The Flag of the Daime

Florestan J. Maia Neto

THE COLOR GREEN

Green is the background color of the Brazilian national flag and represents not only the forests but also indigenous peoples and their culture. In the hymn Encostado a Minha Mãe, Mestre Irineu describes the Divine Mother in these terms: “My flower / My hope / My rose of the garden…” (Hymn 114:2). In Hymn 54, Pedi Força a Meu Pai, he again calls the Mother a “flower,” linking her once more to hope:

“Surubina, my flower / Garden of my childhood / The foundation of this world / Green is my hope!”

I deduce that Surubina, the Divine Mother, personifies the forest. Emma Jung tells us, “The forest, with its protective nature and provision of food, also represents a kind of mother…” (JUNG, 1980:28). I propose that “Garden of my childhood” is a metaphor. The Sacrament, fruit of the green forest, restores divine innocence, for:

“Unless you become like children, you will not enter the Kingdom of Heaven” (Mt 18:2).

Jean Guitton beautifully rephrased this in a Marian version:

“Unless you become like children, descendants of Marian maternity and enveloped in her sphere, you will hardly enter the Kingdom” (FARIA, 2013:75).

In the Gospel of Thomas, Saying 37, the disciples ask Jesus: “On what day will you be revealed to us?” He answers:

“When you strip without being ashamed and take your clothes and place them under your feet like little children, then you will see the Son of the Living One and you will not be afraid.” (LELOUP, 2004:106)

In the hymn As Estrelas (Hymn 75), under the stars’ mantle, “with bare arms and feet on the ground,” we glimpse the sky’s blue through the forest’s green and dance in the great celebration:

“I am very small / But I carry my teachings / I sing very softly / In a circle with the children.” (Mensageiro 10:1)

Green is also:

“The color of vegetation and, generally, of life and, naturally, of the nature of the Grail… In religious symbolism, green is the color of the Holy Spirit or the Anima Mundi [World Soul]; and, in mystical language, it is the color of divinity” (JUNG, 1980:123).

THE MOON

In O Cruzeiro, the Moon appears in 10 hymns, described specifically as “white” in Hymns 1 (Lua Branca) and 101 (No Brilho Da Lua Branca), clearly distinguishing it from the esoteric “black moon”:

“The moon of witchcraft, black magic, the drugs that poison and drive mad… It is the moon of sensory intoxication…” (PRAMAD, 2011:236).

From the first hymn, Mestre Irineu identifies the “white moon” with the Mother. In Hymn 45:4 he writes:

“My Mother is so beautiful / She gives me light and clarity…”

The “clarity” is the understanding of light—illumination itself! It’s the Moon of the High Priestess:

“The receptive principle that governs the unconscious and the home, the esoteric and intuition, which connects the unknown and the known, the human and the divine” (PRAMAD, 2011:235).

In Revelation 12:4-6, we read about the Woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, who flees into the wilderness. This is linked to the Yesod Sphere (the lunar plane) in the Kabbalah. The hymn Flor das Águas (Hymn 126) correlates here—symbolizing the Water of Life, the Water of Awakening. Two thousand years after John’s Revelation, the “White Moon” (the exiled divine feminine) returns in a new consciousness. Mirella Faur in The Legacy of the Goddess notes:

“After a millennial disappearance, the Goddess is emerging renewed…” (FAUR, 2003:38)

A resurgence I addressed in the “Introduction” post, quoting Julius Evola’s expression “gynocratic conception”—surely relevant to the original Daime Doctrine:

“Traces of a lunar civilization cycle, reflecting themes of passivity and human dependence on the Spirit conceived in feminine form…” (EVOLA, 1978:40).

The Triple Goddess worship (STARBIRD, 2004:138) is replanted by the Master who, in Irineu, was generated by this Force:

“The Moon has three phases / All three are contained in her / It’s necessary to understand / She is the one who rules the Earth” (Hymn 64:9).

“To rule” is not to tyrannize like patriarchy. It is moonlight humanizing. In the mystery of the cross, the Virgin, the Woman, and the Elder form the fullness:

“My Mother is the full moon / She is the star that guides me…” (O Cruzeiro, Hymn 40:4).

THE EAGLE

Mr. Francisco Granjeiro, contemplating the flag, asked the Master:
— “What does the eagle above the Moon mean?”
The Master replied:
— “Chico, remove the accent from ‘águia’ and see what you get!” (MAIA NETO, 2003:119)

If the Moon is part of Jewish liturgical tradition (“Your new moons and your festivals…” Is 1:14), the eagle also belongs to this mysticism, symbolizing:
• High flight (Obadiah 1:4)
• Journey (Exodus 19:4)
• Protection (Deuteronomy 32:11)
• Renewal (Psalms 103:5)
• Refuge (Job 39:27–28)
• Agility (2 Samuel 1:23)
• Precision (Dt 28:49)
• Speed (Jeremiah 4:13)
• Authority (Hosea 8:1)

Leonardo Boff, in The Eagle and the Chicken, sums it up well:

“The eagle represents human life in its spirituality, in its capacity to break limits, in its dreams, in its ability to create new things, in its potential to connect with others, with the future, with evolution, with the universe and with God.” (BOFF, 2007:13)

June 3, 2022 – 9:32 PM