Testemunhos de quem esteve lá

80 anos da Madrinha Rita, Um Festival inesquecível
Testemunhos de quem esteve lá...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Lou Gold
Este nosso irmão, vindo do Oregon, USA, e atualmente residindo na comunidade Céu do Planalto em Brasília, nos presenteou com este lindo testemunho, contando sua viagem e, ao mesmo tempo linkando com um album de lindas fotos. O texto, por enquanto está só na sua versão original, em inglês, estaremos disponibilizando a tradução o mais rápido possível, nos desculpem nossos irmãos que não falam inglês.

Hi Everyone,

I’m a very happy guy.

I’ve been in Brazil for one month and it’s been a whirlwind of reunion with family and community, a trip to Amazonia, the festivals of June in Mapia and Brasilia, Madrinha Rita’s 80th birthday, the visit of members of the Grandmothers’ Council (including Oregon’s Aggie Pilgrim) and, mostly, a great big hug of joy and celebration. It all truly defies words so I’m going to try to keep the descriptions brief and provide links to lots of pictures that speak much louder than words. Indeed, if you would like to skip the talk and go directly to the pictures you can find them here: http://imageevent.com/visionshare.

I arrived in Brasilia on 8 June and, following a week of getting settled in the home of Jose Murilo, my dear brother in the Santo Daime community of Ceu do Planalto, I traveled with my good friend Manuel Poppe and a group of 10 from the community in Brasilia to Mapia, the Forest Mecca of the Santo Daime religion -- http://santodaime.org/community/mapia.htm

We traveled “redeye” leaving Brasilia at 11pm and arriving in the regional capital of Rio Branco in the middle of the night where we took a van for a 120 mile ride over a terrible
-- though much better than during the rainy season -- road to Boca da Acre at the confluence of the Acre and Purus rivers. The road travels through a massive strip of deforestation – often many miles wide – that has replaced the forest with large-scale cattle ranches. Boca do Acre is a typical riverine town with a definite “cowboy” flavor linking the ranching and logging areas with the water commerce of the Amazon basin. http://imageevent.com/visionshare/traveltobocadaacre

The Purus River is the eighth largest river in the world (2500 miles long) but a mere channel to the Amazon as the great river has more than 100 tributaries that are larger than the Mississippi River in the US. At Boca da Acre the Purus is still 1500 miles from its entry into the Amazon near Manaus. Here we bought some provisions and loaded into George’s fast canoe for the trip down the Purus and up the Mapia river. Later we had to change to a slower boat with a motor designed for travel in the shallow water of this dry season. During the rainy season the water levels can be 30-40 feet higher and the fish eat fruit from the trees.

We weren’t able to get all the way to Mapia before dark so we slept in an isolated house along the river. The flying insects were no problem and everyone slept without mosquito netting. However the piuns and micuims (like no-see-ums) in the grasses were pretty bad. The bites itch something awful but if you scratch them they’ll still be there 3 weeks later. We continued the trip at dawn traveling through a beautiful mist-shrouded forest and arrived at Mapia under a bright cloudless sky. We promptly unloaded the baggage and got settled into the home of Pedro Dario. http://imageevent.com/visionshare/bocadaacretomapia

This time of year, celebrating the holy days of June and the special occasion of Madrinha Rita’s 80th birthday, Mapia is incredibly festive and full of visitors from around the world. It’s mind-boggling to realize that nearly 1000 people were present in this very remote place in the Amazon forest of far western Brazil. And it’s even more impressive to realize that 25 years ago none of this was in place. Today there’s a global village with direct satellite Internet hook-up and wireless zones for instant worldwide connectivity. And soon I was discovering others from Oregon – Marie, Sky, Alex and Grandma Aggie. As I said, it was mind-boggling – somehow very at home in a far away place. http://imageevent.com/visionshare/oregonfriendsinmapia

Everything was dressed up and decorated for the occasion. A new addition in the yard of the church is the tomb of Madrinha Cristina. It’s really beautiful, festooned each day with fresh flowers. The interior of the church was dominated by an overhead canopy of back-lit photo montages of Madrinha Rita and in the entrance hung a very large portrait of Padrinho Sebastiao, the founder of the community of Mapia. And around the room were displays of the Mota de Melo family and the icons of the Santo Daime tradition. http://imageevent.com/visionshare/mapiafestivaldecoration

The forest is amazing – a living, breathing, pulsating fortress of seemingly infinite life in incredibly diverse forms, a true garden of nature. There’s no way that I can describe the feeling of being this close to creation and the great chain of being. I walked through it with the care and attention of realizing that I was very close to being part of the food chain. It’s truly intense.

On this day many of the leaders of the Santo Daime movement were meeting in a beautiful opening in the forest. They were declaring new levels of union as the several ayahuasca-based religions of Brazil prepare for institutional elaboration as this spiritual medicine moves forward toward world-wide legitimacy and acceptance. A profound and very beautiful moment came with the arrival Daniel Serra, the nephew of Santo Daime founder Mestre Irineu. It was as if the Master himself was somehow present, or at least something of his energy. Following the meeting, Padrinho Alfredo took us on a tour of his greenhouse and garden. He was especially proud of a large bed of earthworms that were creating rich black soil that is unknown in Amazonia. http://imageevent.com/visionshare/inthegardenofnature

During the brief week I was in Mapia there were three major ceremonies – the work of Saint Michael, the Night of Saint John, and the 80th birthday of Madrinha Rita. And in conjunction with these ceremonies came many baptisms into the Santo Daime and a wedding. Sometimes it was impossible to know the specific focus of celebration. It was more like joy cascading into joy and manifesting in endless forms as people sang, danced enacted the happiness of a life of love.

Five members of the Council of Thirteen Indigenous Grandmothers -- www.grandmotherscouncil.com -- were present for Madrinha Rita’s birthday celebration and during the interval they received an incredible welcome from the people of Mapia. Two Council members -- Clara Shinobu Iura and Marie Alice Campos Freire -- are full time residents of Mapia, two -- Margaret Behan and Agness Baker-Pilgrim -- are from the US and Bernadette Rebienot is from Gabon in Africa. Also traveling with them were Jyoti, who’s Center for Sacred Studies, has been instrumental in moving forward the vision of a Grandmothers’ Council, Darlene and her wonderful family of Courtney, April and Ash, and Iris and Susanne who assist Bernadette. http://imageevent.com/visionshare/grandmothersvisitmapia

The culminating event, of course, was the birthday celebration for Madrinha Rita. What can I say? Her beauty is both that of a noble queen and of a simple humble human being. I believe the pictures speak for themselves. http://imageevent.com/visionshare/madrinharita

Today the community of Mapia, founded by Madrinha Rita’s deceased husband and still guided by the light of Padrinho Sebastiao is a center of hope and joy in a most difficult world. There is no easy way to tell the story of Mapia. On this, my second visit, I had no profound insights or visions -- just a clear and present feeling that I’ve never before experienced such an intensity of life and joy. I came away with the strong feeling that I’d like to spend some time living there. Perhaps this collection of photos of people, ceremonies and life will portray something of what I saw and felt in Mapia. http://imageevent.com/visionshare/mapiageneral

Leaving Mapia after such a short and intense visit was hard. But I needed to return to Brasilia to help prepare for the next stop along the trail of the Grandmothers – their visit to the community of Ceu do Planalto and meeting with representatives of Brazilian agencies and organizations. When the grandmothers arrived they settled into the home of Padrinho Fernando and Madrinha Clarice. Darlene’s family stayed with us. We visited the Sunday craft market at the base of the big radio tower – known as the “hippie faire” – and the grandmothers joined the community for the work of Saint Peter and made a presentation at Oracao (evening prayers). They were greatly appreciated at Ceu do Planalto. http://imageevent.com/visionshare/grandmothersvisitbrasilia

On Monday morning (July 4), Susana Cabral organized and facilitated a meeting with the Special Secretariat for Women Policies and the National Council of Women Rights of Brazil where the mutual concerns of the Council of Grandmothers and the Brazilian Government were presented and exchanged. Guilherme’s translating was essential to this cross-cultural exchange. The meeting ended with the singing of happy birthday (parabens) to Margaret Behan who got to celebrate it this year in Brasilia.
Then we had a fine lunch at our good friend Ken’s restaurant O Tribo, one of Brasilia’s first vegetarian fares. Before leaving, Margaret gave Cintia and Murilo’s 3 month old daughter Elisa a Cherokee name meaning Red Spider Woman. http://imageevent.com/visionshare/grandmothersmeeting

Last night we completed the Festival here at Ceu do Planalto. It’s been cold for Brazil --down to around 50 degrees Fahrenheit at night – which doesn’t seem like much by the standards of winter in Oregon but, when you consider that none of the homes or buildings here has insulation or heat, it’s downright chilly. That’s why folks look like they’re dressed for a ski area.

But the clear dry air has a crystalline quality that makes this central highland of Brazil a visually spectacular place. The popular tee-shirt says, “Brasilia, far from the sea but close to the sky.” The “winter” days are usually warm and sunny and there are spectacular blooms on some of the draught-adapted shrubs. I’ve included one that blooms at night and the flower lasts only 24 hrs. The plant then remains dormant until it leafs out with the onset of the rainy season in October. http://imageevent.com/visionshare/brasiliawinter

Like I’ve said, this is an amazing place. Everyone here sends greetings and wants you to know that you will be very welcomed if someday you choose to visit Brazil.

On Tuesday I will fly to Rio where I will enjoy warmer weather, beautiful beaches and meeting many of the relatives of Cintia and Murilo. Then I hope to visit my friends Amanda and Juba at Matutu, an artist community in the mountains about four hours from Rio and Sao Paulo. Computer and camera will be traveling with me, so you can expect another “report” down the trail.

Meanwhile, if you’d like to see more pictures of Mapia checkout Manuel’s June 2004 album at http://imageevent.com/visionshare/manuelsalbum Or, you can see other Brasilia and Amazon photos from my December 2003 trip here and to Jurua at http://imageevent.com/visionshare/kayumaritojurua1

Many blessings, big hugs and much love to all,

Lou