Ritual dish (daveniyaqona)
Not on view
In Polynesia, the ritual activation of specific materials was central to accessing the ancestral realm. Expertly carved from a single block of sacred vesi wood, this shallow anthropomorphic vessel was used to serve yaqona, a mild narcotic prepared from the ground root of the pepper plant (Piper methysticum). Imbibing this plant in liquid form encouraged the powerful ancestor spirit, embodied in the looming form of the vessel, to enter the body of the priest.
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