--- title: "Blog | MineralShaman™" description: "Thirty-one essays by Hamid Jabbar on minerals, iron and copper, plant medicine and the way health gets written about, 2022 to 2026." url: https://www.mineralshaman.com/blog/ updated: 2026-10-19 language: en format: a Markdown copy of the page at the url above --- # Blog - Rapé and Tobacco - Ceremony and Its Culture - Ayahuasca - Minerals and Plant Medicine - Copper and Iron - Tattoo Inks - Paradigms and Belief - ## [Is Rapé Snuff Safe?](https://www.mineralshaman.com/is-rape-snuff-safe/) Five years ago mentioning the word rapé (pronounced “hapeh”), even in the plant medicine world, would not have raised many eyebrows. March 12, 2022 - ## [How Much Rapé is Too Much?](https://www.mineralshaman.com/how-much-rape-is-too-much/) A teacher from Acre answers the question better than I can May 8, 2024 - ## [More Rapé Stories](https://www.mineralshaman.com/more-rape-stories/) Additional mechanisms by which rapé might cause harm August 21, 2023 - ## [Addiction Culture in the Plant Medicine World](https://www.mineralshaman.com/addiction-culture-in-the-plant-medicine-world/) Confronting addiction and denial in plant medicine communities August 25, 2023 ## Rapé and Tobacco - ### [Tobacco Allergies and Plant Medicine](https://www.mineralshaman.com/tobacco-allergies-and-plant-medicine-a-personal-journey-and-exploration/) What I found when I went looking for why rapé kept making things worse September 19, 2024 - ### [Is Rapé Snuff Safe?](https://www.mineralshaman.com/is-rape-snuff-safe/) Five years ago mentioning the word rapé (pronounced “hapeh”), even in the plant medicine world, would not have raised many eyebrows. March 12, 2022 - ### [How Much Rapé is Too Much?](https://www.mineralshaman.com/how-much-rape-is-too-much/) A teacher from Acre answers the question better than I can May 8, 2024 - ### [More Rapé Stories](https://www.mineralshaman.com/more-rape-stories/) Additional mechanisms by which rapé might cause harm August 21, 2023 ## Ceremony and Its Culture - ### [Plant Medicine’s Paradox](https://www.mineralshaman.com/plant-medicines-paradox-when-the-path-to-healing-becomes-another-way-to-hide/) When the path to healing becomes another way to hide November 11, 2024 - ### [Addiction Culture in the Plant Medicine World](https://www.mineralshaman.com/addiction-culture-in-the-plant-medicine-world/) Confronting addiction and denial in plant medicine communities August 25, 2023 - ### [Kambo: The Nervous System Angle](https://www.mineralshaman.com/kambo-the-nervous-system-angle/) Why the relief runs out at two or three weeks March 22, 2024 ## Ayahuasca - ### [Ayahuasca and the Symptom Problem](https://www.mineralshaman.com/ayahuasca-and-german-new-medicine/) On why the medicine so often makes you feel worse before you feel better April 23, 2024 - ### [Ayahuasca’s Effects on Cytochrome P450 Enzymes](https://www.mineralshaman.com/ayahuascas-effects-on-cytochrome-p450-enzymes/) Most everyone who has worked with Ayahuasca understands that harmine, one of its primary alkaloids, acts as a reversible inhibitor of monoamine oxidase (MAO). August 24, 2023 - ### [The Metabolism of Ayahuasca’s Primary Alkaloid Harmine](https://www.mineralshaman.com/the-metabolism-of-ayahuascas-primary-alkaloid-harmine/) How Harmine Moves Through the Body, From MAO-A Binding to Liver Metabolism and Excretion June 21, 2023 - ### [Harmine’s Influence on Histamine and Serotonin](https://www.mineralshaman.com/exploring-the-intricate-interplay-harmines-influence-on-histamine-and-serotonin/) Harmine, a reversible inhibitor of monoamine oxidase-A (MAO-A) with various pharmacological effects, has drawn attention for its potential influence on histamine and serotonin. June 22, 2023 - ### [The Ayahuasca Diet Dissected](https://www.mineralshaman.com/the-ayahuasca-diet-dissected/) Advice on how to prepare your body properly for an Ayahuasca journey is everywhere, yet none of it agrees. March 10, 2022 - ### [Giving up Salt in Ayahuasca Dieta Practices](https://www.mineralshaman.com/giving-up-salt-in-ayahuasca-dieta-practices/) Anyone who has ever prepared for an Ayahuasca ceremony can probably tell you that one thing that you have to eliminate prior to ceremony is salt. March 18, 2022 ## Minerals and Plant Medicine - ### [Psychedelics May Pose Stroke Risk in Magnesium Deficiency](https://www.mineralshaman.com/psychedelics-can-cause-stroke-like-effects-in-magnesium-deficient-people/) If you’ve been following the psychedelic renaissance, you’ve likely heard these substances called safe, revelatory cures for mental distress. March 10, 2022 - ### [You Can’t Microdose Your Way Out of a Mineral Imbalance](https://www.mineralshaman.com/you-cant-microdose-your-way-out-of-a-mineral-imbalance/) If you believe more serotonin equals more happiness, think again. March 11, 2022 - ### [Does Cannabis Affect Copper and Iron Metabolism?](https://www.mineralshaman.com/does-cannabis-affect-copper-and-iron-metabolism/) Let’s talk cannabis. It is, after all, the plant medicine du jour. April 17, 2023 - ### [Fear in Ceremony: The Iron Connection](https://www.mineralshaman.com/fear-in-ceremony-the-iron-connection/) We all know fear on some level, it’s something everyone has experienced. March 20, 2022 ## Copper and Iron ![A pen and ink cartoon of a flock of white sheep, two of them saying “It’s the copper.” and one black sheep at the back saying “It’s the iron.” Signed @mineralshaman.](https://www.mineralshaman.com/media/photographs/its-the-copper-sheep-896.jpg) - ### [The HTMA Copper Toxicity Fallacy](https://www.mineralshaman.com/the-htma-copper-toxicity-fallacy/) Why the paradigm can’t be tested, and what the evidence points to instead August 1, 2026 - ### [Rethinking Copper Toxicity](https://www.mineralshaman.com/rethinking-copper-toxicity-a-critical-analysis-of-history-research-methods-and-the-iron-connection/) History, research methods, and the iron connection December 21, 2024 - ### [The Mass Formation Psychosis of Taking Iron](https://www.mineralshaman.com/the-mass-formation-psychosis-of-taking-iron/) There is no clearer example of mass formation psychosis than billions of people happily consuming one of the most harmful heavy metals on this planet: Iron. March 19, 2022 - ### [What Blood Donation Records Actually Tell You About Iron](https://www.mineralshaman.com/what-blood-donation-records-actually-tell-you-about-iron/) Why cumulative phlebotomy totals don’t measure what people think they measure August 1, 2026 - ### [When the Cure Becomes the Cause](https://www.mineralshaman.com/when-the-cure-becomes-the-cause/) Why the Iron Protocol solves the wrong problem August 1, 2026 ## Tattoo Inks ![A tattoo on a thigh in black lettering: “Aluminum is not a member of the human metallome, Exley and Clarkson (2020)”, signed @MineralShaman.](https://www.mineralshaman.com/media/photographs/aluminum-metallome-tattoo-421.jpg) - ### [What’s Actually in Tattoo Ink](https://www.mineralshaman.com/the-complex-world-of-tattoo-inks-a-mineral-and-health-perspective/) A mineral perspective on what we put under the skin October 3, 2024 - ### [Beneath the Skin: The Unseen Impact of Metals in Tattoo Inks](https://www.mineralshaman.com/beneath-the-skin-the-unseen-impact-of-metals-in-tattoo-inks/) What the metals do after the needle September 24, 2024 - ### [Tattoo Ink and Vaccines: An Honest Aluminum Comparison](https://www.mineralshaman.com/comparative-analysis-of-aluminum-exposure-tattoo-inks-versus-vaccines/) Doing the arithmetic properly September 28, 2024 ## Paradigms and Belief ![A black and white cartoon of a man on his knees searching under a streetlight outside the @mineralshaman Mocktail Bar, captioned “The light is better over here.”](https://www.mineralshaman.com/media/photographs/the-light-is-better-over-here-1024.jpg) - ### [Stop Calling Everything a Cult](https://www.mineralshaman.com/stop-calling-everything-a-cult/) How sloppy language is making us worse at spotting real danger August 1, 2026 - ### [Swimming in Different Waters: Why everyone is a little bit culty, including you and me](https://www.mineralshaman.com/swimming-in-different-waters-a-journey-through-paradigms-and-belief/) Why everyone is a little bit culty, including you and me February 10, 2025 - ### [When Mystical Language Stops Communicating](https://www.mineralshaman.com/when-mystical-language-stops-communicating/) Recognizing word salad in alternative health August 1, 2026 - ### [Chasing Shadows: What virology never controlled for](https://www.mineralshaman.com/chasing-shadows-the-scientific-collapse-of-virology-and-why-we-believed/) What virology never controlled for November 19, 2024 - ### [The Problem with ‘Awakened’ Doctors: Why Medical School Credentials Don’t Equal Health Expertise](https://www.mineralshaman.com/the-problem-with-awakened-doctors-why-medical-school-credentials-dont-equal-health-expertise/) Why Medical School Credentials Don’t Equal Health Expertise August 1, 2026 - ### [The Wisdom of Open Hands](https://www.mineralshaman.com/the-wisdom-of-open-hands/) Learning to hold our dreams lightly August 1, 2026 ## Work with Hamid Say where you are and what you have already tried. [Connect](https://www.mineralshaman.com/contact-me/) [Or the integration work](https://www.mineralshaman.com/plant-medicine-psychedelic-integration/)