Christ Returns from the Jungle

Marc G. Blainey

Description

After more than 450 years of European intrusions into South America's rainforest, small groups of people across Europe now gather discreetly to participate in Amazonian ceremonies their local governments consider a criminal act. As devotees of a new Brazil-based religion called Santo Daime, they claim that they contact God by way of ayahuasca, a potent psychoactive beverage first developed by native communities in pre-Columbian Amazonia. This bitter, brown liquid is a synergy of plants containing DMT, a mind-altering chemical classified as an illicit "hallucinogen" in most countries. By contrast, Santo Daime members (daimistas) revere ayahuasca as a sacrament, combining it with rituals and theologies borrowed from Christian mysticism, indigenous shamanism, Afro-Brazilian spiritualism, and Western esotericism.

The Santo Daime religion was founded in 1930 by an Afro-Brazilian rubber tapper named Raimundo Irineu Serra, now known as Mestre (Master) Irineu. Presenting results from more than a year of fieldwork with Santo Daime groups in Europe, Marc G. Blainey contributes new understandings of contemporary Westerners' search for existential well-being on an increasingly interconnected planet. As a thorough exploration of daimistas' beliefs about the therapeutic potentials of ayahuasca, this book takes readers on an ethnographic journey into the deepest recesses of the human psyche.
List of Illustrations
Preface
Acknowledgments

Part I: Framing and Tackling the Question: Why Santo Daime in Europe?

1. Introduction

2. How the Outsider Can Understand Daimista Insiders

Part II: From Amazonia with Love

3. Tracing Origins

4. The Current State of Santo Daime Studies: Brazil and Beyond

5. Passage to "Heaven" of Mapiá

Part III: Back to the Old World

6. Santo Daime and the Re‑Enchantment of Europe

7. National Profiles

Part IV: Santo Daime "Works"

8. Framework for Curing the Ego

9. Eclectic Symbolisms of Santo Daime Ideology

10. Being‑in‑the‑Astral: An Auto‑Ethnography of Ethnophenomenology

Part V: The Mystical Technology of Santo Daime Rituals

11. A Key to Solutions

12. Fardados' Conception of Santo Daime as a Mystical Path

Part VI: Fardados' Existential Values

13. Timeless Wisdom

14. The Aims of Santo Daime Perennialism

Part VII: Applying Anthropology to Public Debates about Ayahuasca

15. The Cosmopolitics of Entheogenic Healing

16. Closing Remarks: Toward Mutual Respect and Toleration

Appendices

Appendix I: Glossary of Portuguese Santo Daime Terms

Appendix II: Liturgical Calendar of Santo Daime

Appendix III: Master List of Sacred Plants (Europe‑wide Sample)

Appendix IV: Master List of Great Spiritual Teachers (Belgian Sample)

Appendix V: Master List of Great Spiritual Teachers (Europe‑wide Sample)

Appendix VI: Triad Test Results and Statistics

Notes
Bibliography
Index

Sujets

• Psychology
• System

Informations

• Publié par: State University of New York Press
• Date de parution: 01 juin 2021
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781438483153
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 2 Mo

Extrait

Christ Returns from the Jungle
SUNY series in Transpersonal and Humanistic Psychology

Richard D. Mann, editor
Christ Returns from the Jungle
Ayahuasca Religion as Mystical Healing
Marc G. Blainey
Front cover image: Fardada holding a cup of Daime (photo by a Belgian daimista). Back Cover image: Portrait of Mestre Irineu, By: Jorge Patrocinio (published with permission)
Published by State University of New York Press, Albany
© 2021 State University of New York
All rights reserved
Printed in the United States of America
No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission. No part of this book may be stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means including electronic, electrostatic, magnetic tape, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise without the prior permission in writing of the publisher.
For information, contact State University of New York Press, Albany, NY
www.sunypress.edu
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Name: Blainey, Marc Gordon, author.
Title: Christ returns from the jungle : ayahuasca religion as mystical healing / by Marc G. Blainey.
Description: Albany : State University of New York Press, [2021] | Series: SUNY series in transpersonal and humanistic psychology | Includes bibliographical references and index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2020058286 (print) | LCCN 2020058287 (ebook) | ISBN 9781438483139 (hardcover : alk. paper) | ISBN 9781438483153 (ebook)
Subjects: LCSH: Religion and culture—Europe. | Santo Daime (Cult)—Europe. | Cultural pluralism—Europe. | Cultural pluralism—Religious aspects. | Europe—Religion—21st century.
Classification: LCC BL65.C8 B542 2021 (print) | LCC BL65.C8 (ebook) | DDC 299/.93—dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2020058286
LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2020058287
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
This book is dedicated to you, the reader
Figure 0.1. Christ in the Wine Press , By: Hieronymus Wierix (1619); Image copyright © The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Image source: Art Resource, NY.

from the chalice of this realm of spirits foams forth for Him his own infinitude.
—G. W. F. Hegel, The Phenomenology of Spirit Eu tomo Daime I drink Daime Para ver os meus defeitos To see my flaws Eu tomo Daime I drink Daime Para eu me corrigir To correct myself Não tomo Daime I don’t drink Daime Para me engrandecer To exalt myself Porque o grande Because the Great É Jesus, está aquí Is Jesus and He’s here … Eu tomo Daime I drink Daime E considero este vinho And consider this wine O mesmo vinho The same wine Que Jesus deu para tomar Jesus gave to drink Aos Seus apostoles To His apostles Disse: Em minha memória He said ‘in my memory’ Que é para sempre So that forever Esta Luz nunca faltar This Light never goes out
—excerpt from hymn #14, “Em Minha Memória” (“In My Memory”), in Livrinho do Apocalipse ( Little Book of Revelation ), by Padrinho Valdete
Contents
L IST OF I LLUSTRATIONS
P REFACE
A CKNOWLEDGMENTS
PART I
FRAMING AND TACKLING THE QUESTION: WHY SANTO DAIME IN EUROPE?
C HAPTER 1
Introduction
C HAPTER 2
How the Outsider Can Understand Daimista Insiders
PART II
FROM AMAZONIA WITH LOVE
C HAPTER 3
Tracing Origins
C HAPTER 4
The Current State of Santo Daime Studies: Brazil and Beyond
C HAPTER 5
Passage to “Heaven” of Mapiá
PART III
BACK TO THE OLD WORLD
C HAPTER 6
Santo Daime and the Re-Enchantment of Europe
C HAPTER 7
National Profiles
PART IV
SANTO DAIME “WORKS”
C HAPTER 8
Framework for Curing the Ego
C HAPTER 9
Eclectic Symbolisms of Santo Daime Ideology
C HAPTER 10
Being-in-the-Astral: An Auto-Ethnography of Ethnophenomenology
PART V
THE MYSTICAL TECHNOLOGY OF SANTO DAIME RITUALS
C HAPTER 11
A Key to Solutions
C HAPTER 12
Fardados’ Conception of Santo Daime as a Mystical Path
PART VI
FARDADOS’ EXISTENTIAL VALUES
C HAPTER 13
Timeless Wisdom
C HAPTER 14
The Aims of Santo Daime Perennialism
PART VII
APPLYING ANTHROPOLOGY TO PUBLIC DEBATES ABOUT AYAHUASCA
C HAPTER 15
The Cosmopolitics of Entheogenic Healing
C HAPTER 16
Closing Remarks: Toward Mutual Respect and Toleration
APPENDICES
A PPENDIX I
Glossary of Portuguese Santo Daime Terms
A PPENDIX II
Liturgical Calendar of Santo Daime
A PPENDIX III
Master List of Sacred Plants (Europe-wide Sample)
A PPENDIX IV
Master List of Great Spiritual Teachers (Belgian Sample)
A PPENDIX V
Master List of Great Spiritual Teachers (Europe-wide Sample)
A PPENDIX VI
Triad Test Results and Statistics
N OTES
B IBLIOGRAPHY
I NDEX
Illustrations
Figures 0.1 Christ in the Wine Press , By: Hieronymus Wierix (1619); Image copyright © The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Image source: Art Resource, NY. 1.1 The First Approach of the Serpent, engraving by Gustave Doré (1866), published with permission from the Bibliothèque nationale de France (BnF). 1.2 The European continent; countries in which Santo Daime congregations exist indicated by a double-armed cross (following the precedent set in Labate and Araújo [2004, 614; with Sandra Goulart]); black boxes indicate countries whose citizens attend Daime works in Amsterdam. 3.1. Execution of the Inca of Peru by Pizarro , By: Alonzo Chappel (1533). Credit: Wellcome Collection (Creative Commons). 3.2 A cup of freshly made Daime tea—still warm, collected after the author participated in a feitio ritual at Céu do Mapiá in the Brazilian Amazon (Photo by author). 3.3 Map of ayahuasca vegetation and use in South America (assembled by the author with reference to Gates [1982, 117/212]; Luna [1986, 167–170]; Global Biodiversity Information Facility: https://www.gbif.org/species/2921300). For comparison, see Highpine (2008). 3.4 Portrait of Mestre Irineu (1890–1971); painted by Joanna Wernink; often displayed in the ritual space during Daime works in Amsterdam (published with permission). 3.5 Portrait of Padrinho Sebastião (1920–1990); painted by Joanna Wernink; often displayed in the ritual space during Daime works in Amsterdam (published with permission). 3.6 Portrait of Madrinha Rita (1925– ); painted by Joanna Wernink; often displayed in the ritual space during Daime works in Amsterdam (published with permission). 5.1 Females carefully clean bugs and other impurities off of the Rainha leaves (photo by Dutch fardada, published with permission). 5.2 The men crush the Jagube vines with wooden mallets— bateção (photo by Dutch fardada, published with permission). 5.3 The hammering action of bateção creates a vine pulp (photo by Dutch fardada, published with permission). 5.4 The mixture of the vine and leaf plant materials is boiled in water using wood burning ovens (photo by the author). 6.1 Europe as a Queen , By: Sebastian Münster (1588); Source: Digital Collections, The Newberry Library (Public Domain). 6.2 Double-armed cross at Céu do Mapiá, Brazil (photo by the author). 8.1 Christ and angel with chalice on Mount of Olives (Gethsemane) , By: Pieter de Bailliu, after Peter P. Rubens (1660); Published with permission from The British Museum. 8.2 An overhead view of a dancing work at Céu da Santa Maria in Amsterdam (photo by a Belgian fardado, published with permission). 8.3 The hand-held maracá is the main percussive instrument in Santo Daime music (photo by a Belgian fardado, published with permission). 8.4 The ritual space of Daime works involves rows of chairs organized in a hexagonal shape. All face the central star-shaped table. On the table are placed a cross sculpture (in the middle), candles, flowers, incense, a maracá, and hymnbooks; for dancing works, chairs are removed and participants stand in the same hexagonal layout (photo by the author). 8.5 The “star” broach—as an official insignia, fardados “receive their star” in the fardamento initiation rite (photo by a Belgian fardado, published with permission). 8.6 Fundamentals of the Blue and White fardas as worn by female and male fardados (photos by a Belgian fardado, published with permission). 8.7 Wordcloud for all hymns in Mestre Irineu’s hymnal O Cruzeiro (“The Cross”). The most frequently cited words include mãe (“mother”), virgem (“virgin”), deus (“God”), vós (“you”), sempre (“always”), todos (“all”), amor (“love”), and filho (“child”). 8.8 A wordcloud from Pd. Sebastião’s hymnal O Justiceiro (“The Justice Maker”). The most frequently cited words include mestre (“master”), irmãos (“brothers”), pai (“father”), and aqui (“here”). 8.9 A wordcloud from Flores de São João (“Flowers of St. John”), a well-known hymnal by Brazilian fardada Cristina Tati. The most frequently cited words include marcha (“march”), vamos (“let’s go”), vou (“I will”), and coração (“heart”). 8.10 A wordcloud from A Pilgrimage to the Angelic Realm (a hymnal received in English by Frederik, a Belgian fardado in Céu da União). T