Chillum
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
There is also a Chillum, Maryland, a suburb North of Washington, D.C.
A chillum is a pipe used by Indian Sadhu, members of the Rastafari movement and many recreational drug users to smoke cannabis. It is also known as a "bat" due to its resemblance to a baseball bat.
Contents |
[edit] Function
A chillum is a conical pipe made out of clay, a cow's horn, or glass. Chillums are used as ritual pipes by Sadhus in India to imbibe charas. Also, they have recently been used by Rastas in reasoning sessions and grounations. It is a very social form of smoking as a chillum is generally far too strong to be smoked alone. The whole operation of preparing the mix and smoking the herb, ganja, or charas is something of a ritual. The Hindu god, Shiva is invoked with the ceremony and the smoker considers the spirit of Shiva to enter him with the act of smoking. Rastas believe ritual smoking purges body and mind of impurities, thereby facilitating meditation.
[edit] Method
The ganja or charas may be mixed with tobacco. Two methods of smoking / using a chillum exist:
[edit] Hindu Ceremony
In the Hindu ceremony, the safi (or saath) cloth is wetted, the stone (gitthuck in hindi) inserted and then the mix is deposited in the chillum until it is full. Then the mouth piece of the chillum is cupped between two hands forming a closed prism so that the smoker may inhale the smoke without touching the chillum with his lips. To do so would no doubt provoke a violent reaction from all present for such a break of etiquette. A match is struck by a second party and before the smoker inhales various praises to Shiva will be chanted such as "Boom Shankar" or "Boom Bolenath" The smoker must puff violently to ignite the chillum adequately which he will then pass always to the person on his right, preferably supporting his right arm with his left (except for Kali chillums which are passed to the left and usually include opium and ganja in the mix). The required etiquette can become quite complex and the average Westerner has little or no chance of meeting the ritual standards of a sadhu.
[edit] Rastafari Ceremony
In the Rastafari ceremony, the ritual chillum used is made of a cow's horn fitted with a large, conical wooden bowl.
[edit] Types of Chillum
Following the 1980s legislation against charas in India, the ready-made clay chillums fell out of fashion. These had been disposable chillums that were simply thrown back onto the ground from which they were made. Chillums are still for sale in shops (without the charas) and can be incredibly ornate, set with snakes or Indian gods. The longer the chillum the cooler the smoke will be. Prices range from $1-25. Recently designer chillums have come into fashion. Those made by names like Alverman, Rosso, Manu and Daniele are made of ceramic. Many people pay up to $200 for such a chillum. These are often seen on the goa trance scene. Nowadays, there are even electronic chillums which vaporize the cannabis buds, and therefore there is no smoke coming out from the Chillum itself.
[edit] Cleaning
Care should be taken to ensure that the chillum is properly cleaned. A brief cleaning can involve simply rubbing the inside of the chillum with a clean cloth. This however is not very effective at removing streptococcus which may reside inside the chillum near the mouth piece. Various other strains of bacteria thrive in the moist environment of the chillum. This may re-infect the user on a regular basis, creating flu-like symptoms or sore throat. Ensure that the chillum is soaked regularly (twice a week) with hot water mixed with bleach, and rinsed out thoroughly with clean water and then dried in the sun (the UV rays help to kill any bacteria or viruses that remain. This is very important as the chillum could transfer bacteria and viruses to other users if shared. Pipes made out of wood are particularly susceptible.
[edit] See also
| Cannabis Resources | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
|||||||||||
