Santo Daime - Urban Communities
José Murilo C. Carvalho Jr.

A Heaven under Construction

I have always dreamt of putting into practice all I have seen brilliantly set forth in theoretical terms. Some way or other, that is what the Santo Daime doctrine has been providing me. Through this line of work and under the guidance of Fernando de La Rocque Couto, an anthropologist famed for having expounded his studies about shamanism in last year’s Meeting for a New Consciousness, a group of people decided to go for a communal experience. Thus the Céu do Planalto community was created, now gathering around 40 inhabitants and about 90 guests, among collaborators, followers, and visitors.
The word Céu (heaven, sky) has become a standard designation after the Céu do Mapiá, the doctrine’s headquarters at the banks of the Mapiá "igarapé", Purus River, Amazonas State. Padrinho Sebastião was intent on making Heaven real on Earth, and, following in his footsteps (but definitely with no modesty), we got together to form the Céu do Planalto. Five years ago, some of us were already aware that the individual inner revolutions taken place while spiritually working with the Daime would require a special communal space so that they could be externalized and turned into a transformed group performance. There was no clear idea, however, of how this would unfold.
We were also aware that the preconceived idea of what a community meant bore a number of clichés that would have to be demystified. Some of the people from the original group had already experienced other self-development paths, bringing with them both the valuable accomplishment background and the realization of how difficult it is to succeed in such a task, mainly when it is a joint project. Above all, we had to practice the doctrine’s four cornerstones: Harmony, Love, Truth, and Justice, so as to build up the ideal space for each one’s self-encounter. We had to truly seek how to achieve such an elevated stage of love whereby our inner Higher Self is recognized and to live the certainty that all our sisters and brothers are able to share this same (contagious) process.
The main idea, therefore, was that we should get together. Eight families set some savings aside in order to buy some land in an area near the city and with a privileged view, but protected enough from massive urban access. That is where we built the Church, at the land’s highest spot. Then we began to hold our spiritual sessions, which traditionally take a long time (5 to 12 hours, depending on the kind of work). The place’s beauty and proximity to the city were attractive enough to move some people into settling around the valley. Thus the Brasilia’s Santo Daime community was founded.
The first thing to decide was how to deal with the community’s economic support. Since almost all the group’s members were already satisfactorily employed, it was not difficult for them to help cover the expenditures deriving from the Church’s activities. Led by Fernando La Rocque, they agreed on paying the Church a monthly fee and sharing any financial commitments thereof and on keeping their original professional positions so as not to directly depend on the doctrine’s structure for a living.
Although some members, influenced by the above mentioned communal clichés, began to think of "living on the land", aiming at a bucolic life style revival, it was clear for most of us that such a proposal would be artificial and would not take into account each member’s specialized professional background. Any agricultural effort would have to be as professional as every other already duly accomplished skill. Besides, our goal was to highlight our communal project on the basis of a spiritual experience, and not otherwise. Therefore, we realized that agricultural or any other economic projects might deviate us from our main focus, which is to consecrate the Daime together. This realization also helped us see our integration role as regards our colleagues, family members, friends, and Brasilia.
So, from the very beginning that touchstone showed us which work should be developed. Through the Santo Daime, our headquarters in the rainforest, the Céu do Mapiá, radiates a new light of spirituality in harmony with nature. We were there and could testify to the strength of their heavenly message. Then we brought it to the city - something many believed would not be possible. A formula was worked out after which the urban community Céu do Planalto, the Santo Daime Church in the Central Brazilian Plateau, gradually built up its own identity and was thereby able to become an ideal tool for the spreading of that message in the city of Brasilia.
The need for again approaching nature and the basic survival values while in direct contact with the land, a feature which is always stressed by the Daime experience, became communally manifest through the cultivation of "rainha" and "jagube" gardens ("rainha" and "jagube" are the plants used for preparing the Daime beverage), and the preservation of the landscape in and around the community area. On the other hand, this same endeavor towards an ecologically conscious urban action fostered the group to form an NGO for the purpose of local environmental protection.
A quite complex and specialized infrastructure is required for us to strictly focus on providing people with the Santo Daime spiritual experience - and that is the joint task carried out by the Céu do Planalto community members. From guests greeting, which involves introductory lectures and evaluation interviews and anamnesis, to the spiritual sessions themselves, held by around 120 people and involving a staff of musicians, singers, inspectors, treasurers and receptionists, and the maintenance and handling of the Daime stock as well, all is carried out by turns of community members.
Apart from the sessions, the group living in the community is aware that the Santo Daime experience implies a dynamic inner pattern recycling which will naturally bring visitors closer to community members. The following question often arises: "What am I supposed to do next?" Therefore, visitors and followers usually look for community members in their houses, which makes the process of radiating a new relationship pattern easier and creates a specific kind of group identity. Each member living in the community is today aware of their role of providing everyone else with the material facilities for the smooth development of the spiritual sessions.
After all, what is this transformation all about? It sounds somewhat absurd to imagine that simply by taking a beverage people make up their minds and begin to live a new life together. Something seems to be missing for this process to be better understood. And that is one of the keys to the mystery - the spiritual means of communication which has a very specific configuration within the Santo Daime doctrine: the hymns inspired by the spiritual dimension (or "received" from the spiritual dimension). Since Master Irineu had his initial revelation, each "fardado" (initiate) member is considered as a repository of the doctrine which radiates in the form of hymns to be chanted while special awareness moments are provided by the session’s harmony and the Daime consecrated within it.

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