The Daime, Caetano Veloso & Gilberto Gil An Amazing Story Translated from the Portuguese by Jose Murilo and Lou Gold Go to Portuguese Version THE DAIME, CAETANO AND GIL by Juarez Duarte Bomfim The journalist Carlos Marques , who is today an adviser at UNESCO living in Paris, was 20 years old when the managers of Manchete magazine decided to send him, accompanied by a photographer, to do an article about the distant city of Rio Branco, capital of Acre state, in the year of 1969. [1] Among the many interviews, Marques talked with the Italian bishop Giocondo Maria Grotti, who two years later (1971) would die in an airplane accident in the region of Sena Madureira. When asked about the problems he was facing in the region, the bishop complained about the Santo Daime Doctrine, which was founded by a black man from Maranhão state, Raimundo Irineu Serra. Marques decided to meet Master Irineu Serra, who was working in the cut field on his property when the journalist arrived. - That meeting was the most extraordinary experience in my whole life. Master Raimundo said he knew I would come, and that he was waiting. He said my name, that I had recently been released from prison, and that I had a scar on my leg. Marques also said that he spent 3 days at Alto Santo and drank Daime, but he did not reveal details of his experience. - He told me I would some day come back to Acre, but I never believed in this possibility. During his farewell to Master Irineu Serra, surprisingly he was offered a bottle of Daime with the recommendation to drink its contents along with his sensitive friends. [2] Back in Rio de Janeiro, Carlos Marques handed the bottle and its contents to the tropicalismo musician and composer Gilberto Gil, describing it as "a sacred indigenous beverage that produces gorgeous visions and the highest states of soul". [3] On that same day Gilberto Gil took a dose of the drink, and soon afterwards he went to Santo Dumont airport, in Rio de Janeiro, to take a flight to São Paulo. Once he was in São Paulo's Congonhas airport lobby, where a military exposition from the Brazilian Air Force (FAB) was being launched, the effect of the Daime fully came on, and Gil "caught indescribable contents from the presence of the military". [4] It was during the time of the military dictatorship and the Brazilian artistic and intellectual class was being brutally persecuted, and these very artists -- Gil and Caetano from Bahia state -- would soon be arrested and "invited" to leave Brazil. Under the influence of the Daime, Gilberto Gil in the fashion of Glauber Rocha [a famous exiled Brazilian film maker also from Bahia] felt "as if he had understood the ultimate meaning of our people's historical moment as a nation under authoritarian oppression"... and even influenced by the fear that the military evoked then... he felt that he could "love -- beyond the terror and his convictions or political leanings -- the whole world in all its manifestations, including the oppressive military". [5] There was the Christian message arriving in the heart of the artist, despite all the persecution and fear: "Love your enemies". [6] That was the Daime operating... After this solitary experience during a Rio-São Paulo flight, Gilberto Gil gathered a group of friends in the apartment of the musician and composer Caetano Veloso and he proposed that they all should make a collective trip. Following Carlos Marques' recommendation, Gil serves to each one a little more than a half glass. [7] Caetano narrates: "the thick and yellowish beverage had a taste like vomiting, but it did not cause any nausea". [8] From now on, the poet's inspired prose transmits a compelling report of the visions and perceptions of what he saw and felt, from the life he could perceive from inanimate objects, "the story of each grain of matter" from a prosaic nylon carpet in his apartment, for example... Listening to the sounds of Pink Floyd's progressive rock, in the tiny limits of the twentieth floor of a São Paulo building, the experiment unfolds: "Sandra (Gil's wife) was coming in and out of the bedroom with hard eyes and serious face. She was scared. I thought she looked like an Indian. Gil had his eyes full of tears and was saying something about dying, having died, I don't know. Dedé (Caetano's wife) was circulating around the living room saying that she was seeing herself elsewhere. I was very happy to observe that the people were so clearly themselves... Some colored points of light surged in the infinite space of darkness... Circular forms were composed by beautiful dancing points of light. Little by little I knew who each of these illuminated points was. And soon they were showing themselves as human beings. There were many of them, from both sexes, all of them naked and resembling Indians. These people were dancing in complex circle designs, but I could not only understand all the subtleties of this complexity but also had a calm concentrated awareness to know about each person the same amount I know about myself and my close and loved ones". [9] It is said that it is from experiences such as with the Daime, particularly the peak experiences like this one -- from Gilberto Gil ("Gil... was saying something about dying, having died"...) -- that there came about beautiful songs from his repertoire, such as "If I would speak with God". Here it is being sung by Elis Regina If I would speak with God I have to be alone I have to turn off the lights I have to shut the voice I have to find the peace I have to unfold the knots From the shoes, from the necklace From the desires, from the fears I have to forget the date I have to miss the count I have to have empty hands To the soul and the body naked If I would speak with God I have to accept the pain I have to eat the bread That the devil stretched I have to turn myself into a dog I have to lick the floor From the palaces, from the castles Magnificences of my dream I have to see myself sad I have to see myself as scary And despite an evil so big Rejoice my heart If I would speak with God I have to adventure myself I have to climb to the skies With no ropes to hold I have to say farewell Turn my back, walk Decided, along the road Which in the end reaches nothing Nothing, nothing, nothing, nothing Nothing, nothing, nothing, nothing Nothing, nothing, nothing, nothing From what I thought I would find. [10] And, in ecstasy, Caetano would watch his "Indian angels" in this "celestial experience". "I would alternate -- while opening and closing my eyes -- the observation of the external world and the experience of this [internal] world of images that would become each time more dense... soon I started to recognize that the beings I watched with closed eyes were undoubtedly more real than my friends who were in the room, the sound, the room's walls and the carpets".[11] With awareness expanded by the miração [vision], Caetano acknowledges a new conception of space, different from the standard and precarious "conventionality" -- the "time was equally criticized by this higher stance in my lucid consciousness: Benevolently and with no anguish, I knew that the fact of being experienced in that moment was irrelevant in front of the evidence I already had -- or would have -- of being born, alive and dead -- and also never being -- even though the perception of my 'self' in that situation was an inevitable illusion". [12] [Caetano] the artist from Santo Amaro [a city in Bahia state] continues this inspired narrative of his experience -- which we recommend to be read with care, because it is not possible to transcribe all of it here. And remember the one who speaks is also the philosophy student from the University of Bahia: facing the representation of the "idea of God" declares not knowing that he had the "sudden retraction of one who had learned that the face of the Creator cannot be viewed...." There comes the doubt in the heart of someone who was experiencing an extraordinary ecstatic moment, and while being taken by Dedé to look at himself in the bathroom mirror, to see his 'everyday' face after the whole experience... he then was certain that "he was mad". But "this 'self' who was certain was indestructible -- this one does not get mad, does not sleep, does not die, does not get distracted...." What a beautiful experience... We see that the light of the Daime was revealed to this sensitive poet and composer from Bahia with the merit to see himself as spirit, discerning his own essence -- which is Divine -- as it happens with all of us. Inebriated by the divine and marvelous which is God, playing with the philosophical doubts in a Rogério Duarte style, the future Hare Krishna devotee says, "I don't believe in God, but I saw it!" or "It's obvious that God doesn't exist, but the inexistence of God is only one of the many aspects of its [God's] existence" ... Parodying Nietzsche, Caetano will cry out to all Brazil, "God is released!" under the boos in the festival presentation of his "It is prohibited to prohibit". From this transcendental experience, Caetano reflects: "...for more than a month I felt like living one palm [floating] above every existing thing. And for more than a year some remnants were maintained. In fact, something of an essential kind changed inside of me from that night on". Miracles From the People - Caetano Veloso "The one who is an atheist, and has seen miracles like I did Knows that the gods without God Don't cease to blossom, and don't get tired of waiting And the heart that is sovereign and is the lord Doesn't fit in the darkness, doesn't fit in his 'no' Doesn't fit in itself of so much 'yes' It's pure dance and sex and glory, and floats beyond history Ojuobá would go there and watch Ojuobahia Xangô ordered to call Obatalá the guide Mother Oxum cries tears Tears of happiness Petals of Iemanjá Iansã-Oiá would go Ojuobá would go there and watch OjuoBahia Obá The one who is an atheist..." (Miracles from the People - Caetano Veloso) [13] Going back to the start of our story... can you believe that journalist Carlos Marques returned to Acre after 40 years? At the end of an audience with then Governor Jorge Viana, he was asked if he already knew Acre. Marques reported what we have just narrated, and to his surprise the Governor showed him the invitation he had received to participate in the celebrations of the 50 year marriage anniversary of Master Raimundo Irineu Serra with Madrinha Peregrina Gomes Serra, the leader of the Center of Christian Illumination Universal Light - CICLU Alto Santo, on the next day, September 15th, 2006. And [thus] he convinced the journalist to stay in Acre one day more. Marques again met with Madrinha Peregrina Serra, Irineu Serra's widow, to whom he apologized for the offensive content that his report carried in the edition of Manchete magazine, because many pages were published with the prevailing version of the bishop that we were speaking about a diabolical sect. "That was the first among many other [reports] to annoy Irineu Serra and his followers". [14] - "I could not reveal that I had found God" - said Carlos Marques. On the night of April 30th, 2008, in the headquarters of CICLU Alto Santo, there was an official event where the Elias Mansour Foundation from Acre state, the Garibaldi Brasil Foundation from the city of Rio Branco, and representatives from the centers that integrate the three branches of the Ayahuasca doctrines (Santo Daime, Barquinha and União do Vegetal), made a request to the Minister of Culture Gilberto Gil, that the National Artistic and Historic Heritage Institute (IPHAN) begin the process of recognizing the use of Ayahuasca in religious rituals as a Brazilian Non-material Cultural Heritage. The event was a full success and a milestone in the Brazilian Ayahuasca universe. In the closing speech of this religious work of the April 30th, 2008, when the authorities (Minister, Governor, State Secretaries and politicians in general) had already left, the official speaker of CICLU - Alto Santo recalled the unique story of the journalist Carlos Marques, concluding that (in my words from my memory's account): Master Irineu, knowing about the past, present and future of the journalist Carlos Marques, gifted him exceptionally with a bottle of Daime so that he could make it reach the singer Gilberto Gil, in a way that he could take it and get acquainted with it, so that, 40 years later, he could come to Alto Santo as a Minister of State to mediate the request of recognizing ayahuasca as a non-material heritage of Brazilian culture. VIVA! MESTRE IRINEU! VIVA! NOTES [1] The information was extracted from Altino Machado's blog: "40 Years Later" http://altino. blogspot.com/2006/09/40-anos-depois.html Viewed in September 15th, 2006. [2] Speech from journalist Antonio Alves in the CICLU Alto Santo headquarters on May 30th, 2008. [3] VELEOS, Caetano. "Tropical Truth". São Paulo, Cia das Letras, 1997, p. 308. [4] Ibid, p.308. [5] Ibid, p. 308. [6] Luke 6:27. [7] The old ones say that this was a recommendation of Master Irineu. [8] VELOSO,, 1997, p. 322. [9] VELOSO, 1997, p. 324. [10] Listen to "If I Would Speak With God" - Elis Regina - http://br.youtube.com/watch?v=tWuQc7W0O-A Viewed on May 26th [11] VELOSO, 1997, p. 324. [12] Ibid, p. 324. [13] Listen to the videoclip Milagres do Povo - Daniela Mercury, at http://www.losacordes.com/videoclip/daniela-mercury/milagres-do-povo [note: a different version is presented above because of the youtube code allowing it to be embedded in this post] [14] MACHADO, Altino. "40 Years Later" http://altino. blogspot.com/2006/09/40-anos-depois.html Viewed on September 15th, 2006.

GERALDINE FIJNEMAN:
Santo Daime Activist Extraordinaire




On this day, seven years ago (21 May 2001) in Holland, Geraldine was acquitted of all charges stemming from her arrest for possessing and distributing the sacramental tea of Santo Daime. Her story has been an inspiration to us all. Viva Geraldine!


Lígia Kosin
Correio Braziliense Staff
World, May 23, 2001

Geraldine Fijneman, a tranquil, 56 year-old Dutch woman with a Zen face and a gentle gaze, accomplished what seemed unthinkable a few years ago. After making a mockery of a medical diagnosis that gave her just a few months to live, this grandmother of five beat the Dutch Justice department and won the right to practice, legally, the rituals of the Santo Daime religion in Dutch territory.

Leader of the Amsterdam center, Geraldine was arrested in October 1999 as she distributed the Santo Daime tea to her followers during one of the religion's rituals. The drink, a mixture of two tropical plants, also known as ayahuasca, contains the psychoactive substance DMT (dimethyltryptamine), which is prohibited in Holland. She spent two days in prison and had the 17.5 liters of the drink in her possession confiscated. She was freed after analyses demonstrated that the liquid contained just 3 grams of DMT, a quantity not considered harmful. Guided by the lawyer Adele van der Plas, she preferred to be tried. "It was a way of forcing a judicial decision about the matter that, if it were favorable, would permit the holding of Santo Daime rituals in the country," Adele explained. It worked.

After a trial lasting a year and a half, Amsterdam's Supreme Court ruled that the use of ayahuasca within the rituals of the Church of the Eclectic Center of Universal Flowing Light, the official name of the religious movement, is not a crime.

Geraldine and the lawyer, Adele, celebrated in Brazil, where they arrived some days ago. "At last I can take Santo Daime again and help other people who need support in their lives," she told the Correio yesterday, before embarking for the sect's headquarters - Ceu do Mapia - in the municipality of Pauní, in Amazonas state, for a long stay of three months. "I want to heal myself again."

There is reason for Geraldine's anxiety. She attributes to the religion and the ingestion of ayahuasca the fact that she's been alive for the last nine years. In 1992, Geraldine was diagnosed with a brain tumor. Surgery was not feasible owing to the tumor's location. Doctors gave her few months to live. Desperate, she sought alternatives. She heard of a group that utilized Amazonian plants in Pisa, Italy, and went there. "When I took the tea, I knew that it could help me a lot." Two months later she was in Amazonia, where she stayed 60 days. "Santo Daime completely changed my life. It helped me to get to know my dark side and my enlightened side." When she returned to Holland, the doctors didn't know what to say.

"The tumor had entered remission," she says.

THE TRIAL

While the trial lasted, however, Geraldine was forbidden to use ayahuasca in Holland and the rituals of the cult were done without the drink. She limited herself to taking it during sporadic trips to Brazil. "My health suffered a relapse and the tumor began to grow again," she says, attributing the fact to the tension she lived through during the last months of the trial.

During this time, the lawyer, Adele, claimed that the utilization of the drink was fundamental to the functioning of the religion and that its prohibition, therefore, violated the European Convention on Human Rights and Fundamental Liberties. According to the treaty, freedom of religion cannot be limited except by reason of public safety, protection of public order, health and morality, or the rights and freedoms of others. "The prosecutor had to prove that the use of ayahuasca in the church's rituals was harmful to society, and he could not," Adele explains.

In its decision, the Dutch court states that, owing to the small number of members of the religion in the country-about 100 people-and to the rigid control that the leaders exercise over the use of the drink in the rituals, the consumption of ayahuasca does not present significant risk to public health, and that the freedom of religion intended in the Convention on Human Rights, in this case, supersedes the anti-drug laws that prohibit the consumption of DMT. The decision may serve as a precedent for similar cases in other European countries that are signatories of the same convention. Currently, the Santo Daime religion has representatives in almost all European nations, including Italy, Spain, Great Britain, Switzerland, Germany, Denmark, and Belgium, but it faces resistance in the majority of them.

Happy with the decision, Geraldine doesn't hesitate to reject any notion that the decision may bring publicity to the sect in Holland. "We don't go after people, they find us, of free and spontaneous volition," she says.

What she and her lawyer are thinking of doing is asking for reparations for the days spent in prison and the confiscation of the drink. That is, if there is no appeal of the decision. "The prosecutor of the case told us he has no intention of appealing, but the Dutch government may have some say in the matter," the lawyer explains.

ARTISTS TURNED FANS - The Santo Daime religion has for decades been a part of Amazonian culture, but it was the hippies from São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro who took it upon themselves, in the late 70s, to take the Daime rituals to the rest of Brazil. In the 1980s, various celebrities such as Ney Matogrosso, Lucélia Santos and Maitê Proença, among other artists, tried the drink and became defenders of Santo Daime culture, helping to publicize the religious group. Some remain members to this day, like the cartoonist Glauco, leader of one of the Santo Daime communities in São Paulo, where he uses the rituals to help drug addicts to kick the habit.

DRINK SAID TO OPEN THE MIND - Santo Daime is an eclectic religion resulting from the syncretism of several cultural, folkloric and religious elements, including Catholicism, and originated in the early 20th century in Amazonia, when the grandchild of slaves, Raimundo Irineu Serra, had a "vision" upon consuming a drink used by the indigenes, ayahuasca.

The drink is a concoction of two tropical plants, the vine Jagube and the leaf Rainha, and has properties that are hallucinogenic or, as the members call it, "entheogenic" (manifesting God within each one). According to the followers, the drink is utilized during the rituals to produce an expansion of consciousness and to permit self-knowledge. Among the physical effects of the drink are nausea, intestinal discomfort and vomiting. Some feel absolutely nothing.

In 1974, a follower of Mestre Irineu, Padrinho Sebastião, registered the religious movement with the name Raimundo Irineu Serra Eclectic Center of the Universal Flowing Light [Centro Eclético da Fluente Luz Universal Raimundo Irineu Serra] (CEFLURIS) and developed the idea of communities around the churches. After years of suspicion owing to the psychoactive properties of ayahuasca, and several commissions that evaluated the effects of the drink and the religion's rituals, the Federal Council on Narcotics [Conselho Federal de Entorpecentes] (CONFEN) authorized the utilization of the tea in the Santo Daime rituals in 1991.

There is an excellent updated history of the Santo Daime's long march toward worldwide legitimacy here.

AYAHUASCA PROPOSED AS PART OF THE CULTURAL HERITAGE OF BRAZIL



Federal Minister of Culture, Gilberto Gil, is presenting to the National Institute of Historical and Artistic Heritage (IPHAN) an application for recognition of the use of ayahuasca tea in religious rituals as a non-material [spiritual] heritage of Brazilian culture.


Link to the original article from Folha in Portuguese.

01/05/2008 - 17h45

Gil Sends Request to Recognize Ayahuasca as a Cultural Heritage

Minister of Culture, Gilberto Gil, will present to the National Institute of Historical and Artistic Heritage an application for recognition of the use of ayahuasca tea in religious rituals as a non-material [spiritual] heritage of Brazilian culture.

The drink is made by boiling two plants native to the Amazon forest - a vine and leaves of a bush - that have hallucinogen effect.

The request was delivered to the minister on Wednesday (30 April) in Rio Branco, Acre in a document signed by representatives of three major ayahuasca doctrines - Alto Santo, União do Vegetal and Barquinha.

At the meeting, Gil said that the religions that use ayahuasca tea (also known as hoasca or vegetal) are important features of Brazilian religious culture.

"In this case, specifically, there is also the affection regarding great importance of another dimension to life, which is nature," said the minister.

Gil said that IPHAN, an organ of the Ministry of Culture, will examine the request "with all zeal, love and responsibility".

CAN YOU IMAGINE?

[UPDATE: Albert Hoffmann, the father of LSD, died yesterday at age 102. Here is the obituary in the NY Times.]

Can you imagine that the History Channel has aired a new documentary for mainstream television called
"Peyote to LSD: A Psychedelic Odyssey"?

Can you imagine that it is narrated by my all-time favorite anthropologist-storyteller Wade Davis (books and talks)?

Can you imagine that it has commentary by Dr. Andrew Weil, Bob Weir and other luminaries?

Can you imagine music by the Grateful Dead?

Can you imagine that it travels deep into Amazônia with the historical Richard Evans Schultze to find ayahuasca?

Can can imagine that the material is presented in a thoughtful, balanced and respectful way?



The entire psychedelic movement was pinned with extremely negative views as a result of the excesses and recklessness of the 1960's. I feel gratified that now, nearly 50 years later, the media doors of perception are being opened to reveal the insights of indigenous peoples, disciplined religious movements and serious scientific research into the the visionary and therapeutic uses of sacred substances.

The History Channel's "Peyote to LSD: A Psychedelic Odyssey" is superb and will probably soon be known as an "instant classic." It has been placed onto YouTube in 12 parts. I don't know how long these clips will remain online but for now at least I have assembled them here for convenient viewing. You might want to consider them.

[UPDATE -- 09 May -- YouTube has removed the videos saying "This video has been removed due to terms of use violation." I imagine that means they were in copyright violation.]

[OOOOPS, THE FOLLOWING ARE GONE. IF I FIND OUT WHERE THEY WENT I"LL LET YOU KNOW IN A FUTURE POST.]

Peyote to LSD: A Psychedelic Odyssey (part 1 of 12)



Peyote to LSD: A Psychedelic Odyssey (part 2 of 12)



Peyote to LSD: A Psychedelic Odyssey (part 3 of 12)



Peyote to LSD: A Psychedelic Odyssey (part 4 of 12)



Peyote to LSD: A Psychedelic Odyssey (part 5 of 12)



Peyote to LSD: A Psychedelic Odyssey (part 6 of 12)



Peyote to LSD: A Psychedelic Odyssey (part 7 of 12)



Peyote to LSD: A Psychedelic Odyssey (part 8 of 12)



Peyote to LSD: A Psychedelic Odyssey (part 9 of 12)



Peyote to LSD: A Psychedelic Odyssey (part 10 of 12)



Peyote to LSD: A Psychedelic Odyssey (part 11 of 12)

A JOURNEY INTO THE HEART

Flor do Ceu
Santa Luzia, MG
February 2008


Mestre Conselheiro Luíz Mendes do Nascimento

I've been thinking about how to name my experiences on the path of Santo Daime -- with the Luíz Mendes family and friends at Vila Fortaleza in Acre, during my journeys across Brazil, and even nowadays, in my mind, as I sit in front of a computer composing these blog posts far from the forest in the middle the giant metropolis of São Paulo.

For me it's been both a journey into the heart and a discipline of learning how to hold that space.


Despite the fact that I like to portray the festive and joyous aspects of the spiritual work of Santo Daime, I want to emphasize that these results occur only because of ritual and a strong "current" of experienced participants. There is a lot of self-discipline that must be learned and sometimes difficult "passages" to move through. As Padrinho Luiz Mendes likes to say, "the gift is earned."


Perhaps some video clips from the Carnival time gathering at Flor do Ceu can give a little sense of this disciplined journey into an open and loving heart. On the first night of ceremony at Flor do Ceu we sang the hymns of the New Horizon of Padrinho Luiz Mendes.

Three of the hymns follow.


The first, Enterei Numa Batalha (Enter into the Battle), sings of the struggle to master one's self -- to not lose heart and of receiving a vision of God's mercy and the miracle of Saint Francis.

These "battle hymns" -- directed at self-mastery and firmness -- often have the flavor of a military march and are accompanied by fireworks. There is not a definitive explanation for the fireworks that I am aware of but one story that is told is that they reference the lonely times of the serringeiros (rubber tappers) on their solo journeys through the great forest. They all carried shotguns which they would occasionally fire off to "scare away the demons."



As is said on all spiritual paths, "the first enemy of a person seeking knowledge is fear." I can imagine Mestre Irineu in his early studies with ayahuasca striving to receive messages from the Queen while having to watch out for the dangers of the Amazon forest and having to conquer the fears that emerge from the "jungle of the mind." Perhaps that's why he called for fireworks during certain hymns, and why the tradition has continued.


The next hymn, Ouvi o Som das Águas, sings of seeing and praising the crowning work of receiving the highest messages and guidance in the "shaking" or "quaking" (balançando) of a strong spiritual ritual and hoping to be able to "get it."



The struggle is not only to reach up into the astral heights but also to deal with the challenges of life on earth, such as the destruction of the forest. The next video shows Padrinho Luíz Mendes presenting a dramatization of the spirit of Casmerim, a female entity who protects the forest and with whom the Mendes family has a special connection.

The video (below) begins with the last part of the hymn that sings of the longing for this spirit, of how she comes and goes returning to the Father's house, and how she will always be remembered. After the hymn is sung, Seu Luíz offers a "dramatization" bringing the energies of Casmerim into the ceremony.



The poetry of the dramatization says:
(translated by Rodrigo Conti)

In the forest there is everything
It has everything and we appreciate
In the light of the sunshine
It is a verdant rose

The forest was created
And delivered into our hands
But many only destroy it
By pure and bloody ambition

The forest is beneficial
It helps to purify the air
So punished by mankind
It is ignorant to neglect it

The forest is a colossus
With all of its springs
So punished by mankind
My brothers and sisters you don't do that

The forest is a wealth
We can't say that it isn't
I offer to all of you
This slight and simple dramatization

Salve the green of the forest
Salve the great green of the sea
Hahaqua haquaquaca
My brothers and sisters let's stop with the babble

But now I bid farewell
Manifesting my greeting
Until whenever my day comes
Good-bye, good-bye, I'm going, my dear brothers and sisters


As a long-time forest defender myself, I must say that Casmerim reaches deeply into my heart.


Let us shift now to the final night of the retreat.

The Santo Daime philosophy holds that the Doctrine is collective, received by and belonging to the spiritual current, and so there are many streams of offerings from the past and from the present. The final night is a time of sharing when the brotherhood-sisterhood offers and shares these gifts. Perhaps these small fragments will be able to convey bits of the experience of making a journey with everyone into the Heart of All.

Joaquim's hymn sings of the great warrior of the heart, Mestre Irineu and his legacy to us from Amazônia. There is a moment at the table revealing a beautiful mother-daughter relationship between Débora and Carol which for me had a special poignancy.



This was Jacqueline's last spiritual work during her recent travels with the Luíz Mendes comitiva. Here is her offering.



The Carnival Retreat of 2008 at Flor do Ceu ended with the singing of the Prayer of St Francis.



Viva São Francisco! Viva Harmonia! Viva Alegria! Viva Amizade!

Finally, I would like to thank Débora and Eduardo Gabrish for maintaining the wonderful Flor do Ceu center, for their many contributions to the Santo Daime movement, for extending friendship and encouragement to many and for making me feel very much at home.



Viva Eduardo e Débora!

Viva Mestre Conselheiro Luíz Mendes!

Viva Mestre Irineu!

CARNIVAL RETREAT AT FLOR DO CEU

Santa Luzia, MG
Feb 2008

The annual Carnival Retreat at Flor do Ceu in Santa Luzia, Minas Gerais (near Belo Horizonte) brings together many new and old friends. A great gathering, of course, begins with a great group of people. And that is surely what we had. Carol, bursting with the shine of sun is a great emblem.




But, being February, of course there also was some rain -- and some rather unque solutions.



The days were full of events:

Josémar led several exercise, meditation and energy workshops





Janaína provided daily body-work



and Geogette offered information on the line of herbal products from Vila Fortaleza



One day of the festival was devoted to Afro linkages which are central components of Brazilian culture and spiritual practices. Mestre João led a workshop in Capoeira which is an art-form that started up in 16th Century Brazil that was created and developed by both the native slave Indians and slaves brought from Africa.





And there was a marvelous pageant of African drumming and dance.





See the full Flor do Ceu Carnival Photo Collection.

Leaving Vila Fortaleza:
The Beauty and the Challenge



Final days were for myself full of nostalgia or longing. Actually, it's more than that -- closer to something Brazilians call saudade, a word so unique that there is a full wikipedia page and lots of discussion devoted to it.

I carried my camera and shot almost randomly, just capturing some of the beauties of people and place. Looking back now, I selected a few from the last week at Vila Fortaleza.

















And then came the challenges of leaving. Getting people and stuff into Saturnino's little pick-up was the fun part.



Heading down the road was more difficult.

I'm going to let the photos speak for themselves.









In coming posts, I'll share some news about how people are trying to deal with the opportunities and intrusions of this modern fuel-hungry world.

There are some more photos here.

FANTASTICO SANTO DAIME IN ENGLISH


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."

WHAT IS THIS AYAHUASCA STUFF ANYWAY?

I'm really glad that you asked because there's a great article about it called Plants with Soul by Michael Posner which was published last year in the outstanding Canadian magazine "The Walrus." This is the best written, solidly researched and objective piece that I've read on a topic which is usually presented either foolishly or fearfully. It also tells the very interesting story of how the US Supreme Court decided unanimously that the anti-drug people could not prevent its use as a religious sacrament.

Here are the plants:

The leaf Psychotria viridis



and the vine Banisteriopsis caapi



Many traditions -- about 72 have been identified -- honor the sacred tea made from these plants, each according to their own religious narratives and ritual practices. The unique intelligence of plants is that they are the ones who know how to turn light into life. Thus, ayahuasca is considered by many as a "light unto the world" -- a powerful plant teacher and a guide connecting the stars of the firmament to life on earth.

Currently, some of the best exposition of the phenomenology of the ayahuasca experience can be found in the research of the cognitive scientist Benny Shanon. And, there's a lot more emerging from this well of wisdom. Stayed tuned.