Guest Profile: Anthar, Tobacco Medicine Man From the Mountains of Colombia
Updated: Nov 4
Anthar is a sacred tobacco medicine man from the mountains of Colombia, a musician, and a teacher who has walked with the spirit of tobacco for more than thirty years. Jonah sat in a two day ceremony with him a year before this conversation. This interview is part of the Quantum Collective Podcast, Episode 5, hosted by Jonah Bolt (@iamjonahbolt).
This profile shares a traditional practice as Anthar describes it. It is not medical advice. Commercial cigarettes are harmful, and nothing here encourages smoking.
Who Is Anthar?
The medicine runs in Anthar's bloodline. His grandfather was a well known healer who worked with plants in the village where the family was born. Anthar began his own path at around fourteen or fifteen through spiritual schools, then met his first elder, who invited him to his community. About twenty six years ago he was sent, in his words, like an arrow to Europe to share these traditions, and he still tours the UK twice a year.
What Is the Sacred Spirit of Tobacco?
In the traditions Anthar comes from, tobacco is a plant teacher and a living being, not a product. He explains that the relationship is about connection rather than use. Traditional plants carry far less nicotine than commercial varieties, the smoke is not inhaled, and the leaves, stem, roots and flowers each have their own place and purpose.
“It's not how we use it, it's how we connect.” Anthar
How Is Ceremonial Tobacco Different From Cigarettes?
Anthar compares it to cacao and chocolate or coca leaves and cocaine. Commercial cigarettes, he says, come from plants bred for very high nicotine and mixed with hundreds of chemical additives to create addiction. The ceremonial plant, prepared with prayer and shared with guidance, is a completely different relationship.
What Is the Law of Origin?
The law of origin means understanding where a plant comes from and why it exists before practicing with it. Anthar says many people today meet the practice first and the word last. In his early years elders taught that sixteen years was the minimum to truly understand the relationship. He is now in his third round of sixteen and still learning.
“The school is ourselves. As long as we are alive, we're studying.” Anthar
How Should Someone Choose a Medicine Carrier?
His advice is to meet the person first, without any medicine, and let your heart sense whether you trust them. The grandmothers, he says, ask two questions: who prepared the medicine, and what prayer was put on it. A medicine is an extension of the person who made it, so trust comes before anything else.
“The first seed that is sprouted from living life from the heart is called trust.” Anthar
What Does Anthar Mean by Creating Time for Yourself?
Anthar asks a simple question: if we only come home to sleep so we can wake up and work, when do we create our life? He believes ceremony is really the gift of time with yourself, a chance to see clearly what you have forgotten, what you are struggling with and what you want to change. His songs, he says, are born in those quiet empty spaces where nothing becomes everything.
He also reminds listeners that we feed our minds the way we feed our bodies. The news we watch, the content we scroll and the emotions we surround ourselves with all shape how we think. Paying attention to that diet of thoughts is, in his view, part of what the plant teaches.
Key Takeaways
Wisdom is about becoming, not just understanding. Respect the law of origin before the practice. Meet the person before you meet the medicine. Ask who prepared it and what prayer it carries. Give yourself unhurried time to simply be. And remember that integration takes years, not a weekend.
Topics Covered in This Interview
Sacred tobacco, plant teachers, the law of origin, ancestral bloodlines, ceremony in the maloca, the medicine wheel, Colombian retreats and spiritual ecotourism, trust, emotional release, conscious dreaming, music as medicine and choosing a trustworthy medicine carrier.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who is Anthar?
Anthar is a Colombian sacred tobacco medicine man, musician and teacher with over thirty years on the path, who leads retreats in Colombia and tours Europe each year.
Does Anthar lead retreats in Colombia?
Yes. For fifteen years he has led a two week February retreat that walks the medicine wheel through sacred sites, with ceremonies and instrument making. It is a meaningful form of spiritual ecotourism.
Does Anthar offer online sessions?
He began offering one to one online coaching this year so people can continue their process between his travels.
Where can I hear his music?
His music is available on Spotify and most streaming platforms under his name. He says it comes from the same deep space as his ceremonies.
Where can I watch the full interview?
The Sacred Spirit of Tobacco with Anthar streams on Rumble and on the Quantum Collective Podcast page.
Keep exploring: Anthar's law of origin is part of our wider guide, Plant Medicine Traditions: A Respectful Guide.
Drawn to Colombia? Read our guide to spiritual ecotourism in Colombia for how to choose a retreat respectfully.
Watch the Full Episode
Watch the full interview with Anthar on Rumble and explore more conversations on the Quantum Collective Podcast page. For another Colombian ceremony keeper, read our profile of Luca and the sacred sweat lodge, and browse the Quantum Alchemy collection.
Open the episode player to watch right here, or share this page with someone who would enjoy it.
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