A random thought about tobaccos use in magic.

[Decibellistics]

For instance, tobacco as used as a ritual offering is a protective herb. Some sources say it rids spirits, both negative and positive, from your space....
Speculation more or less......getting massive amounts of people addicted to cigarettes and smoking it....which in essence would still rid the spirits I'd imagine. It is certainly a grounding tool when smoked....hmmmm

I guess the implication of tobacco addiction would be that if there are positive spirits attempting to make contact with you......the addiction itself botches it, which would be a wall that one would need to break. Random mumblings...any thoughts?

[TigaHawk]

I used to smoke alot, allmost a pack a day, started when i was in highschool. I quit allmost a year ago now due to falling in love with a non-smoker :p


I'm unsure about if it grounds you in that way, i've never been lucky with feeling anything spiritual or seeing anything.


One thing i can definately attest too...... im sure as hell happier.... and not in a small way.... its hard to explain..... hmm..... my life is brighter?



I do however, still smoke a very very very small portion of tobacco...... but its' only when i'm doing the herbal remadies thing.


P.S - When you start coughing up black stuff it's easy as anything to quit cold turkey ;)

[bluestflame]

communication enhancer with the ethers

it's the chemicals in processed tobacco that are the problem

[Ross]

I think any type of poisons, chemicals (200+ in processed fags, ) will hinder certain clarities and 'clear-ness' I know they do for me...

Regards,
Ross

[Swami]

it's the chemicals in processed tobacco that are the problem

Exactly my thoughts. Tabacco itself isn't dangerous. The "goodies" that are addited are the problem.......

[wynderer]

i read somewhere that the reptilians can't stand the smell or taste of tobacco -- here in the USA there is a big drive against smoking tobacco -- many states have outlawed smoking in public places, including bars -- & it is becoming p.c. to make nasty comments about smokers to their faces in public

there's also a lot of propaganda associating the rise in cancer w/smoking tobacco, ignoring all the worse assaults on the Earth & human bodies, like chemtrails & the atrocious diet of most USA citizens

i recently quit smoking because my body was saying NO, even tho i smoked roll-my-own organic -- but i really don't think whether or not someone smokes is any business of the government's

i do think that the smoke itself keeps spirits in general at a distance -- also, for me, smoking seemed to suppress my emotions

[lightblue]

Re: A random thought about tobaccos use in magic.

i read somewhere that the reptilians can't stand the smell or taste of tobacco -- here in the USA there is a big drive against smoking tobacco -- many states have outlawed smoking in public places, including bars -- & it is becoming p.c. to make nasty comments about smokers to their faces in public


get a cat..it's probably more or at least as efficient as tobaco (didn't know about the tobaco having that effect)..cats can smell/hear them at a huge distance and cannot bear them...same goes for the reptiles in relation to cats...thet don't get along and a good cat would give you a timely warning...l



.

[kcw_one]

Interesting thread. Many perspectives to consider in the tobacco debate. Plants have been growing on this planet for way longer than we have been here farming them, and it is true that there are a great host of plants that have healing or spiritual properties. It seems that once humans muck around with the cultivation and processing of the plants the problems start. The coca plant has been a useful plant to many people for thousands of years but has now become a serious problem with refining it into cocaine. It depends on how these plants are used, as well as the state of the individual using them.

It is a well documented fact that there are a pant-load of chemicals added to commercial tobacco -- ones to make them more addictive, burn in a certain way, have a longer shelf-life, etc. All of them are unnecessary and quite harmful. I am a smoker who has stopped and started a number of times, and I have tried additive free tobacco at times as well. There is a certain effect that the smoke has on me that I am drawn to, even though I do feel better on the whole when I do not smoke. There is some purpose to this plant, though like any other medicinal plant it must be used with great care and moderation.

[Solphilos]

As for the shamanic uses of the plant, I guess it depends on who you talk to.

In some traditions, it is used to dispel negative entities/energies, and in others it is used as a sacrament to attract spirits.

Personally, I use intuitively as a smudging incense on occasion, and chemically as an enhancement to other psychoactive plants, or alone as an easier way to slip into altered states of consciousness.

We must also remember that the indigenous cultures don't use the low-nicotine tobacco used most in our societies, but Nicotiana Rustica, which has a much higher nicotine content than the commercial variety and also contains Beta-carbolines, which are psychoactive compounds that are also present in Banisteriopsis Caapi, the Ayahuasca vine. The effects of this plant are more profound and even psychedelic at high, often dangerous doses.

[Shairia]

I remember reading several old medical studies on the effects of tobacco (not the additives they introduce into the product) and one of the strongest effects was a notable ability to improve concentration for individuals who partake in it's use. It was shortly after these studies were published that the big anti-smoking campaigns started up in the US. I've always thought it was this effect that worried the controllers. If the effects of toxins and subtle mind control could be countered by smokers then they would have to take some kind of action. It was about the same time that tobacco was being treated with more toxic additives and public smoking bans started infiltrating our society. Just a little something to think about.

[Butangeld]

I smoke American Spirit, which contains no additives. There is a message on the packet that says 'No additives in our tobacco does not mean a safer cigarette' Talk about legal requirements! Following this logic one would conclude that arsenic was a safe additive...

Anyhow, I always thought it a stretch to blame every unwanted disease on smoking. But it even came as a shock to me to discover that the link between lung cancer and smoking was never actually proven, it's an urban myth. I mean smoking is not a health routine, but why is the oldest British man alive today a smoker and drinker of whiskey. I'm getting mixed signals.

It's not smoking that kills you it's allowing your immune system to become weak and ineffective that kills you. The bozos that get paid to say it does kill you will pretty much say anything to expediate their careers. In times gone by they'd have probably sacrificed their youngest daughter or something to ward off the bad sick-man-monster.

[Solphilos]

I smoke American Spirit, which contains no additives. There is a message on the packet that says 'No additives in our tobacco does not mean a safer cigarette' Talk about legal requirements! Following this logic one would conclude that arsenic was a safe additive...

Anyhow, I always thought it a stretch to blame every unwanted disease on smoking. But it even came as a shock to me to discover that the link between lung cancer and smoking was never actually proven, it's an urban myth. I mean smoking is not a health routine, but why is the oldest British man alive today a smoker and drinker of whiskey. I'm getting mixed signals.

It's not smoking that kills you it's allowing your immune system to become weak and ineffective that kills you. The bozos that get paid to say it does kill you will pretty much say anything to expediate their careers. In times gone by they'd have probably sacrificed their youngest daughter or something to ward off the bad sick-man-monster.

Well, smoking anything certainly does increase your chances of getting ill, as our lungs are designed to breathe fresh oxygen, not burnt plant material. Tobacco is often linked with cancer due to the presence of nitrosamines, which are a group of carcinogens that are a natural by-product of the curing process. So yes, tobacco is potentially hazardous on it's own, commercial tobacco even more so due to infinite list of toxic additives often added.
Many people can, and do smoke tobacco without ever becoming ill. Just because a person uses tobacco doesn't mean that there is a guarantee that they will become sick, only that there chances are increased by adding a pollutant to the body. The problem with most people is that they don't understand moderation, not only in tobacco products but in general. Too much junk food, too much television, too much caffeine, too much alcohol, etc. etc. It's usually not one of these things that kills people, it's over consumption of too many things that the body cannot deal with. Our bodies are remarkably resilient and can often take a great deal of abuse and still manage to heal itself, but over time it can become over burdened and cease to function properly.
Again, all things in moderation and no one should have any issues.