Mestre Irineu
Irineu is called "Empire-Chief of Juramidam" (Chefe Império Juramidam); the plant Psychotria viridis, found in the ayahuasca brew, is known as "Queen" (rainha) and a plantation of it is called a "kingdom" (reinado)
Mestre Raimundo Irineu Serra nasceu no Maranhão em 1892. No final da primeira década do século, embarcou para o então Território do Acre, onde se estabeleceu próximo à cidade de Basiléia, na fronteira do Peru. Foi alí, no coração das florestas da América do Sul, que o Mestre Raimundo Irineu Serra cristianizou as tradições caboclas e xamânicas da bebida sacramental ayahuasca, conhecida desde antes dos incas e rebatizou-a com o nome de Daime, significando, com isso, a invocação espiritual que deveria ser feito pelo fiel, ao comungar com a bebida: Dai-me amor, Dai-me Luz, etc.
Depois, foi para a cidade de Rio Branco, onde começou a trabalhar com um pequeno círculo de discípulos. Instalou definitivamente sua família e um grupo de seguidores na localidade denominada Alto Santo, onde trabalhou até fazer sua passagem em 6 de julho de 1971
As Irineu Serra, who would become known throughout the Amazon region and eventually the world as Master Irineu, began to remember who he was, he came to understand that he had come into this life with a clear mission. Simply put, it was to “replant” the Doctrine of Jesus Christ on Earth. Doctrine is a very important word in the Holy Daime. It does not signify a set of rigid rules or an orthodox set of ideas. The Doctrine spoken of in many hymns of the Daime is a living matrix of consciousness. Jesus Christ implanted a conscious seed in this world by his life and death. This was his mission: to initiate the vast change in human consciousness that is now beginning to come to fruition. The Doctrine, which is the organizing principle of humanity’s awakening, is seen within the Daime to possess an active intelligence of its own. Legend has it that when Jesus died, the Doctrine saw the distortions being made to Jesus’ teachings, and It knew the necessary darkness ahead for humanity. It left the world at large, entering the deep forest. There It secreted Itself in the jagube vine and the rainha leaf. It waited with It’s guardians, the native peoples of the Amazon, for the day when humanity would be ready to reembrace It. When the time arrived It called Master Irineu, who had been part of the original mission of Jesus, to his new mission of replanting the Doctrine in greater humanity. Through the Holy Daime, It is calling to Itself, one by one, the many souls who are ready to rapidly awaken the seed that Jesus planted, the Christ Consciousness, in themselves. It calls us, not only for ourselves, but also to accept responsibility for helping to secure the Doctrine on Earth in these delicate times.
Raimundo Irineu Serra (1892-1971) was born on December 15, 1892, in Maranhão, a city located in the north of Brazil. He was a grandson of slaves who were brought from Africa by the colonisators. Irineu, who became a very tall and strong man, decided at the age of 18 to take the route of the rubber extraction soldiers, heading west into the Amazonian rainforest. While in Peru, befriended shamans acquainted him with the beverage known in the region as ayahuasca.
The Doctrine of Santo Daime
The experience turned out to be a divine revelation from the Virgin Mary, appearing as the 'Rainha da Floresta' (queen of the rainforest), directly assigning Irineu to found a spiritual doctrine, a syncretism which would be centered around the consecration of that immemorially used beverage within the context of the Christian culture and symbolism and taking advantage of the American Indian, Brazilian, African, and Eastern transcendental wisdom. In 1930, Irineu created the 'Doutrina do Santo Daime' in Rio Branco, which was the first centre where people from different origins could drink ayahuasca. The name 'Daime' comes from the Portuguese words "Dai-me Força Dai-me Luz Dai-me Amor" (give me strength, give me light, give me love), and tells that the tea is there for everyone who asks.
Spiritual message
Master Irineu was surrounded by people of several convictions and social ranks. Without any trace of revenge, he achieved an important victory, when he received the sacrament from the hands of a suppressed people of the rainforest. He reconciled the sacrament with the Christian belief - the same belief in which name these inhuman actions of colonisation had initially been committed. This action shows the spiritual contents of his message: a message of universal love and peace, effective for all people on earth.
Alto Santo
In 1945, the group of Master Irineu received a piece of land to create the first community of Santo Daime, which was called Alto Santo. Irineu started to channel messages from the spiritual dimension which came to him in the form of simple chants, hymns, the doctrine’s guiding principle. He also became acknowledged for his assisting, helping, and conducting all of those who became interested in his spiritual work. He naturally began to deal with spiritual healing, mainly approaching the cases in which medicine was fruitless and suffering met no relief.
Mestre Imperador
The Santo Daime worship movement grew up around Raimundo Irineu Serra. In 1971, when he returned to the spiritual dimension, Master Irineu was already known as the 'Mestre Imperador' (master emperor), the monarch of a lineage ready to spread out for the task of bringing the Daime to the world, as it is said in his hymns. It was one of his disciples, Sebastião Mota de Melo, who would take up that responsibility.
The Doctrine of Santo Daime
The experience turned out to be a divine revelation from the Virgin Mary, appearing as the 'Rainha da Floresta' (queen of the rainforest), directly assigning Irineu to found a spiritual doctrine, a syncretism which would be centered around the consecration of that immemorially used beverage within the context of the Christian culture and symbolism and taking advantage of the American Indian, Brazilian, African, and Eastern transcendental wisdom. In 1930, Irineu created the 'Doutrina do Santo Daime' in Rio Branco, which was the first centre where people from different origins could drink ayahuasca. The name 'Daime' comes from the Portuguese words "Dai-me Força Dai-me Luz Dai-me Amor" (give me strength, give me light, give me love), and tells that the tea is there for everyone who asks.
Spiritual message
Master Irineu was surrounded by people of several convictions and social ranks. Without any trace of revenge, he achieved an important victory, when he received the sacrament from the hands of a suppressed people of the rainforest. He reconciled the sacrament with the Christian belief - the same belief in which name these inhuman actions of colonisation had initially been committed. This action shows the spiritual contents of his message: a message of universal love and peace, effective for all people on earth.
Alto Santo
In 1945, the group of Master Irineu received a piece of land to create the first community of Santo Daime, which was called Alto Santo. Irineu started to channel messages from the spiritual dimension which came to him in the form of simple chants, hymns, the doctrine’s guiding principle. He also became acknowledged for his assisting, helping, and conducting all of those who became interested in his spiritual work. He naturally began to deal with spiritual healing, mainly approaching the cases in which medicine was fruitless and suffering met no relief.
Mestre Imperador
The Santo Daime worship movement grew up around Raimundo Irineu Serra. In 1971, when he returned to the spiritual dimension, Master Irineu was already known as the 'Mestre Imperador' (master emperor), the monarch of a lineage ready to spread out for the task of bringing the Daime to the world, as it is said in his hymns. It was one of his disciples, Sebastião Mota de Melo, who would take up that responsibility.
