Curious article. The author is deeply into the use of psychedelic drugs (for spiritual purposes)--according to the website's statement of intent. If you're not tripping, then you're just an addict. The Yanomamo are not trippy enough.
Tryptophan cogeners that cause synesthesias (psychedelic experiences of sensory crossover, like "seeing" sounds) have a tendency to bind to certain receptor sites in the brain. These bound moieties can then be jostled loose by some of the absorbed chemicals from tobacco, causing a minor trip.
"Besides offering comfort and rest, the stool provides the smoking man who occupies it a self- and world-centered space for meditative communication with the metaphysical powers. Thus, tobacco, cigar holder, and ceremonial bench function as complementary means of conveyance to the otherworld." That would be me, smoking a cigar on my porch.
"The men place the plucked leaves, including stems, into a hot pot and reduce them, under constant stirring, to a dark mash [that is very concentrated]. This is formed into small, round cakes which, when sun- and smoke-dried, become hard. Someone intent on smoking a cigar crumbles up parts of this tobacco and rolls them into a piece of Couratari paper or Musa leaf." This sounds like they are making a Cavendish tobacco, drying it, then crumbling it to smoke in a leaf wrapping.
Bob
