Note: New batches can vary in effect, flavour and consistency.

A forceful and very aromatic Rapé that has the tendency to make the eyes water and to leave one in a very clear state of mind. It has a refreshing effect on the mind and leaves the user in focus and contentment. The aroma of the Tagetes herb clears thinking, relieves tension, aids emotional control. 

This is a special North-South Rapé blend, a meeting of ancestral cultures. This meeting of shamanic cultures has been happening on many levels. There is the Camino Rojo, the Red Path from Mexico where we one finds the meeting of the Condor and the Eagle. In this meeting of cultures and traditions one finds a meeting of healing, Yawanawa partaking of Peyote in the desert, Huicholi Marakame drinking Ayahuasca in the forest and so on. This exchange has been happening since time immemorial: the North Amercian Natives taking Peyote way north, in Brasil the costal Guarani had a trail that stretched out for thousands of kilometres to the Amazon where they walked for months to work with the sacred Ayahuasca. Even the Huicholi themselves had to walk half way through Mexico from the coastal regions where they lived into the Wirikuta desert to their inner sanctum to find their Hikari or Peyote.

This Rapé blend came from a Katukina collaboration between our Brazilian friends and our network of sacred herbs. A nice blend of Corda and Moi Tabaco and Parica ashes, infused with the power of the Huicholi herb called Tagetes Lucida (Mexican Tarragon). As a native Marigold of Mexico and Guatemala, Tagetes lucida is well known by the locals as a substitute for Tarragon (Artemisia dracunculus), and as such is used in teas, vinegars and dishes. The Zapotecs use Tagetes as a primary herb in purification rituals. "Lucida" means: "shining" or "clear".

The plant is popular with the Tarahumara Indians of Chihuahua and is used by the modern Huichol Indians in their religious Peyote (Lophophora williamsii) rituals. The plant is said to enhance closed-eye visions. The botanical genus name Tagetes is in reference to a Roman deity, Tages which, probably, was originally an Etruscan god of prophecy. The species name lucidus means "bright", or "light". In Mexico, Tagetes has been used since pre-Hispanic times with many of its properties ascribed to this plant, known as Yauhtli in the Nahuatl language. The leaves were an important flavouring of "Chocolatl", the foaming Cocoa (Theobroma cacao)-based drink of the Aztec.

Bernal Diaz, one of the Conquistadors sent by Spain to explore middle America, recorded in his diary the Conquistadors astonishment at the gardens of the Aztec Emperor Montezuma, "with their many varieties of flowers and sweet-scented trees... his gardens were a wonderful sight." But plants were not merely used for decorative purposes as Diaz later notes; Montezuma kept a place within the palace gardens for "the healing and useful herbs". The Aztecs had developed a highly sophisticated system in which these healing and useful herbs played a vital part. We know this because, in the wake of the Conquistadors, scholars travelled to the Americas to record the knowledge of the indigenous people in the form of codices and other documents. We can also see traces of traditional uses of herbs in the contemporary use of healing plants by Mexican communities.

When Tagetes Lucida was administered to sacrificial victims, it was as a powder of dried herb, which would be blown into the face of the intended victim. It is not especially likely that this is an effective way of administering the drug. There are manyfold properties to Tagetes Lucida and Erecta, that, although commonplace to us, they actually held a central place in the Aztec world, being both sacred herbs of Tlaloc.

This is an extremely fine and dry powder. It takes great effort to produce such a fine powder at a 150 micron fineness. This is our standard because this provides the best Rapé experience. All our products are processed to a high standard and consistent fineness and dryness, using laboratory grade sieves and dehydrating equipment, before packaging.

Other names: Tagetes Lucida, Texas Tarragon, Pericon, Sweet Mace, Mexican Mint Marigold, Sweet Marigold, Sweetscented Marigold, Tzitziqui, Winter Tarragon.

Customer report:
“...On a low to moderate dose, the initial blow fills the nose and throat with a piercing “spicey” aroma, immediately watering the eyes and bringing low to moderate phlegm discharge. As phlegm is released a very noticeable feeling of "brightness" fills our mind and body sensations. The skin feels lit up and alive. The mind feels elevated, uplifted; the brain completely lit up. This is not a grounding and rooting Rapé; quite the opposite, it brings a bright energy into the head that cuts right through all mental tiredness, fog, dullness, and cognitive confusion. Leaving the mind with an exquisite sense of shinning mental brightness and clarity. Bright Mind, New Mind! Katukina Team, thank you once again for an amazing Rapé..."

Other names: Tagetes Lucida

This item is not allowed in the following countries:

Finland