Audio recording of Mestre Irineu

Translated by Lou Gold and Rodrigo Tavares.


It is with much joy that The Juramidam Family site publishes an audio recording of a lecture made by Mestre Irineu that came into my hands through the thoughtfulness and goodwill of Mivan Gedeon. Our comprehension of the Doctrine is indebted to him for that and we are most grateful.

Years ago, when I read in the account of Jairo da Silva Carioca about a recorded lecture of our Mestre, my heart became lighter. I knew that such a repository of our history could bring us priceless things, starting by hearing the voice of the one who is the reason for us to be drinking Daime today. In a way, it would be like meeting him here on the physical plane. But I never imagined that this dream would become true so soon.

We can't deny that the audio has been damaged by time, but we have clearly the tone of his voice and his way of speaking. By listening to it we can almost say that we feel a recognition of his work -- which in the last decade has been researched in depth and diffused to all -- as a reflection of his person. Another important detail is that near the end of the recording we can hear the music in the salon and, in some hymns, even the maraca. This instrument of the Doctrine is so valuable and at the same time controversial that today very few could really say, “It was this or that way”. The fact is that in this audio we can hear well both the rhythm and the style of the maraca in the setting in which our doctrine reached its maturity as a ritual. To have now the authority of hearing it is priceless.

Therefore it is our sincere wish that this audio arrives as a gift, bringing true comfort and guidance to all who follow this path, this doctrine and this leader who came to gather us to the teachings of the Virgin of Conception and make us part of the battalion of the Queen of the Forest.

Mivan Gedeon writes about this tape and how it came into his hands.
“Daime is not for war”, By Mivan Gedeon [2]

Mestre IrineuFor the new generation of sympathizers of the Santo Daime doctrine and daimistas who did not know Mestre Irineu, to hear his voice would normally be a privilege reached only in a state of “miração”. I would say that such privilege would come only to a few. But thanks to recording technology -- adequate but not as developed as today's -- everyone can now have this privilege.

I didn't imagine finding so many things when in May 2005 I went to Rio Branco (AC) on a search for information of all that involved Raimundo Irineu Serra. Through Daniel Serra, my host in the city, I was introduced to the video maker Antônio Macedo, author of the “Lua Branca” documentary (available on Youtube).

To knock on the door of Macedo is a requirement for everyone who goes to the Vila Raimundo Irineu Serra -- the renowned Alto Santo -- in search of information about the Santo Daime doctrine and its founder. To my surprise he not only supplied me with information but he handed me over unpublished photos, documents (some already presented here on the Juramidam Family website), hymns, video interviews and a precious item -- the audio recording of Irineu Serra's voice.

The k7 tape was recorded by Wilson Carneiro, in 1964. It was on the 30th –- I wasn't informed the month -- but it was a concentration work and on this occasion there were some misunderstandings happening among the brothers and sisters of the Universal Light Christian illumination Center (CICLU). On this day, Mestre Irineu decided to give advice to his brother-sisterhood.

Among those present were Daniel Serra, Wilson Carneiro (who made the audio recording), Mrs. Dália, Mrs. Percília, Júlio Carioca and his wife Lourdes Carioca, Francisco Grangeiro, João Nica (at that time secretary of CICLU) and Peregrina Gomes (Irineu's wife).

Unfortunately, the original recording was lost, and what remained was only a rough copy of dubious quality that one needs to work hard to understand something. Even so it is a wonder! The tape has almost half hour of recording (28:52), and only after the 17th minute is there enough quality to risk a guess of what Mestre was saying to his disciples.

According to Mrs. Dália, the sentence that stood out in the memory of that day was, “My Daime is not able to enter the house that does not have Father”. In another extract (20:29) we can hear: “Daime is not for war... Daime is (unclear)... Daime is (unclear).... Daime is science”. Another audible sentence is, “The Daime shall give you peace”. Among the words and loose sentences that are most possible to identify are: “God”, “God Power”, “God Will”, “Daime”, “Daime's Light”, “Friendship”, “Friend”, “Freedom”, “Justice”, “Order”, “Peace”, and so it goes...

His voice did not have a low tone as many imagine. According to people who lived with him -- among them his nephew Daniel Serra -- “it was a soothing, paused voice, neither so low nor so high”. At the end of the tape, in the sequence at 23:30, we can recognize that it isn't Mestre who is talking anymore. The audio ends up with four hymns (one march and then three waltzes) that until then were unknown to my ears (24:07 is the sequence in which the hymns begin).

Have a good study!