training.

Mistake 5: Not Becoming a Sacred Space Before Serving

• Why it matters: Serving Hapé is a sacred act that requires you to embody the energy you wish to hold for others. If you are not grounded, centered, or aligned, it can disrupt the energy of the session and impact the recipient’s experience. Your state of being directly influences the medicine’s flow and the space you create.
• How to avoid it: Before serving, take time to ground yourself through meditation, breathwork, or prayer. Clear your energy field and set a strong intention to hold a safe and sacred space. A great way to do this is to serve yourself hapé before serving others. This also allows you to get in connection with Father Tobacco so you can more powerfully call his force when you bless the medicine you are serving. Ensure you are in a balanced state emotionally, mentally, and spiritually.

Mistake 6: Lame Prayer

• Why it matters: Prayer is the foundation of working with Hapé. An unpowerful or unclear prayer can dilute the medicine’s potential, leaving the experience unfocused and less impactful. The spirit of Hapé responds to the energy and intention you bring, amplifying your prayer when it is clear and heartfelt.
• How to avoid it: Approach your prayer with sincerity and focus. Take time to connect with your heart and align your energy before working with the medicine. In our Hapé Training, we teach techniques to craft powerful, intentional prayers that resonate deeply with the spirit of the medicine, enhancing your connection and the transformative potential of your practice. We also teach a more traditional hapé prayer

Mistake 7: Not Creating or Holding Sacred Space

• Why it matters: The environment you use for Hapé directly impacts the energy and depth of your experience. A chaotic or energetically unclean space can block the medicine’s flow and diminish its healing potential.
• How to avoid it: Begin by cleansing the space with tools like sage, palo santo, or copal to remove stagnant energy. Create a sacred atmosphere by lighting a candle, arranging meaningful objects like crystals or sacred symbols, and playing grounding music. Take a moment to center yourself with breathwork or meditation, ensuring your energy is aligned before working with the medicine.

Mistake 8: Not Deepening Your Connection with Father Tobacco

• Why it matters: A true connection with Father Tobacco begins with a proper initiation. Traditionally, this is done through a tobacco initiation ceremony, which establishes your relationship with the spirit of the plant. Without this foundational step, your work with Hapé may lack depth and alignment. Additionally, shamans deepen their bond with tobacco through a tobacco dieta, a sacred practice that merges the medicine’s wisdom with their own, creating a profound spiritual partnership. One way to think of the ceremony is as “dating” Father Tobacco and the dieta as “marrying” him.
• How to avoid it: Start your journey with a tobacco initiation ceremony to lay the groundwork for a meaningful relationship with Father Tobacco. For those ready to go deeper, consider participating in a tobacco dieta to fully integrate his teachings and medicine into your life. You can join us for a ceremony or stay tuned for details on our upcoming dieta offerings.

Mistake 9: Underuse of Hapé

• Why it matters: Using Hapé too infrequently can prevent you from fully experiencing its transformative potential. Regular use allows the medicine to purify your energy, keep you grounded, and deepen your connection with Father Tobacco. Without consistent practice, you may miss out on the profound healing and alignment Hapé offers.
• How to avoid it: Work with Hapé regularly and intentionally, treating it as a sacred tool to support your spiritual journey. Tribal people often use Hapé throughout the day without concern, as it is approached with respect and reverence. By honoring the medicine and incorporating it into your routine, you can cultivate a balanced and meaningful relationship with it.

Mistake 10: Worrying About Addiction to Hapé

• Why it matters: Many people associate tobacco with addiction due to the chemicals added to commercial cigarettes. However, studies show that pure tobacco, like the Amazonian mapacho used in Hapé, is not inherently addictive. Tribal communities use Hapé throughout the day without concern for addiction because they approach it as a sacred tool rather than a habit.
• How to avoid it: Shift your perspective and treat Hapé as a spiritual ally rather than a substance for casual use. When used with intention, prayer, and respect, Hapé becomes a tool for grounding, cleansing, and spiritual alignment, not something to fear. By honoring its sacred nature and avoiding misuse, you can cultivate a balanced and meaningful relationship with the medicine.

Mistake 11: Not Being Properly Trained

• Why it matters: While it’s possible to simply blow Hapé up your nose or learn from random YouTube videos, these approaches often lack the depth and understanding needed to fully honor and maximize the medicine’s potential. Without proper training, you miss the opportunity to connect with the deeper teachings and practices that make Hapé a truly transformative tool. Additionally, relying on rigid methods can limit your ability to adapt the practice to your unique journey. Understanding the “why” behind traditional use allows you to create a practice that is both respectful and personal.
• How to avoid it: To truly learn Hapé traditionally, one must spend significant time in the jungle, living with the tribes and immersing themselves in their sacred practices. This is how Txana Seberūa spent over 10 years in the jungle, learning from many tribes and mastering the ways of Hapé. Fortunately, he is now sharing this wisdom with us through our Online Hapé training. Combined with Shamama’s modern Hapé experience, this training offers the best of all worlds—traditional Hapé wisdom and modern techniques—allowing you to learn in hours what would otherwise take decades.

Mistake 12: Serving Hapé When You Are Not Aligned

• Why it matters: Serving Hapé is a sacred responsibility that requires you to be in a state of alignment. If you are emotionally, mentally, or spiritually off-balance, it can disrupt the energy of the session and negatively impact the recipient’s experience. Your personal medicine gets combined with the hapé’s medicine–and with that comes responsibility of serving with integrity.
• How to avoid it: Before serving Hapé, take time to ground yourself through meditation, breathwork, or prayer. Clear your energy field and set a strong intention to hold a safe and sacred space. Ensure you are centered, balanced, and fully present. In our Hapé Training, we emphasize the importance of becoming a clear and aligned vessel for the medicine, sharing techniques to help you embody the energy needed to support others in their healing journey.

Bonus Mistake: Not Using Enough Hapé or Not Serving Enough

• Why it matters: True healing with Hapé often requires going beyond surface-level experiences. This means using a dose that aligns with the depth of healing you seek, which may involve intense processes such as emotional release or purging. Similarly, when serving others, fear of offering too much medicine can prevent them from accessing the full transformative potential of the experience. You need to be very confident with hapé to dose people properly–neither too much or too little.
• How to avoid it: Approach Hapé with trust and reverence. For personal use, allow yourself to lean into the process, using a dose that supports deeper healing when needed. When serving others, focus on holding a grounded and safe space, free from fear or hesitation. Remember, the medicine works through you, and your role is to support the journey, not control it. In our Hapé Training, we teach how to discern the appropriate dose for different intentions and how to confidently hold space for profound healing experiences.

Working with Hapé requires mindfulness, respect, and intention. By avoiding these common mistakes, you can cultivate a deeper connection with this sacred medicine, honor its profound traditions, and unlock its full transformative potential.

Want to Go Deeper?

If you’re ready to deepen your connection with Hapé, join our online Hapé Training. We teach both traditional and modern approaches to working with this sacred medicine, empowering you to serve yourself and others with integrity and respect. Transform your relationship with Hapé and unlock its full potential through guided practices and wisdom.