The room felt warm, like an extension of our energy. Alvaro pulled out a deer pipe and produced a pouch from under his shirt. As he filled the pipe he spoke, “This sacred tobacco has been with us a very long time. This Cuna has sumac, willow bark, tobacco, and a few other things. This pouch belongs to the Elder. He left it for us to enjoy. He tamped the pipe with his thumb and lit it with a piece of cedar. 

      “Hmm,” I wondered.

       Alvaro began to speak as the aroma of cedar and tobacco filled the room. “Robert, hold this in, so that its essence can be absorbed.

       Robert gingerly tasted the pipe and then passed it to Tomas who did not even falter. My turn. Now I don’t particularly like tobacco, so I only took a small puff and to my surprise, it actually didn’t burn my lungs.  I gave the pipe back to Alvaro who knocked it out and filled it again. This time he handed it to me and I to Tomas, then to Robert.  This time Alvaro inhaled more.

       “Hmm,” I thought. I was alert yet relaxed. Invigorated yet calm. My field of energy radiated beyond me and mixed with the radiance within the cave. 

-From Neisthes journals  "Into the Night"