In 2005 O GLOBO, Brazil's largest and most mainstream TV network, ran a documentary about Santo Daime on its weekly magazine FANTASTICO, which is the most widely watched family show in the country. The result was to bring the Santo Daime out from the Amazon forest into the central national media spotlight and living rooms across Brazil. Now, thanks to Benno from Holland who, together with Malcolm Kyle, made the subtitles, this report and the mission of Mestre Irineu may also reach out into the English speaking world.
More recently, O GLOBO presented a wonderful treatment of the special history of Mestre Irineu and the Santo Daime in its widely watched mini-series Amazônia.
Many ayahuasca traditions are now gaining legitimacy around the world. In the states, where the sacrament has been opposed by the Federal Drug Enforcement Agency, the União do Vegetal succeeded in bringing the issue of religious use of ayahuasca to the US Supreme Court which unanimously decided for the church and against the government. The full story of that victory and many fine perspectives on ayahuasca were recently written up by Michael Posner in an excellent article called "Plants with Soul."
