Forever the Forest

“Eu vi um caboclo na mata” (I saw a caboclo in the forest) is a traditional Brazilian song that honours the first peoples of the land and the spirit of the forest. It began as a ponto, a sung prayer of Umbanda, and it travelled into the circles where hapé and other forest medicines are […]

A hapé (rapé) ceremony can be a village gathering in the Amazon, a circle in a retreat centre, or a few people sitting together in a quiet room. The forms differ, but the heart is the same: the medicine is received with intention, in silence, and with gratitude. If you are going to your first […]

Hapé (rapé) is a strong medicine, and it is felt quickly. Knowing what is normal, what is a sign you used too much, and when not to use it at all is part of approaching it with respect. This guide answers the questions people most often ask us about its effects. Quick answer: hapé is […]

Fire in the Forest: When Is Burning Destruction—and When Is It Knowledge? Fire is one of the most emotionally charged words in environmental conservation. We see flames and think of destruction. Smoke. Dead animals. Burned homes. Blackened forests. And often, that association is completely justified. Uncontrolled wildfire can devastate ecosystems, threaten communities, release enormous amounts […]

Why do hapé blends feel so different? How plant ashes, texture, moisture, origin and the hands that make each blend shape it. Why Hapé Blends Can Feel So Different Two hapé blends can sit side by side and look almost identical. Both finely ground. Both prepared within Amazonian traditions. Both carrying a name that sounds […]

Climate change is usually described through instruments. Thermometers. Rain gauges. Satellites. Weather stations. River sensors. Computer models. Ice cores and atmospheric measurements. These tools have transformed our understanding of Earth’s climate, allowing scientists to detect changes across enormous distances and reconstruct patterns extending far into the past. But there is another form of environmental observation. […]

   A plant can be photographed. Its scientific name can be written in a database. Its leaves can be collected and its chemical compounds analyzed. But none of these things, by themselves, preserve the entire knowledge surrounding that plant. To understand traditional Amazonian medicine, we have to look beyond ingredients. Knowledge lives in people, conversations, […]

Some of the most important workers in a Brazilian forest are easy to overlook. They move quietly between flowers, fit inside spaces much smaller than familiar honeybees and maintain complex colonies within the landscape. These are Brazil’s native stingless bees. The story of stingless bees in Brazil is about far more than honey. It connects […]

   A forest has many ways of disappearing. Trees can be cut. Rivers can be polluted. Species can vanish from a territory. But a forest can also become quieter in another way: the words used to describe it can disappear. Across Amazonia, Indigenous languages hold far more than names for trees, vines, fruits and medicinal […]