Santo Daime ☨ #

Introduction #

N,N-Dimethyltryptamine	Harmine and similar

Ayahuasca is a psychoactive brew used by various indigenous groups (including pregnant women¹) in the Amazon. Incorporating ayahuasca as a sacrament, Santo Daime is a syncretic religion founded in Brazil in the 1930s. While traditional use of ayahuasca often emphasizes individual exploration, Santo Daime emphasizes group synchrony and communitas.² I’ve attended Santo Daime works since Dec 2021. There are a number of areas that I think could be improved.

Group Experience #

Before suggesting improvements, I want to underline what is revolutionary about Santo Daime: the group experience.

The force of the Daime draws one’s attention to the present and opens up more opportunity for choice. When group behavior is the reference point, your conscious choice to harmonize with the group can help relieve varieties of self-centeredness including feeling entitled, lack of connection, and internal conflict. In contrast, entitlement and arrogance are a risk when intention is limited to individual exploration.³ The group experience is a hugely significant innovation. If your experience of psychedelics is only individual exploration then you have not had a chance to appreciate their full transformative potential.

Dieta / Diet #

Santo Daime adheres to the common dietary recommendations for ayahuasca. While these guidelines can vary, they typically include:

• Avoid: Salt, sugar and sweeteners, spicy foods, red meat, pork, aged cheeses, fermented foods
• Reduce: Dairy products; oils and fats; processed foods
• Focus on: Plain, simple foods; fruits and vegetables; whole grains; small amounts of fish or chicken (if desired)

This diet is usually suggested to begin 1-2 weeks before the ceremony. What I find confusing is the lack of specificity in both recommendations and justification.

I think there are at least two things going on here. On one hand, recommendations largely align with a whole food plant-based diet. It’s a good idea to eat healthy food. Also, tyramine should be avoided due to potentially dangerous interactions.⁴ However, healthy eating and tyramine are not the only considerations. Vegans need to know that the pharmacodynamics of Daime are vividly affected by insoluble fiber. Insoluble fiber buffers the force of the Daime (my conjecture). Consequently, participants may feel little (mostly sober) for much of the time, followed by an overwhelmingly strong, brief burst of Daime after 1-2 hours.

Foods high in insoluble fiber include pineapple.⁵ To set yourself up for success, here is a specific dietary recommendation. Take 1-2 tablespoon ground cayenne pepper with dinner on the evening prior to the event. This should take care of any insoluble fiber lingering in your intestines. If you’re not fasting, on the day of, cook a sweet potato and blend it with a small slice of fresh ginger. Don’t eat anything else. The sweet potato is about 50% soluble fiber and does not monkey with the pharmacodynamics of Daime.

Lyrics #

Lyrics facilitate precise synchronization among the group, not just physically and physiologically but in the imaginal space. Since we have to recite something to achieve this degree of synchronization, we might as well recite something religious (i.e., unobjectionable). As far as I can tell, the preponderance of Christian and African religious material reflects nothing more than a historical accident.⁶ It would be nice if the hymns included more diversity in religious heritage.

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Harmony 🎜 #

Sung harmonies weaves two or more vocal lines together to create a richer, fuller sound than could be achieved with a single voice. Here’s a breakdown of what goes into singing harmonies:

Basics:

• Multiple notes: Instead of just one pitch, at least two different notes are sung simultaneously. These notes might be close together (like thirds or sixths) or further apart (like octaves or fifths).
• Pleasing sound: The combination of notes should sound good together, not jarring or dissonant. This depends on the musical context and style.
• Complementing the melody: Harmony parts typically interweave with the main melody, providing support, adding counterpoint, or even mirroring the melody’s emotional journey.

Types of harmonies:

• Simple two-part harmonies: Often involve singing a third or sixth above or below the melody.
• More complex harmonies: Can involve multiple singers and use various intervals and melodic patterns, building intricate layers of sound. Think barbershop quartets, gospel choirs, or jazz vocal groups.
• Passing tones and suspensions: These are temporary notes that add brief moments of tension or surprise before resolving back to a consonant harmony.

Benefits of singing harmonies:

• Enhances the emotional impact of the music: Adds depth, dimension, and expressiveness to the song.
• Creates a fuller, richer sound: Makes the music feel more complete and polished.
• Showcases vocal skill and musicianship: Demonstrates a singer’s understanding of music and ability to blend their voice with others.

So why don’t we do it (more) in Santo Daime?

Rosary 📿 #

Abolish the rosary. In general, minimize prayer repetition ➿.

Similarly, the mass could benefit from judicious pruning ✂️.

The daimista Mass is scheduled for the first Monday of each month. Though regarded as an important ritual by older communities, its indebtedness to the Catholic Mass results in its avoidance by some of the younger communities uncomfortable with explicit expressions of Christianity within the ritual repertoire of Santo Daime.⁷

To try to even understand 🤔 why people continue to recite the rosary, I asked ChatGPT to steelman the argument for group recitation (for a skeptic). Here’s the list from ChatGPT and my comments:

• Personal Growth

  • Time for Personal Reflection: Yes, it’s a time for the mind to wander. People can become so habituated to the prayer that they can recite it on automatic and think about something else entirely. Not great.⁸

  • Teaches Discipline Through Repetition: I suppose the rosary could help cultivate patience and discipline, unless your mind is wandering the whole time.

  • Form of Mindfulness: The repetitive prayers can serve as an anchor, much like a mantra, helping participants maintain a sense of presence. Does the rosary really provide any unique benefit in this capacity beyond what the Daime already offers?

  • Growth Through Discomfort: An unfamiliar or unappealing activity can challenge personal comfort zones and encourage growth. However, the rosary is such an insipid challenge compared to drinking Daime.

• Group Dynamic

  • Shared Sacrifice: Participating in a group activity that does not align with one’s preferences shows solidarity and respect for others’ values. However, the Santo Daime already has a heavy emphasis on conformity. I think we can do conformity without the grima of the rosary.

• Compare to Hymns

  • Reflection on Core Life Themes: Sure, but so do the hymns. Not clear what benefit the rosary offers beyond what the hymns offer.

  • Spiritual and Emotional Workout: The act of participating, even when it feels monotonous, cultivates inner strength and perseverance. Granted, but it is not clear what benefit the rosary offers beyond what the hymns offer.

  • Sense of Solidarity Strengthens Community Through Shared Effort: Not clear what benefit the rosary offers beyond what the hymns offer.

• Obsolete

  • Tradition as a Link to Culture and History: Maybe the rosary was important historically to lend credibility to the Santo Daime and protect its use of Daime from condemnation by the Christian church.⁶ Given that the Brazilian government formally recognised the Santo Daime as a religion in 1986, I think we are well beyond the point where the rosary is justified for this reason.

  • Accessible to All, Regardless of Background: Granted, but we already require everybody to learn Portuguese. Accessibility does not seem to be a high priority for the Santo Daime.

  • Fosters Calm and Focus: Granted, but the whole setting of the work is designed to create a meditative atmosphere. To do something mildly irritating like rosary recitation seems more antagonistic to calm than supportive.

A similar argument could be made against the Chaplet of Mercy.

Smudging 🚬 #

Smudging is a ceremonial practice used in various Indigenous cultures (primarily North American) for spiritual cleansing and purification. The purpose is to cleanse people, places, or objects of negative energy, promote healing, and create sacred space. This is traditionally accomplished by burning dried herbs or smudge sticks (i.e., incense). The smoke is fanned with feathers or hands with specific intentions and prayers.

Unfortunately burning incense has been found to generate about four times the particulate matter as burning cigarettes. Worse, the incomplete combustion results in carbon monoxide, nitric oxides, sulfur dioxide, carcinogenic polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, and volatile organic compounds like benzene and formaldehyde. Feeling purified? Really? Just say “no” to smudging. 🧯 🚭

Posture & Gesture 🪽 #

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Cannabis #

There is some precedent for the use of cannabis in the Santo Daime tradition.⁹

NOTE: Daime is best experienced without cannabis. Cannabis constrains the effects of Daime and may invite more nausea. The guidance below is intended specifically for newcomers to ease their first few experiences.

For those new to Daime who feel they need additional support, ingest 20mg of Δ8-THC about two hours before the work commences. This low dose may help ease the experience during the first serving of Daime. After a few works, you can explore working with Daime on its own to experience its full depth and clarity.

Baptism 🌊 #

I baptize you with water for repentance. But after me comes one who is more powerful than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. (Matthew 3:11)

And this was his message: “After me comes the one more powerful than I, the straps of whose sandals I am not worthy to stoop down and untie. I baptize you with water, but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.” (Mark 1:7-8)

John answered them all, “I baptize you with water. But one who is more powerful than I will come, the straps of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.” His winnowing fork is in his hand to clear his threshing floor and to gather the wheat into his barn, but he will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire." (Luke 3:16-17)

Then John gave this testimony: “I saw the Spirit come down from heaven as a dove and remain on him. And I myself did not know him, but the one who sent me to baptize with water told me, ‘The man on whom you see the Spirit come down and remain is the one who will baptize with the Holy Spirit.’ I have seen and I testify that this is God’s Chosen One.” (John 1:32-34)

Daime facilitates presence of the Holy Spirit. Despite this, some congregations continue to perform water baptisms. I think baptism is generally a fine idea, to recognize those who publically vow to live in accord with the spirit of Christ. However, placebo sacrament baptism seems like a confused practice. We have Daime. Daime is sufficient to consummate baptism.

On the other hand: What’s wrong with a confused practice? Daime is a trickster. If people want water baptism, why not?

Dose Adequately ⏻ #

When exploring altered states, a fitting analogy comes to mind, shared by fellow psychonauts.¹⁰ Imagine an airplane on the runway, poised for takeoff. As it soars, it rapidly gains altitude, banks sharply to change course, and encounters turbulence. Heavy rain pounds against the plane, lightning flashes, and winds shift unpredictably. But then, it breaks through the cloud ceiling. Suddenly, the airspeed increases smoothly, and sunlight illuminates the calm.

We can map this journey onto our mental states:

The transitional phase can be uncomfortable. However, there’s a simple remedy: adequate dosing.

I have attended some works where it seems like the leader is aiming for the transitional state. Why? Is the idea for some congregants struggle with meditation? What’s the point of that? Congregants can meditate as much as they want at home without daime.

When I attend a work, I expect to transcend the turmoil and reach the serene heights, at least for one serving. So, I urge leaders: don’t be stingy.

After Ceremony Lentil Salad #

Ingredients:

• 1/4 cup dry lentil
• 2-3 table pecan
• 1 tea italian spices
• 1/4 tea black pepper
• 700 mL of water
• food-grade rosemary essential oil
• food-grade peppermint (Mentha piperita) essential oil
• quarter cup of white vinegar (5% acetic acid)

Steps:

1. Cook lentils in boiling water for 10-15 minutes. Drain.

2. Toss the cooked lentils with 2 tablespoons pecans and 1 tablespoons Italian spices. Set aside.

3. Dressing: Combine water, two drops of peppermint oil, and six drops of rosemary oil. (The batch size is way more than you need. You can sip this during the ceremony.)

4. Dress and serve: Pour a few tablespoons of the dressing onto the lentil mix and toss to combine.

Sleep 😴 #

Some report that Daime interferes with sleep. Exhibit A right here. 🙋

Cannabinphorol (CBN-P) works pretty well. If that’s not enough, try layering on Kava. Let me know if you figure out a better solution.

Status #

Guess what this gesture means.

Notes #