The rise of Brazil's Santo Daime religion

[Judi Lynn]

Ayahuasca and shamanic tourism were already controversial in Brazil, and now face an uncertain future under Bolsonaro.

– by Lucinda Elliott –
MONDAY, 23RD SEPTEMBER 2019

It’s late, past midnight, and guests are starting to arrive at a house in Butantã, an inner-city suburb of São Paulo, Brazil’s biggest metropolis. Some are carrying blankets, even though summer evenings in South America can be stifling well into the night. A humming air-conditioning vent rests above a row of mattresses. At the foot of each one is a small waste paper bin, lined with a plastic bag. Two female shamans greet the group in the living room. Soft chanting music begins to play, and one by one, guests drink their first dose of bitter, sludgy liquid – a potent brew of Amazonian plants.

“I didn’t want to be out in a forest for a weekend, in a place I don’t know,” says one young woman who has come to tonight’s ceremony from London. “Here, if I don’t like it, I can call an Uber.” She carries her yoga mat to her place, where around 70 others will surround her for the next eight hours. The bin, she explains, is for “purging”, or vomiting. She paid £50 (R$250) to be here tonight.

Ayahuasca is renowned for the often extraordinary visions it induces. The word means “the vine of the spirits” in the indigenous Quechua language. Ayahuasca is made from an Amazonian vine, Banisteriopsis caapi, and at least one other leaf-based plant; typically Psychotria viridis from the coffee family. Up to four doses are taken in a single session.

For centuries, remote groups from the Amazon rainforest have prized this concoction for its healing and spiritual purposes. It is a central part of traditional shamanistic practice. Although it is not globally recognised as such, many view ayahuasca as a medicine, a way to treat internal wounds and reconnect with nature. Over the past 25 years or so, the rituals around the tea drinking have gone mainstream, offering psychedelic enlightenment to thousands worldwide. They partake in private homes and suburban business parks, at health retreats and community centres.

More:
https://newhumanist.org.uk/articles/5509/the-rise-of-brazils-santo-daime-religion

[Judi Lynn]

1. Bolsonaro's lofty view of indigenous cultures:

Bolsonaro has expressed extreme scepticism that indigenous communities would actually choose to live in one of the most unspoilt regions of the planet, saying they are being kept in “zoos”. In 2017 he said that tribes wanted “electricity, television, blonde girlfriends and internet”. He has been especially critical of the commitment by previous Brazilian governments to set aside in perpetuity vast areas of the forest for indigenous people, protecting them from the threats of mining and logging gangs.

[Mike 03]

2. Really sad. There's this supposition by people who live in wealth that everyone wants that.

It's just not true. I know of a Zen monastery in New York where they've grown to know complete happiness with almost nothing. They spend hours a day in silence. They see the way most people live as quite insane. But they are still activists. One of the teachers I followed left that particular Monastery and is now really fascinated by Ayuasca, but that's a topic for a different thread. I can't remember which country he takes students to, but it could be Brazil.

[Judi Lynn]

3. Have heard it's used in Peru, too, in the Amazon area. Probably throughout the Amazon, I'd bet.

Wonderful reading your comment. It's a lot to consider.

Thank you.