All this forms a part of the Mayan tradition and even today tobacco is extensively used in religious rituals in Honduras. But, the mysteries of its use are still an enigma for anthropologists and historians and make up one of the Maya's best-guarded secrets. Originally from America, tobacco was taken to Europe by the Spanish at the end of the 16th century.

In Honduras, it's use is widespread among the Lenca and Mayoide indigenous groups. The mysteries surrounding tobacco are ``indecipherable, and we only know that the Maya gave it great mystical importance,'' explains Honduran historian Marvin Barahona.

It is assumed that the Mayans increased the use of tobacco when they reached central America, in 2000 BC, to improve in theirquality of life. Its cultivation was carried out on the same scale as maize. Nowadays, indigenous communities use tobacco for medicinal purposes, attributing to it healing properties for asthma and other acute respiratory diseases, according to Barahona.

In western Honduras, the Chorti communities, direct descendants of the Mayas, use tobacco for a range of purposes, including predicting the future, chasing away bad spirits, and praying for rain to make their crops grow.The Mayas used tobacco even as a form of protection against death. It was common for Indians to cover their faces with ground tobacco and then rub it on their chests and arms in order to chase away the god of death, Explain Barahona, ``If Pucuch (God of death) wanted to come near an Indian in order to take them away, the smell of the herb repelled him, and he would give up.''