The World History of Pipe Smoking

The history of smoking pipe use is as diverse as the people who use them for ritual, religious, and spiritual reasons. The Catholic Church has used incense as part of their ritual of purification for centuries. Hippocrates of Cos II or Hippokrates of Kos (circa 460 B.C. circa 370 B.C.), the historic first specialist of scientific medicine, prescribed inhaling for his patients with gynecological infections. The Romans inhaled the smoke of lavender, mint and oregano. They used a simple reed or a modified marrow bone as a pipe. They also used a pipe made of clay.

According to archaeologists and historians, the first pipes were found during a dig in the region of Yorkshire, United Kingdom. The second pipes that were found were very small and called elfin pipes. But, these finds were excavated in the 17th century. The story of the ritual, religious, and spiritual use of the pipe has been traced to before the 15th century A.D.!

In the New World, the Aztecs, Mayans, Toltec, and other Native American cultures for health purposes as well as to celebrate religious and business events. Africans used tubes to sniff or inhale various types of herbs. Historians say that the first culture to use tobacco with a pipe-like device for smoking was the Mayans of Mexico and Central America.

Explorers coming to the New World found natives smoking pipes. In 1519, the Spanish explorer, Cortez reported finding tribes in Mexico smoking from perfumed reeds. The French explorer, Jacques Cartier, said that native Canadians in the Northwest using pipe smoking for ritual ceremonies. In 1559, Spain imported the first tobacco from the New World. They used tobacco as a medicinal herb and thought that the smoke was good for the lungs when smoked.

Jean Nicot, the French ambassador to Portugal, used tobacco in a powdered form for health reasons like migraines, minor aches, and pains. During this period, men of the lower classes began to use tobacco in clay pipes for pleasure; however, it was Sir Walter Raleigh who introduced pipe smoking to the court of Queen Elizabeth I of England in 1590. Raleigh had learned about the pleasurable use of pipe smoking from Ralph Lane, the first Governor of Virginia. Raleigh helped spread the use of pipe smoking among the fashionable British aristocracy. England began the production of pipes.

By 1602, pipe smoking had spread all over Europe, India, China and Japan.

A peace pipe is also called a calumet or medicine. It is a ceremonial smoking pipe used by many Native American peoples. According to tradition, the pipe is a token of peace. The bowl of the pipe is usually made from red pipestone. It has been commonly found in South Dakota. Warring tribes made this their neutral ground. Many holy religious ceremonies are done in this neutral area. A special blend of herbs or tobacco is usually used. Each regional area uses plants that have special qualities or have been cleared for special use by the various tribes.

The European term peace pipe refers to only one type of pipe and one way it was used. Ceremonial pipes were used by the Lakota Sioux in the New World as a means of sending prayers or wishes. The construction of the pipe and the smoking mixture is symbolic. It forms a bridge believed quite important for contacting the spirit world that assists with fate or the end of problem. The pipe stem symbolizes the male in the world as well as nature. This is why a piece of fur was often wrapped around the bowl of the pipe. The female in the world and plant kingdom is represented by the bowl. The entire pipe (bowl and stem) is the genesis of the World.

The burning tobacco in the pipe allows prayers to come to the attention of the forces of the Higher Power. Traditionally, pipes have been adorned with feathers, fur, animal hair, bird wings, plants, beadwork, quills, carvings and other items of personal significance to the owner.

Peace pipes come in many sizes: palm sized, short, round, and horn shaped. They have carefully carved into animal or human configurations. There are short and long pipes. The two foot long pipes are actually feathered reeds ending in an upright rather than a round bowl. There are many individual uses of the pipe; therefore, there is no one way that cultures conduct their rituals.

Lakota tradition explains that White Buffalo Calf Woman is the aboriginal source of the pipe. It instructs the Lakota people to keep the stem upward during rites and rituals. Thus is constructed the holy bond between this and Wakan Tanka, the creators world.

There are personal family pipes. The Sacred Pipes are not just ordinary pipes. Rather, a real Sacred Pipe is a variety of objects. They are used in coordination with ceremonial songs, dances, prayers, and even silence. These pipes change all the time.

A milder form of tobacco used in commercial tobacco was widely used by the North American native tribes. It was (and is) considered by these tribes to be a sacred plant. Often it was cultivated separately from other plants. There were a great number of ceremonies using specific rituals for sowing and harvesting. Many times it has been burnt over a fire, thrown on water, or left on the ground. It was also smoked in a pipe that was passed around a circle of people. Individual people also smoked it in individual pipes.

In South and Central America, where other forms of tobacco was cultivated, pipes of many sizes and shapes were used.

The anti-smoking offensive by King James of England began in 1603. This campaign led ultimately to the execution of Sir Walter Raleigh in 1618. It is said that Sir Walter Raleighs last act was to smoke a full pipe of tobacco. King James later relented in his anti-smoking tactics. He signed a charter incorporating all British pipe makers, but with complicated laws and rules. Instead of hindering the pipe makers, this action allowed the profession to flourish. Other countries had begun to ban pipes, smoking, and tobacco but later changed their minds as well.

The fine art of smoking a pipe was soon accepted all over the world. In 1794, Pope Benedict issued an edict exonerating the users of tobacco from any sin. Snuff became the rage in Europe while pipes and pipe smoking grew in the New World.

During the Victorian era, pipe smoking became associated with relaxing contemplation beside a fireplace. Cigars came to be considered a great social pastime. Pipes became a more personal and individualistic endeavor.

Today, pipe smoking is gaining in credibility while cigar smoking diminishes.

While the late 1970s and 1980s are referred to as the Golden Age of Pipes, Smokers are turning more and more to finding their relaxation and pleasure from pipes once again. Variety of size, shapes and materials are being used and appeal to the modern day tobacco smokers taste.

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