CELEBRATING THE BIRTHDAY
OF PADRINHO SEBASTIÃO
AT CEU DO PLANALTO
IN BRASILIA


First, a little slideshow of some favorite photos of Padrinho:




Today, 7 October, is the anniversary of the birth of Padrinho Sebastião Mota de Melo and on Saturday night and Sunday morning we sang the hymns of Mestre Irineu in his honor. It was a truly glorious session holding the energy of this great family line of Santo Daime and of Saint Francis, on whose day we began, while performing the musical Doctrine of the Master.

There's really no way to adequately describe a night of a full formal Santo Daime session, singing and dancing the hymns of Mestre Irineu. I'd like to keep it simple -- just a very few words and a bunch of videos that I shot randomly across the nine hour session in which 130 plus hymns were sung. So this is an experiment in presentation. Altogether there's probably 45 minutes of video. You can check them out as works best for you.

I'm very pleased to share this and grateful to my friends of Ceu do Planalto for being so open and loving to me and willing to appear in the "blogosphere".

(note: the hymn titles are links to English translation text at YouTube -- just click on "more info")

Papai Velho


Centro Livre


Estrela D'Água


Laranjeira


A Rainha da Floresta


Eu Vou Cantar


São João


Sou Filho Desta Verdade & Todos Querem


Chamei Lá Nas Alturas


Flor Das Águas


Eu Pedi & Eu Cheguei Nesta Casa


Prayer of Saint Francis & Nature's Song


Many thanks to Padrinho Fernando, Madrinha Clarice, all the marvelous musicians and singers, and especially to little Ian.

SANTO DAIME FEITIO

Vila Fortaleza
10-12 January 2008



The feitio ritual for making the Santo Daime brings many things together. The leaf, vine, water, fire, music, work, people, friendship, nature, the forest, the place and the Doctrine all forming into a union that fashions a holy drink. The result is much more than the sum of its ingredients. It is something beyond words... a sacrament.



The following video weaves together clips from the several days of the Vila Forteleza feito. It begins with the bateção pounding the jagube vine into long fibers. Saturnino's maraca, the mallets and the voices all work together with the musical Doctrine presented in the hymns of Antônio Gomez (Nosso Mestre). Next comes the days of cooking and more preparation working with the hymns of Padrinhos Sebastião (Vem) and Valdete, and concluding with the final night of the hymns of João Pereira (Lá Vem a Minha Mãe).



Here are some photos















More photos here.

Finados at Ceu de Maria

At the top of a mountain, high above the city of São Paulo,



sits a beautiful Santo Daime church called Ceu de Maria.




In this most lovely place,



people gathered to make the Holy Friday spiritual ritual of "Finados" -- as are called the four companions of Mestre Irineu -- who together with him received the foundation of the Doctrine of the Santo Daime. Now, as the ritual unfolded, the people would sing and dance and remember.



And the remembrance would also include the great founders of Mapia who have passed on --

Padrinho Sebastião



and Madrinha Cristina



and now the man who had co-founded and helped to lead this church of Ceu de Maria and who, until the previous night, had lived in this house atop the hill.



Orlando Villas Boas, or "Orlandino" -- as he was known to all -- had been a grande amigo. His passage gave a profound and poignant significance to the mass that was sung at the end of this spiritual work.



I did not not have the pleasure of having known "Orlandino" but the energy of a great love was present throughout the day.

I'm not sure how to best express it? Maybe like this...

Earlier in the spiritual work -- while singing the hymns of Maria Damião -- I had thought of the child Saint John and the man who had grown to manifest his energies



and I had thought of the ones who are coming...







and I had called out Viva as Crianças.


There are a few more photos here.

(Note: The wonderful photo montages that decorate the church here and in Mapia are done by Carlos Gustavo N. Pereira. Thank you "Guta" for such marvelous works.)

BIRTHDAYS

Saturnino and I both celebrated birthdays this week -- he reached 44 years on 3 March and I managed to arrive at 70 today (5 Mar).


photo by ana


Thanks to God and Santo Daime and lots of friends, I'm feeling younger all the time. For those who don't know what 70 years feels like, all I can say is that the years sure go by fast. So celebrate and play as much as you can.

That's what we did last week at the coast north of São Paulo. Here are a few pics of us (Lou, Saturnino, Luza) at Ilhabela Island



and the birthday cake at O Ninho do Beija-Flor de Luz (the nest of the humming bird of light) on Sunday morning following a night of Santo Daime rituals that combined healing and celebration.


photo by carol

Now that I'm in the city with a good Internet connection I will be blogging about the incredible journey of healing and joy that I've been on with the family and friends of Luiz Mendes.

I hope that you stay tuned.