The rise of Brazil's Santo Daime religion [View all]

[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