Anthar on the Quantum Collective Podcast, sacred tobacco and the emotions we hold back

Water Behind the Dam: Anthar on Tobacco, Emotions and a 500 Year Prophecy

Nov 4

3 min read

On Episode 5 of the Quantum Collective Podcast, Jonah Bolt spoke with Anthar, a sacred tobacco medicine man from the mountains of Colombia. Our guest profile of Anthar covers his bloodline, the law of origin and how to choose a medicine carrier. This post follows three other threads from the same conversation: a story his elders passed down about the plant, the many medicines that come from a single plant, and what he calls the water behind the dam.

This post shares a traditional practice as Anthar describes it. It is not medical advice. Commercial cigarettes are harmful, and nothing here encourages smoking.

A Story Passed Down Through Generations

Anthar explained that tobacco has been misunderstood because of history. When Europeans arrived in the Americas, he said, they saw a powerful plant that supported people in connecting with source and staying well in the wild, and they took it with them without learning how it was used.

One thing they did not learn: in the traditions he comes from, the smoke is not inhaled. Over time the plant was bred stronger and turned into a product.

The story his elders tell goes further. They said those who misused the plant would struggle with it, and that about 500 years later, the sons and daughters of a new time would return to these lands, with the faces and the hair and eye color of the newcomers, to show that the tradition never died, and to find a different relationship with the same plant.

“It's not how we use it, it's how we connect.” Anthar

One Plant, Many Medicines

Most people picture only the leaf. Anthar described a plant with many gifts. The stem dries hard and hollow, and can become a flute or a sacred pipe. The roots and flowers have their own place, and the smoke is only one element of the leaf.

He compared it to how an herbalist works. A plant can become a poultice, a tincture, an infusion or an oil, and each form has its own moment and purpose. You would not use a poultice when what you need is an oil. In his words, each element of nature has a place, a moment, a reason and a temple to live in.

Without that understanding, he warned, the pillars of the house are not settled. People reach for a quick fix with no guidance, and the relationship loses its meaning.

The Water Behind the Dam

The image from this conversation that stays with you is the dam. Anthar said that as humans we get very good at building walls inside ourselves. Something painful happens, we decide it will never happen again, and we block the flow of our emotions.

In ceremony, he described the gates opening. Tears come, sweat comes, feelings that have been held for years rush out like water released all at once. Then, slowly, the water finds its level again, and what is left is peace and a clearer view of what we saw.

“The gates are open, and your tears come.” Anthar

That clarity, he said, humbles us. It no longer needs to be explained. We simply know what we need to do, or what we do not want to do again.

Every Medicine Carries a Prayer

Anthar shared that every batch he prepares carries a specific prayer. His most recent one holds a prayer of renewal, focused on the difference between friendship and true brotherhood or sisterhood, and how those bonds sometimes need to be renewed.

It is a reminder that in these traditions a medicine is never just a substance. It is an extension of the person who made it and the intention they put into it.

A Retreat That Walks the Medicine Wheel

For 15 years Anthar has led a two week retreat in Colombia each February. Each year opens a different door of the medicine wheel, which is why some people have returned five or even eight times. The group travels through sacred sites, builds their own instruments and sits in ceremony almost every day.

Jonah sat in a two day ceremony with him at the Way of the Fire gathering. The first day, Anthar spoke for nine hours before anyone touched the tobacco, and he shared his songs every hour or so. That is the depth this conversation only begins to open.