Filling and Passing the Pipe

There are many different traditional ways of lighting, smoking and handling a Pipe.  I will only share the ways that I use.  Once again, there is no one correct way and each Pipe will eventually teach you how it wants to be used. Pay attention to what you do and use when the Pipe burns well and also when it doesn’t. This is one way it tells you how to care for it.

For instance, I care for a Pipe who wants to be lit only with lightning struck wood.  I know of Pipes who do not respond well to butane lighters, or only burn well when lit with a coal from a fire.  I also know of many Pipes who can be lit with anything from a lighter to book matches.  It all depends on the individual Pipe.  Some common guidelines for handling a Pipe follow.

I would like to take you through a step-by-step loading or filling of the Pipe.  As I said previously, it is never done exactly the same way twice, but this will give you an idea of how it can be done.  I might add here that in some traditions, a special song is sung during the filling of the Pipe.  In others, as is in mine, there is no song, but prayers and requests are made in a certain order.  Please remember this is the tradition I follow.  You will need to work with the Pipe who comes into your care, to find out which method you should follow.

The following smudging “protocol�?is the same one I use when preparing the tobacco ties mentioned previously.  The first thing I do is burn some flat cedar, to make the area clear of any negativity.  I then smudge myself and everything to be used in the ceremony with sage to wash away spiritual “dirt.�? After I wash myself, I then pass all items to be used through the smoke to cleanse them.  This includes the tobacco bag, which I open and wave some of the smoke into.  Lastly, I wash the Pipe itself.

In my tradition, one never blows on any kind of burning smudge, but instead fans it with your hand, feathers or simply by waving it back and forth, to keep it burning. It is considered disrespectful to the Spirit of the herb to blow your breath onto the smudge. After each item to be used in the ceremony is cleansed, I pass the stem of the Pipe through the smoke from East to West, then from South to North, followed by drawing the sage smoke up through the hole in the stem with my mouth.  I pass the bowl through the smoke in a clockwise circle, allowing the smoke to enter both holes in it

Often I will wet the tang of the Pipe (the part that fits into the bowl) with my mouth in order to swell the wood and provide for a good fit and seal.  I lift the Pipe bowl in my left hand, the one closest to my heart, and the stem in my right up to the Great Mystery and speak about the symbolism of the male and female being joined to become of great service to all our relations.  Part of this thought is not necessarily the joining of a man and a woman, but more in finding the balance of both male and female within oneself.  I give thanks for the gift of the Pipe and for all those who were involved in bringing me to it.

I join the two parts and say �?I>Whe en day Yaa,�?Cherokee for “I am part of the Great Mystery,�?or the Lakota would say �?I>Mitakuye Oyasin�?meaning “we are all related.�?SPAN>  Depending on the Pipe, I then either place it on a rack made of willow with the stem pointing in one of the cardinal directions or I hold the bowl in my left hand and rest the stem in the crook of my left arm.  At this point sweetgrass is lit so it burns along with the sage. It is good to try to keep the sweetgrass burning for the entire time I am filling the Pipe.  Sweetgrass smoke provides a pleasant pathway for the beneficial Spirits I will be calling on to come and assist me.  Sweetgrass is sometimes hard to keep burning and I often ask the assistance of someone to hold it and wave or fan it for me.

Now I start to fill the Pipe with the mixture I have prepared.  In some traditions, the mix is prepared fresh before each use on a special platter made just for the occasion.  I take a small pinch of the mix in my right hand and move it in a clockwise circle through the smoke of the sweetgrass.  I hold it up to the East and ask the Spirits responsible for the things of that direction to come join me in the ceremony.  After I ask for their help, I place the mix in the Pipe bowl.  A new pinch is used for each direction or prayer.

It should be noted here, aside from the main Spirits who represent each direction, there are Spirits I personally associate with that direction.  For instance, I call on the Spirit of the Sun in the East, as does most any tradition.  But I also call on a Spirit who has personally helped me in the past but that might not apply to someone else (such as a Spirit like Badger).  So, it is I call out towards the East, “Grandfather Sun, would you come and join us in this ceremony today?  We need your help.�?SPAN>  I also call out to the Spirit of Badger, “will you come to our assistance here today?  There is a place for you all here in this Pipe, this place of council.�?SPAN>  In some cases the personal Spirit may be a departed loved one.  And so it is I call to the South next and those who live there, then to those in the West, then to the ones in the North.

At this point I kneel down and touch the earth with the mix in my hand, calling on all my relations who dwell in, on, and above my Mother.  This is followed by lifting a pinch up to the Great Mystery in the heavens and requesting all who dwell with it come and join us, for there is a place in the Pipe for them also.

Finally, I hold some of the mix to my heart and call on my own Spirit - some call it the higher self - to join in this council, for there is a place in the Pipe for me.  I represent all two-leggeds.  It is very humbling to realize we have a place in this council chamber next to the greatest beings of Creation, but it is true.

Next I hold a pinch in my fingers and put the requests or prayers into the mix.  When the mix is transformed from physical (the herbs) into spiritual (smoke) by the fire, the prayers are carried up and dispersed into the whole universe and come to the attention of the Great Mystery.

Now that the Pipe is fully loaded with the mix as well as our requests, I generally light it. 

 First, I face the East and light the Pipe.  I draw the smoke into my mouth but not into my lungs, blowing the smoke down onto the Pipe first, then washing smoke over my head/mind with my hand.  I offer smoke to the four directions, starting with the East, by blowing it along the Pipe with the stem pointing towards that direction.  After each of the four directions has been addressed, I follow the same pattern as when filling the Pipe.  I blow smoke towards Mother Earth, then towards the sky and finally I hold the Pipe bowl to my heart, the last of the seven directions, blowing smoke over the union of my heart and the Pipe.

If there are others present I pass the Pipe around the circle in a clockwise direction, honoring the direction of all life, the direction of the sun.  If the Pipe makes it all the way around the circle of participants and there is still mixture to be burned, the remainder is smoked until it is all consumed. 

Now that we have almost completed the ceremony, I place the tip of the Pipe bowl to the Earth with the stem pointing towards the East at a 45^o angle towards the sky.  As I part the stem from the bowl of the Pipe, I speak to the Spirits who have gathered, telling them how grateful we are they joined us.  I then send them back “home�?with our blessings. 

This is a very important thing to do.  It is always important to be polite to the Spirits.  As mentioned previously, putting a Pipe together starts the ceremony and “activates�?the Spirits.  If you put a Pipe together, you start a chain of events that cannot be stopped, whether or not you actually complete the ceremony.  The ceremony has been designed to give a constructive channel or direction for the power set in motion by assembling a Pipe.  If that power is not properly directed, it can cause things to go awry.  If you do not place an end to the ceremony, the Spirits who have attended may not work in conjunction with your intentions, as they are left “hanging.�?SPAN>  They may cause mischief or other things in order to get our attention, possibly to teach us to respect them and the traditions we have inherited.

As mentioned before, I always end by smudging everything again with sage, letting the smoke enter the holes of the bowl.  I then plug them with wads of sage.  This will keep the “Council lodge�?(the bowl) clean and ready for the next “gathering.�?SPAN>  Everything is then wrapped, placed carefully back into the Pipe bag, and kept in a safe place until the next ceremony.

When accepting a Pipe being passed to you, use your left hand to hold the bowl; it is the one closest to your heart.  Pass the Pipe in a clockwise direction unless for specific ceremonial reasons you are directed to do otherwise.  Usually the one who lights the Pipe will blow or offer smoke to the different directions.  Others to whom the Pipe is passed may do various things with the smoke, but in some traditions, it is considered an insult to the caretaker of the Pipe to offer smoke to the directions after they have already done it.  It is as if you are saying they didn’t do it well enough.  I usually have people take four puffs and they can offer it up however they want.  <

When passing the Pipe to the next person, hand it to them with your left hand on the bowl, bowl first, and your right hand on the stem.  When receiving the Pipe, rotate the stem around to your mouth so the stem goes in a clockwise direction, thus completing the circle started by the one who hands it to you. Also, always hold the Pipe by the bowl, not just the stem. This will prevent the bowl from falling off the stem as is passed.

by Jim Tree