Multiple (and Subtle) Bodies: Entheogenic Incorporation in the Santo Daime Tradition

by G. William Bernard:

Multiple (and Subtle) Bodies: Entheogenic Incorporation in the Santo Daime Tradition (Part 1)

Every Santo Daime ritual, at least to a certain extent, is mediumistic in that the Daime is said to embody the consciousness of a vastly intelligent and compassionate divine Being, a Being that, for Santo Daime practitioners, is equated with the transformative Light and redemptive Love of the Christ. Therefore, simply by drinking the Daime within the context of a work, Daimistas consciously allow themselves to act as a conduit by which this Christ Consciousness can incarnate within human form in order, in the words of one of the leaders of the movement, “to provide teaching, comfort, healing, and spiritual evolution” to those who have gathered together to take this sacramental brew, as well as to compassionately transform the darkness, suffering, and negativity of the planet into Light and Love. Nonetheless, there are several works of the Santo Daime tradition that are explicitly dedicated to the process of mediumship, and this St. Michael’s work is one of the most powerful. Mediumship works are opportunities, at least for those Daimistas who have this specific mission, to develop and utilize their mediumistic abilities for the sake of others. (Daimistas often say that all people are mediums, but not everyone chooses to unfold and cultivate this latent capacity, at least within this lifetime. I have been working to develop my mediumship for several years now, but I am still learning. There are many Daimistas whose mediumship is much, much more developed than mine will perhaps ever be.)

Multiple (and Subtle) Bodies: Entheogenic Incorporation in the Santo Daime Tradition (Part 2)

This process of transforming suffering spirits is not just a task that each Daimista takes on within him or herself. It is also one of the primary tasks of those mediums who are willing and able to incorporate suffering spirits. During that particular St. Michael’s work, for instance, this type of mediumship began, as is typically the case, after the spirits of the Light had manifested themselves for a long period of time in a wide variety of forms, so that the aparelhos of the mediums had already been cleansed, opened, and filled the energy of divine Light and Love. Suffering spirits, like all spirits, on some level of their being, want to spiritually evolve. Therefore, they are attracted to that Light and Love that the Daime brings, so they will often crowd into the hall when they are invited, even if, at the same time, many of them arrive resisting that Light every step of the way, often literally kicking and screaming.

During that St. Michael’s work, these suffering spirits were invited, at least implicitly, when we began to sing another collection of hymns that almost invariably seems to open the door to these sort of spirits. For myself, the process of incorporating suffering spirits began almost immediately. During the next hour or two, I would sit in my chair, singing the hymns if it were at all possible, perhaps feeling a bit nauseous or bloated from the presence of the Daime as it actively worked within my body. I’d then suddenly feel an influx of ecstasy, joy, love and light that let me know that a Being of Light had arrived. Throughout the process, this Being (or Beings) would remain, and I would feel myself centered in my heart, calmly watching and witnessing everything that was going on within me and around me – and at times it would be difficult to distinguish between this inner peace and the presence of the Being, or Beings, of Light. Then, at a certain point, an aspect of my awareness, as well as my physical body, would suddenly and forcefully contract and tighten up, as I was flooded with a quality of suffering that can manifest either as anguish, rage, terror, grief, or self loathing, depending upon the specific nature of the suffering spirit who had arrived.