Chalice (pipe)

A chalice, also known as a wisdom chalice or chillum chalice, is a type of cannabis smoking pipe used most often by members of the Jamaican Rastafari movement. It is a sort of water pipe with a hose, or drawtube, for inhaling; the water cools and filters the smoke and the hose provides additional airspace for cooling. A screen embedded in the crater protects against drawing in burning particles to clog the interior.

The word chalice (along other permutations such as chalwa, chali, etc.) is often used to refer to marijuana itself, which certain Rastafari consider to be of specific religious importance as they believe it is a gift from Jah. The term "lick the chalice" refers to Rasta communing with Jah.^[1][2] A group of practitioners gather, a prayer is said, and the chalice lit and passed counter-clockwise among the group.^[3]

A bong-like chillum equipped with a water filtration chamber is sometimes referred to as a chalice, based on a quote from the Biblical book of Deuteronomy.^[4] Thanks and praises are offered to Jah before smoking the chillum.^[5]

See also

• Chillum (pipe)

References

1. Nathaniel Samuel Murrell (1 January 1998). Chanting Down Babylon: The Rastafari Reader. Temple University Press. pp. 75–. ISBN 978-1-56639-584-7.
2. Charles Price (1 September 2009). Becoming Rasta: Origins of Rastafari Identity in Jamaica. NYU Press. pp. 193–. ISBN 978-0-8147-6768-9.
3. Philip W. Scher (2010). Perspectives on the Caribbean: A Reader in Culture, History, and Representation. John Wiley & Sons. pp. 212–. ISBN 978-1-4051-0565-1.
4. The Rastafari by Maria Baptist
5. The Rastafarians by Leonard E. Barrett 1988