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Santo Daime ([ˈsɐ̃tu ˈdajmi]) is a universalistic/syncretic religion founded in the 1930s in the Brazilian Amazonian state of Acre based on the teachings of Raimundo Irineu Serra,[1] known as Mestre Irineu. Santo Daime incorporates elements of several religious or spiritual traditions, mainly Folk Catholicism, Kardecist Spiritism, African animism and indigenous South American shamanism, including vegetalismo.
Ceremonies — trabalhos (Portuguese for "works") — are typically several hours long and are undertaken sitting in silent "concentration", or sung collectively, dancing according to simple steps in geometrical formation. Ayahuasca, referred to as Daime within the practice, which contains several psychoactive compounds, is drunk as part of the ceremony.
Mestre Irineu was not the founder of the "Santo Daime" religion. He founded his own ayahuasca center which was known at the time of his death as "CICLU". Mestre did not ever use the term "Santo Daime" and only called his practice "the Daime". After his death, one of his followers named Sebastiao Mota (and known to his followers as Padrinho Sebastiao) started "the church of Santo Daime" and added in all of the spiritism and references to practices such as Umbanda. Mestre Irineu never taught these things, and never referred to his teachings as a religion nor to his ayahuasca center as a church. The hymns of Mestre and his four companions were in line with the teachings of Catholicism, with some references to indigenous shamanic concepts. It was only decades after the death of Mestre in the new "Santo Daime" church did the spiritist ayahuasca religion take hold and spread around the world.
Santo Daime churches promote a wholesome lifestyle in conformity with Irineu's motto of "harmony, love, truth and justice", as well as other key doctrinal values such as strength, humility, fraternity and purity of heart. The practice became a worldwide movement in the 1990s.