Tuned and sweetly voiced to a concert/recording quality high Cm pentatonic scale, this Tree Tobacco ( Nicotiana glauca ) prayer flute measures 20 1/4" in length, with 4 tuning/direction holes.  She also plays three in tune upper register notes, as well as a full heptatonic scale, without half-holing.  As with all Dryad Flutes, she was bored out unsplit, maintaining her natural appearance, strength and integrity of her growth rings.  The bark has been artistically shaped in darker contrast to the beautifully finished, lighter colored wood grain.  Knots and branchlet stubs have been inlaid with crushed Abalone shell.  Elk lacing lends its spirit and strength to secure the bird to her nest.  To help prevent wetout, the bird has been fitted with a cedar shoe.  A drain hole, covered by the lacing, has also been designed into the air chamber.  The flute has been well sealed, inside and out, so that neither of the alkaloids in Nicotiana glauca (nicotine and anabasine) come into contact with the player.   

Tree Tobacco is a species of wild tobacco native to South America that can grow to the size of a small tree.  It has naturalized to other parts of the world, including here in Southern California where the Cahuilla Indians used its leaves "interchangeably with other tobacco species in hunting rituals and as a poultice to treat swellings, bruises, cuts, wounds, boils, sores, inflamed throat, and swollen glands." (source)  Various types of tobacco have been used traditionally in native cultures throughout the Americas as offerings to the spirits, for planting, for gathering food, for healings and for the Native American Pipe Ceremony. (source)

The Tree Tobacco used for this flute was gathered with deep respect and gratitude, from an area slated for development, shortly before the bulldozers would have plowed her under.  Her life continues now as a spirit-filled flute, especially suited for prayerful, healing intentions. 

Home Page   Dryad   Vision    Available Flutes    Gallery    Quality    Testimonials  
Green Branches    On The Marsh   Under the Oaks    Butterfly Blue   Schedule    Living Lightly  


All Karmic Laws Applicable
All Rights Reserved
© 2017 Jon Sherman