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The Santo Daime is a syncretic religion whose spiritual practice is based around the sacramental use of ayahuasca. G. William Barnard¿an initiate of the religion and a scholar of religious studies¿considers the religious practice and transformative inner experiences of the Santo Daime community.
List of contents
Acknowledgments
Introduction
1. First Encounter with the Daime
2. Initial Philosophical Reflections
3. Next Steps on the Path
4. Céu do Mapiá—Beginnings
5. Feitio—the Ritual of Making the Daime
6. Early Works in Céu do Mapiá
7. Mirações—Visionary/Mystical Experiences in the Santo Daime
8. Mediumship in the Santo Daime
9. The Holy House in Céu do Mapiá—Rosary Works
10. Final Days in Céu do Mapiá
11. Ending on a High Note
Notes
Bibliography
Index
About the author
G. William Barnard is a professor of religious studies at Southern Methodist University. He is the author of Exploring Unseen Worlds: William James and the Philosophy of Mysticism (1997) and Living Consciousness: The Metaphysical Vision of Henri Bergson (2011), as well as coeditor of Crossing Boundaries: Essays on the Ethical Status of Mysticism (2002).
Summary
The Santo Daime is a syncretic religion that arose in the Amazon region of Brazil in the middle of the twentieth century and now has churches throughout the world. Its spiritual practice is based around the sacramental use of ayahuasca, a psychedelic brew consumed only within regular ceremonies. In Liquid Light, G. William Barnard—an initiate of the religion and a scholar of religious studies—considers the religious practice and transformative inner experiences of the Santo Daime community.
Immersing readers in his own journeys into nonordinary states of consciousness, Barnard provides a vivid as well as introspective depiction of the dramatic ritual and visionary worlds that a practitioner of this tradition encounters. He combines striking first-person accounts of the ritual life of the Santo Daime with accessible examinations of the psychological and philosophical significance of mystical states and mediumship. Bridging insider and outsider perspectives on religious experience, Barnard demonstrates how the Santo Daime offers its practitioners a transformative and profoundly illuminating spiritual path. Liquid Light also reflects on the broader implications of psychedelics, arguing that entheogenic religions can shed light on a wide range of key philosophical questions concerning consciousness, selfhood, and reality.
Additional text
In this book, Barnard describes, in a highly personal and vivid manner, some of the experiences he has been having during the over fifteen years that he has been taking Daime (the name given by the Santo Daime tradition to ayahuasca). The result is a rather unusual blend of rigorous academic thought and vivid descriptions of his own personal spiritual experiences, written in a highly readable style that makes the book difficult to put down.
