I was first introduced to Ghost Pipe by Tommy Priester, who told me that he used the tincture of the whole plant for people in intense physical pain. He said it didn't make the pain go away, but it put the person beside her pain where she could see it and deal with it without being overwhelmed by it.

Since then I have given Ghost Pipe to a number of other clients for acute anxiety and panic attacks marked by emotional or sensory overload. When given to a person who feels overwhelmed by external stimuli, Ghost Pipe seems to provide a degree of separation from those stimuli, as described above.

For two years I helped to run the first aid tent at a series of music festivals on a farm in western Maine. I spent a lot of time there caring for people who were having overwhelming experiences after taking LSD or DMT or various and sundry entheogenic mushrooms. In most cases, I would help people calm down with a gentle nervine like Skullcap, usually with great results. But sometimes people just wanted to come down from their trips. And inevitably there would be a few disruptive people brought to me by security because they were a danger to themselves or were frightening other people. For these cases, I needed an herb that would act more quickly and dramatically. [...] In almost every case, the effects were quick and dramatic. Within a few minutes of giving 1-3 1ml doses of the tincture of the aerial parts, pupil dilation and responses to external stimuli would return to normal, and the person would begin to settle down. With 15-30 minutes the person would fall asleep and wake up hours later, calm and coherent.

I'm in the process of making a tincture right now, and will comment on its effectiveness as soon as I think it's potent. The plant has the odd property of turning a dark blue almost black on drying, which is suggestive. Just holding the plant gives one a sensation of coolness and maybe even eerie placidity.

Others in North America might want to take a hike in search of this and other wild spirits making an appearance this time of year

The Indian Pipe Plant has been used by the Native Americans for various ailments, as a diaphoretic to promote sweat in fevers, a nerve tonic for restlessness and nervous disorders, as a sedative (it has much the same effect as opium but without the narcotic-induced dreams or hallucinations), and as a way of stopping epileptic fits. It is said to be extremely good at doing this which is why one of its names is Fit-Plant. The juice of the plant has been used in injections for gonorrhea and is said to be efficacious in treating inflammation and ulceration of the bladder in the form of a douche when mixed with rose water. The flowers can be chewed to relieve toothache, and a tisane can be made with the plant to help with colds and flu. You can also crush the plant on corns and bunions to ease inflammation and to eventually get rid of them.