The Pipe is used for many purposes in our culture. It is used for prayers, for ceremony, for meditation and yes even for just plain sitting around smoking. I will go into the uses of, the spiritualism of it, each part of the pipe bowl, stem and smoke and how they unite together and what the purpose of the pipe is.
In our way, the stem of the pipe represents Father Sky and male energies. The bowl of the pipe represents Mother Earth and female energies. This is their meaning when they are separate. When they are joined together they represent: strength, powers of the air and of the soil, fertility, success in life’s battles, great harvest of plants, successful hunting, direct communication with the Spirits, healing of mind, body and spirit. The list goes on, but I am sure that you are getting the drift here.
The Pipe Ceremony is directly used to call the Spirits to you so that you may have direct communication with them. When we do the ceremonies that the pipe is used for, we blow the smoke in each direction, beginning with the east, then south, west, north, up for the Creator and down for Mother Earth. At the same time, the stem of the pipe is also pointed toward those directions that we are blowing the smoke. This calls the Spirits to the ceremony and invites them to join the circle or to come to you as an individual if you are doing a ceremony by yourself. The smoke is pulled into your mouth and not inhaled when calling the Spirits. It is not until you are sitting/standing and conversing with the Spirits you go ahead and inhale the smoke and this symbolizes you speaking with the Spirits.
Pipe Stems sizes vary for the sexes and for uses. For group ceremonies, longer stems are used as they are for pipes used by Chiefs. The stem on women’s pipes are usually smaller, the stem on the pipes for men are usually larger and a bit larger around than the ones used for women. Pipe stems for the men are usually decorated very ornate, whereas the women’s were more plain. The one’s for the Principal Chief and the Sacred Tribal Pipes were very ornately decorated with shapes and or shapes of animals and hides from animals. Horse Hair and animal hair or fur was used only on the Sacred Pipe and the Pipe of the Principal Chief. Pipes for Clan Chiefs and Clan Mothers are usually decorated with one Hawk feather.
The smoke from the pipe is used to carry your thoughts, prayers and intent to the Creator and the Spirit Beings. The bowl of the pipe is used to set the tobacco on fire so that you have that supernatural connection with the Spirits and the Great Spirit and so that smoke is created to carry your thoughts, prayers and intentions into the Spirit World.
When you are not using your pipe for ceremonies or rituals, just using it to be closer to the Spirits, meditation, self evaluation and relaxation, you inhale the smoke and set your senses to put yourself on the Spiritual Plain to interact with the Spirit Beings and take yourself off of this world. Many times when you use the pipe in this manner, visions will begin to take shape and guidance of the Spirits are revealed. Even a path that you have to walk.
When using the pipe in a group ceremony or ritual, this will cause the group to be in a group style conscience and the Creator and the Spirits hear your prayers and intent as coming from the whole Nation and act accordingly with their answers and guidance. When using your pipe on a individual level, they hear your prayers and intent in an individual and more personal nature and they answer in a very personal manner. Example of Group Pipe Ceremony: When Vice Chief does a Pipe Ceremony at the opening on Gatherings or Pow Wow, he is representing the consciencness of the Tribe as a whole to have a blessed and prosperous event. Since there is a time limit on these things, he is the stand in for all Citizens of the Tribal Nation and we do not get in a group to do the ceremony. If we did, the ceremony would last way too long. But there are times when all the Citizens in the group are invited to participate and encouraged to do so. Just not at events that I listed above due to time restraints.
Proper Pipe Etiquette in a group style Pipe Ceremony is as follows. The Medicine Man (Adawehi) is the first one to light the pipe and smoke the pipe. He then holds his left arm up, lays the pipe across his left arm, (with the smoking end of the pipe facing the next person, with the bowl pointing at himself, the passer). To do so in any other manner is considered rude and disrespectful towards the person receiving the pipe. This is done all around the circle with the pipe being refilled and relighted as needed. For the young ones who attend the ceremony, the parents take the pipe and hold it across the chest, over the heart, of the young one involved, before using the pipe themselves. This insures that the young one is represented in the ceremony and his/her voice is heard.
When the Medicine Man starts the ceremony, the smoke is blown by him to the east and the pipe is passed around the circle with all following his example. Each time the pipe comes full circle back to him, he then blows the smoke in the next direction (east, south, west, north, up, down, center). This involves the Spirits from all 4 directions, up for the Creator, down for Mother Earth and straight out to represent ourselves and the balance between ourselves and all the Spirits involved. When the pipe has completed the circle and all directions have been recognized, then the rest of the ceremony or ritual can take place.
Should you have any questions or comments on this teaching, please post them under the teaching and I will answer them in the Reply section of your comment. I pray that this teaching helps you understand the Pipe Ceremony, how it works and what it is used for and for the understanding of the Pipe and it’s spirituality to the Tribe and it’s People. The pipe is the most spiritual of all the tools for our People and the most revered.