AMAZONIAN CEREMONY

Hapé Ceremony in Newcastle

A space for prayer, stillness, intention and connection.

£80 per ceremony

What Hapé Is

A Hapé ceremony in Newcastle with Beyond Silence Healing is a quiet, prayer-led space — not a wellness treatment, and not something to be rushed.

Hapé, also known as rapé and commonly pronounced ha-PAY, is a traditional Amazonian preparation most often made from finely powdered tobacco combined with ashes from particular trees and plants.

Within many Indigenous traditions, tobacco has long held an important ceremonial role. Rather than being approached recreationally, it has traditionally been worked with through prayer, intention, relationship and respect.

At Beyond Silence Healing, this is the spirit in which Hapé is approached.

This is not about chasing an altered state or using Hapé as a quick fix. The ceremony creates a supported space to become still, turn inward and sit consciously with an intention or prayer.

TRAINED AND INITIATED

Held by a Trained Practitioner

Jason Burgess certificate of initiation and training as a Hapé practitioner

Jason has been fully initiated and trained as a Hapé practitioner, and approaches the medicine through prayer, intention and respect for the tradition it comes from.

Alongside this he is a KPA-certified Kambo practitioner and has trained in shamanic practice through Lendrick Lodge and Sundoor.

Preparing for Ceremony

Before attending, take some quiet time to consider what you are bringing into the ceremony.

You may want to reflect on something you are ready to release, something you are seeking clarity around, an aspect of yourself you would like to understand more deeply, or simply a prayer you would like to carry.

You do not need to arrive with everything figured out.

You simply need a willingness to be present with yourself.

Before the ceremony, you will be guided through what Hapé is, how it will be administered, what you may experience and how we approach the medicine at Beyond Silence Healing.

Hapé is traditionally administered into each nostril using a ceremonial pipe known as a tepi.

Because this involves considerable trust between the person receiving and the person serving, discernment matters.

"You should never feel pressured to receive Hapé. If something inside you says no, that decision should always be respected."

Intention & Prayer

For me, prayer is an important part of working with Hapé.

Rather than approaching Hapé simply as something that is taken, we enter into ceremony consciously and give the experience direction through intention.

Your prayer does not need to be complicated.

It may simply be:

Help me see clearly.

Help me release what I no longer need.

Show me what needs my attention.

Or it may be something entirely personal to you.

The important part is that it comes from you.

Walking barefoot at the water's edge on the Northumberland coast

During the Ceremony

After receiving Hapé, we remain seated and enter a period of silence and meditation.

This stillness is an important part of the ceremony.

Rather than immediately talking, moving around or distracting ourselves from what is happening, you will be encouraged to stay with your breath, your body and your prayer.

The physical experience varies considerably from person to person. Hapé can feel strong and may cause watering eyes, nasal discharge, sweating, nausea, dizziness or vomiting.

There is no expectation that your experience needs to look a certain way.

The invitation is simply to stay present with what arises.

Hapé Is Not a Crutch

Although people sometimes describe Hapé as grounding, I do not believe we should become dependent upon any external practice or substance to regulate ourselves.

Hapé contains tobacco and therefore nicotine. Nicotine is addictive.

For that reason, part of working respectfully with Hapé is understanding when not to use it.

Beyond Silence Healing does not encourage habitual or compulsive Hapé use, nor do I believe it should automatically become the answer whenever someone feels anxious, unsettled or disconnected.

The wider work is about developing our own capacity for presence, regulation and connection.

The ceremony should support that relationship with ourselves rather than replace it.

After the Ceremony

Integration is often less about having a dramatic revelation and more about what we choose to do with what we have seen.

After the main ceremonial space, there will be time to settle before returning to everyday life.

Where appropriate, there may also be space to share something about your experience. Sharing is always optional.

You may prefer silence.

You may want to journal.

You may simply want to sit for a little longer and allow the experience to settle.

Afterwards, I recommend keeping the remainder of your day relatively spacious where possible.

Drink water, eat something nourishing and give yourself some time before immediately filling your mind with social media, work, noise or stimulation.

Sometimes insight arrives during ceremony.

Sometimes understanding unfolds gradually over the following hours or days.

Pay attention to what changes, what conversations arise, what feels clearer and what your experience may be asking you to look at.

Reflection in still water beneath overhanging trees

Respecting the Tradition

Hapé is not presented at Beyond Silence Healing as a wellness trend.

It comes from living traditions that long predate the modern Western ceremonial and wellbeing world.

I believe that anyone choosing to sit with Hapé should approach it with humility and respect for the Indigenous peoples and traditions through which this knowledge has been preserved.

Ceremony is ultimately about relationship: relationship with ourselves, with the medicine, with prayer, with the natural world and with something greater than the individual self.

Is Hapé Right for You?

Booking is subject to a health and suitability screening. This isn't a formality — it's how we make sure the ceremony is safe and appropriate for you before anything goes ahead.

Hapé contains tobacco and therefore nicotine, and it isn't suitable for everyone.

Please mention beforehand if any of the following apply:

None of these automatically rule you out. They're simply things worth talking through first, so we can decide together whether this is the right time.

If you're unsure about anything at all, get in touch before booking. There's no pressure either way.

You are pregnant, breastfeeding or trying to conceive

You have a heart condition, high or low blood pressure, or circulatory problems

You have a respiratory condition such as asthma or COPD

You are taking prescribed medication of any kind

You have a history of nicotine sensitivity or tobacco intolerance

You have any nasal, sinus or ear condition

You are currently in recovery from addiction

You have any mental health condition you are receiving treatment for

ONE CEREMONY