A chillum, or chilam, is a straight conical pipe with end-to-end channel, traditionally made of clay and used since at least the 18th century. by wandering Hindu monks, known as sadhu

Sadhu

In Hinduism, sādhu denotes an ascetic, wandering monk. Although the vast majority of sādhus are yogīs, not all yogīs are sādhus. The sādhu is solely dedicated to achieving mokṣa , the fourth and final aśrama , through meditation and contemplation of brahman...

s in India. More recently, it has also seen use in sacraments by Rastafarians

Rastafari movement

The Rastafari movement or Rasta is a new religious movement that arose in the 1930s in Jamaica, which at the time was a country with a predominantly Christian culture where 98% of the people were the black descendants of slaves. Its adherents worship Haile Selassie I, Emperor of Ethiopia , as God...

 in Jamaica, and by recreational drug use

Recreational drug use

Recreational drug use is the use of a drug, usually psychoactive, with the intention of creating or enhancing recreational experience. Such use is controversial, however, often being considered to be also drug abuse, and it is often illegal...

rs to smoke cannabis

Cannabis (drug)

Cannabis, also known as marijuana among many other names, refers to any number of preparations of the Cannabis plant intended for use as a psychoactive drug or for medicinal purposes. The English term marijuana comes from the Mexican Spanish word marihuana...

, tobacco, or opiates.

According to Alfred Dunhill, Africans have long employed chillum-style pipes for smoking hemp and later tobacco. Gourds and various horns were often employed while conical bowls were common in Uganda. One of the more famous pipes is an ivory cone pipe once belonging to "Waganda" monarch King Mtesa.

Since the 1960s the embellished bamboo chillum has become an American folk art form. These pipes are hand made and often sold by the artists on street corners in places like the Haight-Ashbury district of San Francisco and the Greenwich Village area of New York City. As designs these contemporary smoking pipes recall traditional decorated bamboo pipes from Borneo, however, the American carved bamboo design often employs a brass lighting fixture for a bowl. Since the 1970s, street artist Darrel "Pipeman" Mortimer of San Francisco has made nearly 10,000 such pipes, each signed, numbered and sold personally.

Rastafarian ceremony

In "reasoning sessions'" and grounations

Grounation Day

Grounation Day is an important Rastafarian holy day, and second after Coronation Day . It is celebrated in honor of Haile Selassie's 1966 visit to Jamaica.-Visit of Selassie I to Jamaica:...

, the ritual chillum used is made of a cow's horn or conical wood piece, fitted with a long drawtube giving the smoke time to cool before inhalation. When using the pipe, a user draws slowly to control temperature, improving the yield of cannabinoids. A wire screen embedded in the opening permits using fine-sifted herb material, from which cannabinoids vaporize out readily, without drawing small particles down inside the channel.

A bong

Bong

A bong is a filtration device/apparatus generally used for smoking cannabis, tobacco,or other herbal substances.In construction and function a bong is similar to a hookah, except smaller and more portable...

-like chillum equipped with a water filtration chamber is sometimes referred to as a chalice

Chalice (pipe)

A Chalice, also known as a Wisdom Chalice or Chillum Chalice, is a type of smoking pipe used most often by members of the 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...

, based on a quote from the Biblical

Bible

The Bible refers to any one of the collections of the primary religious texts of Judaism and Christianity. There is no common version of the Bible, as the individual books , their contents and their order vary among denominations...

 book of Deuteronomy

Deuteronomy

The Book of Deuteronomy is the fifth book of the Hebrew Bible, and of the Jewish Torah/Pentateuch...

. Thanks and praises are offered to Jah

Jah

Jah is the shortened form of the divine name YHWH , an anglicized version of the Tetragrammaton . The name is most commonly associated with the Rastafari movement or within the word hallelujah, although Christian groups may use the name to varying degrees. For example, Jehovah's Witnesses use a...

 before smoking

Cannabis smoking

Cannabis smoking involves inhaling vapors released by heating the flowers and subtending leaves of the Cannabis plants, known as marijuana. Alternatively, the cannabis plant flowers may be finely sifted producing kief, a powder especially rich in the oil-glands or trichomes which contain the...

the chillum.