Chalice (pipe)

Last updated
Chalice Wisdom Chalice.jpg
Chalice

A chalice, also known as a wisdom chalice or chillum chalice, is a type of cannabis smoking pipe used most often by members of the Jamaican Rastafari movement. It is a type of water pipe used for smoking.

Contents

Design

It is a type of water pipe with a hose or drawtube for inhaling; the water cools and filters the smoke. The hose provides additional airspace for cooling. A screen embedded in the crater protects against drawing in burning particles to clog the interior. The marijuana is finely cut and placed on top of a clay cone, called "kutchie". [1]

Spiritual practice

The word chalice (along other permutations such as chalwa, chali, etc.) is often used to refer to marijuana itself, which certain Rastafari consider to be of specific religious importance as they believe it is a gift from Jah. [1] The term "lick the chalice" refers to Rasta communing with Jah. [2] [3] A group of practitioners gather in a communal meeting, known as "groundations," a prayer is said, and the chalice lit and passed counter-clockwise among the group. [4]

A bong-like chillum equipped with a water filtration chamber is sometimes referred to as a chalice, based on a quote from the Biblical book of Deuteronomy. [5] Thanks and praises are offered to Jah before smoking the chillum. [6]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bong</span> Device used for smoking tobacco, cannabis, or other herbal drugs

A bong is a filtration device generally used for smoking cannabis, tobacco, or other herbal substances. In the bong shown in the photo, the smoke flows from the lower port on the left to the upper port on the right.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rastafari</span> Religion originating in 1930s Jamaica

Rastafari, sometimes called Rastafarianism, is an Abrahamic religion that developed in Jamaica during the 1930s. It is classified as both a new religious movement and a social movement by scholars of religion. There is no central authority in control of the movement and much diversity exists among practitioners, who are known as Rastafari, Rastafarians, or Rastas.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hookah</span> Type of water pipe

A hookah, shisha, or waterpipe is a single- or multi-stemmed instrument for heating or vaporizing and then smoking either tobacco, flavored tobacco, or sometimes cannabis, hashish and opium. The smoke is passed through a water basin—often glass-based—before inhalation.

The Bobo Ashanti, also known as the Ethiopian African Black International Congress (EABIC), is a religious group originating in Bull Bay near Kingston, Jamaica. The title of Bobo Ashanti essentially means "Black warrior".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chillum (pipe)</span> Conical pipe used to smoke marijuana

A chillum, or chilam, is a straight conical smoking pipe traditionally made of either clay or a soft stone. It was used popularly in India in the eighteenth century and still often used to smoke marijuana. A small stone is often used as a stopper in the stem. The style of pipe spread to Africa, and has been known in the Americas since the 1960s. A chillum pipe is used in Rastafari rituals.

The Ethiopian Zion Coptic Church is a religious movement that originated in Jamaica during the 1940s and later spread to the United States, being incorporated in Florida in 1975. It espouses a form of Christianity that embraces the teachings of Marcus Garvey, self-reliance, and Pan-Africanism. Their ceremonies include bible reading, chanting, and music incorporating elements from Nyahbinghi, Burru, Kumina and other indigenous traditions. The group holds many beliefs in common with the Rastafari, including the use of marijuana as a sacrament, but differ from most Rastas on the matter of Haile Selassie's divinity.

Iyaric, also called Dread Talk, is a language consciously created by members of the Rastafari movement. When Africans were taken into captivity as a part of the slave trade, English was imposed as a colonial language and their traditional African languages were lost. In defiance, the Rastafari movement created a modified English vocabulary and dialect, with the aim of liberating their language from its history as a tool of colonial oppression. This is accomplished by avoiding sounds and words with negative connotations, such as "back", and changing them to positive ones. Iyaric sometimes also plays a liturgical role among Rastas, in addition to Amharic and Ge'ez.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mansions of Rastafari</span> Various groups of the Rastafari movement

Mansions of Rastafari is an umbrella term for the various groups of the Rastafari movement. Such groups include the Bobo Ashanti, the Niyabinghi, the Twelve Tribes of Israel, and several smaller groups, including African Unity, Covenant Rastafari, Messianic Dreads, SeeGold Empire, and the Selassian Church. The term is taken from the Biblical verse in John 14:2, "In my Father's house are many mansions."

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cannabis and religion</span> Entheogenic use of marijuana

Different religions have varying stances on the use of cannabis, historically and presently. In ancient history some religions used cannabis as an entheogen, particularly in the Indian subcontinent where the tradition continues on a more limited basis.

A gravity bong, also known as a GB, bucket bong, grav, geeb, gibby, yoin, or ghetto bong, is a method of consuming smokable substances such as cannabis. The term describes both a bucket bong and a waterfall bong, since both use air pressure and water to draw smoke. A lung uses similar equipment but instead of water draws the smoke by removing a compacted plastic bag or similar from the chamber.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cannabis smoking</span> Inhalation of marijuana fumes

Cannabis smoking is the inhalation of smoke or vapor released by heating the flowers, leaves, or extracts of cannabis and releasing the main psychoactive chemical, Δ9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), which is absorbed into the bloodstream via the lungs. Archaeological evidence indicates cannabis with high levels of THC was being smoked at least 2,500 years ago. As of 2021, cannabis is the most commonly consumed federally illegal drug in the United States, with 36.4 million people consuming it monthly.

Persecution of members of the Rastafari movement, an Abrahamic religion founded in Jamaica in the early 1930s among Afro-Jamaican communities, has been fairly continuous since the movement began but nowadays is particularly concerning their spiritual use of cannabis.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Smoking pipe</span> Device used for smoking

A smoking pipe is used to taste the smoke of a burning substance; most common is a tobacco pipe. Pipes are commonly made from briar, heather, corn, meerschaum, clay, cherry, glass, porcelain, ebonite and acrylic.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">One-hitter (smoking)</span> Type of smoking pipe

A one-hitter is typically a slender pipe with a screened narrow bowl designed for a single inhalation, or "hit", of smoke or vapor from a small serving of heated cannabis flower, tobacco leaf or other dry, sifted herbal preparation. It is distinguished from western-style large-bowl pipes designed for strong tobaccos that are burned hot and tasted but not inhaled. Instead, by properly distancing a lighter flame below the opening, inhalant users operate at vaporization temperatures, minimizing combustion waste and toxicity.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cannabis culture</span> Culture relating to cannabis

Cannabis culture describes a social atmosphere or series of associated social behaviors that depends heavily upon cannabis consumption, particularly as an entheogen, recreational drug and medicine.

Nyabinghi, also Nyahbinghi, Niyabinghi, Niyahbinghi, is the gathering of Rastafari people to celebrate and commemorate key dates significant to Rastafari throughout the year. It is essentially an opportunity for the Rastafari to congregate and engage in praise and worship. For example, on July 23 of each year, a Nyabinghi is held to celebrate the birth of Emperor Haille Selassie I. During a Nyabinghi celebration men and women have different roles and expectations. Men are expected to remove any hair coverings, whilst women must keep their hair covered. A group of men typically organise themselves in a line or semi-circle and are assigned to beat the drums throughout. The remaining congregation continue to sing well known songs or 'chants', some of which are Hebraic scriptural verses that evidence the divinity of Haile Sellassie. For example, 'I have a little light in I and I'm going to make it shine, Rastafariiii, shine' and 'Holy Mount Zion is a holy place and no sinners can enter there, so let the words of my mouth and the mediation of my heart, be acceptable in thy sight, of Rastafari'. Nyabinghi is a Rastafari tradition that promotes Rastafari unity, strengthens the Rastafari spirit with fellowship and raises the consciousness and presence of Rastafafari in the heart of those in attendance. At some points passages of the bible are read. Rastafari recognise the significance of Jesus Christ, due to Haile Sellassie I fulfilling the teachings and prophecy of scripture.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cannabis in Jamaica</span> Use of cannabis in Jamaica

Cannabis in Jamaica is illegal, but possession of small amounts was reduced to a petty offence in 2015. Cannabis is locally known as ganja, and internationally cannabis consumption plays a prominent role in the nation's public image, being tied to cultural touchstones such as Rastafari and reggae music. Ganja tourists have been welcomed in the 21st century.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Entheogenic use of cannabis</span> Marijuana used spiritually

Cannabis has served as an entheogen—a chemical substance used in religious or spiritual contexts—in the Indian subcontinent since the Vedic period dating back to approximately 1500 BCE, but perhaps as far back as 2000 BCE. It was introduced to the New World by the Spaniards in 1530-1545. Cannabis has been used by shamanic and pagan cultures to ponder deeply religious and philosophical subjects related to their tribe or society, to achieve a form of enlightenment, to unravel unknown facts and realms of the human mind and subconscious, and also as an aphrodisiac during rituals or orgies. There are several references in Greek mythology to a powerful drug that eliminated anguish and sorrow. Herodotus wrote about early ceremonial practices by the Scythians, thought to have occurred from the 5th to 2nd century BCE. Itinerant Hindu saints have used it in the Indian subcontinent for centuries. Mexican-Indian communities occasionally use cannabis in religious ceremonies by leaving bundles of it on church altars to be consumed by the attendees.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Glossary of cannabis terms</span>

Terms related to cannabis include:

The Rastafari movement developed out of the legacy of the Atlantic slave trade, in which over ten million Africans were enslaved and transported to the Americas between the 16th and 19th centuries. Once there, they were sold to European planters and forced to work on the plantations. Around a third of these transported Africans were relocated in the Caribbean, with under 700,000 being settled in Jamaica. In 1834, slavery in Jamaica was abolished after the British government passed the Slavery Abolition Act 1833. Racial prejudice nevertheless remained prevalent across Jamaican society. The overwhelming majority of Jamaica's legislative council was white throughout the 19th century, and those of African descent were treated as second-class citizens.

References

  1. 1 2 "What Is A Chalice And How To Smoke With One". herb.co. Retrieved 2023-03-07.
  2. Nathaniel Samuel Murrell (1 January 1998). Chanting Down Babylon: The Rastafari Reader. Temple University Press. pp. 75–. ISBN   978-1-56639-584-7.
  3. Charles Price (1 September 2009). Becoming Rasta: Origins of Rastafari Identity in Jamaica. NYU Press. pp. 193–. ISBN   978-0-8147-6768-9.
  4. Philip W. Scher (2010). Perspectives on the Caribbean: A Reader in Culture, History, and Representation. John Wiley & Sons. pp. 212–. ISBN   978-1-4051-0565-1.
  5. The Rastafari by Maria Baptist
  6. The Rastafarians by Leonard E. Barrett 1988