Mestre Daniel and the founding of the tradition
Daniel Pereira de Mattos was born in Maranhão and, like Mestre Irineu, migrated to Rio Branco, Acre, in search of a new life; by his own tradition's account, he lived for a time as a bohemian figure known for singing and drinking before falling ill. He is said to have been healed through Mestre Irineu's Daime work and to have become his friend, and during a subsequent Daime session he reported receiving a spiritual instruction to establish his own related practice. Working with his family, he began receiving what the tradition describes as hymns and teachings from spirits, first whispered and later given as melodies, which practitioners rehearse and perform together; leadership later passed from Mestre Daniel to Mestre Antônio Geraldo and then to Antônio Geraldo Filho, who has led the Barquinha in Acre in more recent years.
Ritual identity distinct from Santo Daime
The Barquinha's ritual draws on a mix of Catholic imagery — oratories, images of saints, a cross representing Jesus Christ — alongside sailor-themed symbolism, incense, and hymns sung in a blend of African, Indigenous, and European-derived styles; the tradition holds Saturday gatherings centered on charitable work and holds additional rituals for healing and for celebrating saints, including Saint Francis of Assisi. Daime, prepared from the same ayahuasca vine and leaf used in Santo Daime, is treated within the Barquinha as an important but not indispensable part of practice — not every participant drinks it, and not every ritual includes it. Though it shares a founder-era connection to Mestre Irineu, the Barquinha is its own tradition with its own lineage of leadership, distinct from both Santo Daime and the União do Vegetal.