Santo Daime and the Mental Health Benefits of Wearing the Farda: An Anthropological and Psychiatric Approach

Image 1. “Padrino” and “Madrina” of “Eagle sky” Church in their farda, San Luis Potosí, Mexico, 2021. Photo: José Noyola.

Introduction

Any person´s dress, be it a sari, a kimono, or a suit, is a reflection of their culture, class, personality, and sometimes even religion. In our case study, we examine the farda garment of the Santo Daime religion and attempt to show how the garment both expresses uniformity and enacts spiritual healing while promoting mental well-being through ritual in a religious context. For curator and historian Andrew Bolton (2018), religion and fashion are knowledge systems that operate with a visual language. [1] According to Bolton, both are based on codes that serve to express complex ideas regarding identity. Likewise, both religion and fashion work through staging and performative gestures.

We, the authors of this article, are participants in Santo Daime, an ayahuasquero religious ritual from Brazil. Below, we will share our experience and understanding of the aesthetic and ritualistic meanings of the farda as used during Santo Daime rituals. The farda is a symbolic element and a reflection of one’s spiritual and mental state of being. The farda connects the individual and the group, while also symbolizing one’s values of humility, service, and compassion.

Image 2. Mestre Irineo, founder of Santo Daime. Credit: Memorial Raimundo Irineu Serra/Ciclu-Alto Santo e Carlos Ruggi

Collective Spiritual Healing through Santo Daime 

Santo Daime is a syncretic [2] religion that was born in the Amazonian jungle in the 1930s. The religion was founded by Raimundo Irineo Serra, also known as Mestre Irineo. Mestre Irineo was of African and indigenous Amazonian descent. After spending several years working in the rubber industry in the Amazonian region of Acre — a region far removed from urban centers — Irineo learned about the use of ayahuasca from the natives. After years of using it, he had a vision in which La Virgen de la Concepción (Rainha da Floresta)told him to create the Santo Daime religion and ritual.

Raimundo was in the deep jungle of the Amazon river around 1930, in a quiet full moon night, during a trance state under the effect of ayahuasca, when “a lady of the forest” appeared before him. She told him that she would grant him any wish he expressed to her. Raimundo asked her for “a way to help fellow human brothers to alleviate their suffering”. The lady agreed to grant his wish, by instructing him to form the Santo Daime ritual, and to never ask for money in return for his service.

Image 3. Clancy Cavnar, Representation of the appearance of Rainha da Floresta to Mestre Irineu. [3] Or "Representation of the appearance of Rainha da Floresta to Mestre Irineu” by Clancy Cavnar

The Santo Daime ritual combines religious elements of Catholicism and Afro-Amazonian cultural practices with the use of the ayahuasca tea. Ayahuasca is a psychoactive brew of tea that has the ability to create amplified states of consciousness, mystical visions, and changes in emotions for those who ingest it. Once imbibed, the experience is spiritually cathartic insofar as individuals experience an emotional release. The release serves as a catalyst for one’s emotional and mental healing while chants of praise that emphasize repentance, forgiveness, compassion, union, and veneration of God are sung. These religious chants were originally created by Mestre Irineo himself. The chants are dedicated to Christian figures like God, Jesus Christ, and the Virgin Mary, and also divine figures from African and native Amazonian origin: Yemaja, Orixas, Ogum Mele, Oxum, Janaina, and caboclos da floresta.

During the ceremony, Daimistas [4] wear the farda, which means uniform in Portuguese. The Daimistas consider themselves irmaôs, which means brothers in Portuguese. The farda is a unifying element that identifies the brotherhood of Santo Daime. Therefore, the act of dressing in the farda is a ritual in and of itself as it is an initiation through which the participant becomes a member of this religious family. In this sense, the wearer of the farda respects and adheres to the values ​​of the religion, and, subsequently, is in harmony and union with the group. The farda is a material symbol that communicates belonging and identity. [5]

Image 4. Wearers of the farda, San Luis Potosí, Mexico, 2021. Photo: José Noyola

Image 5. Wearers of the farda, San Luis Potosí, Mexico, 2021. Photo: José Noyola

In order to understand the phenomenological effect of the farda on one’s spiritual and mental health, below, read José's written account of his personal experience as a wearer of the farda. His testimony builds an autoethnographic [6] story that will allow us to understand in a more comprehensive way the spiritual and subsequently psychological transformative effects of ritual dress:

“I was afraid of getting fardado. I didn't know the whole implications of my decision. However, I was aware that a deep change would follow and that I would be accountable from now on as a Daime family member in all my actions in life. However, I wasn't sure I would be up to the task. It took me long years of internal struggle before I decided to go ahead. The final decision arrived when I realized this step meant my will to show gratitude to God for having mercy on me. And my commitment to be at his service for the rest of my life.” — José Noyola Cherpitel

Spiritual uniform: The farda and its spiritual and psychological effects

The farda for men consists of dark blue pants, a white long-sleeved shirt, a simple dark blue tie, and a star with the Santo Daime emblem. Women wear a long dark blue skirt, a white short-sleeved shirt, a dark blue bow tie, and the Santo Daime star emblem. The farda symbolizes one’s belonging to the church of Santo Daime. This gesture through clothing represents humility in uniformity.

The farda draws attention through its simplicity and sobriety. We can explain this in that the first Daimistas were very poor people and the farda was for them their only elegant and formal dress. For them, this dress was not practical in their daily lives due to their type of labor in a hot and humid environment; wearing it on the day of the ceremony underlined the importance of the farda as a signal of respect for the ritual.

Image 6. Star of fardados. Photo: José Noyola, 2021.

On the uniform, the only iconographic symbol present is a six-pointed golden star [7] that has the emblem of an eagle with outstretched wings that sits perched on a crescent moon. In this insignia, "the Moon symbolizes the Rainha da Floresta and the Eagle, unlimited vision and nobility" [8] Women wear it on the left side of the chest and men on the right side. When one wears the farda, it evokes the memory of being a child at school; it symbolizes a process of learning.

At the Cielo del Águila church in San Luis Potosí, Mexico, ritual-work begins before the ceremony. Participants begin to prepare their minds and bodies to receive the “medicine” [9] by following a special diet of only vegetables. Participants cannot consume sugar, salt, dairy, alcohol, drugs, coffee, nor psychotropic medicines. They also must restrain themselves from any sexual activities. On the day of the ceremony, wearing the farda contributes to the effect of preparation and concentration to carry out "o trabalho" [10] (“the job” in Portuguese).

In order to prepare the ritual space the group of participants must sit around the fire in a circle. This initial stage is called the defumaçao, that is, the cleansing with incense of each of the attendees. This stage is important because it strengthens the feeling of cleansing and purification required to receive the Daime (ayahuasca) [11]. The drink is considered sacred by the brotherhood. This aura of sacredness in drinking Daime implies a work of discipline, which is made manifest through the wearing of the farda.

Image 7. Defumacao. Cleansing with incense during a ceremony. Photo: José Noyola, 2021.

According to research carried out by anthropologist Mauricio Guzmán on the Santo Daime religion in Mexico, the collective practice of this ritual implies “a previous symbolic equalization through the uniform.” [12] Each participant contributes “to the generation of the current of healing, which can be heavy (loaded with evils) or mild (with harmony).” [13]

In ceremonies in which individuals acquire the farda for the first time, participants sing special hymns for this rite of passage. The hymns express values ​​of brotherhood. When you acquire the farda it means that you now consider yourself a member of the Santo Daime church, and also that you consider yourself equal to all. It also reflects that you are finally at the service of the group and, in particular, of the guests. The farda is considered to provide “spiritual protection” to those who wear it. It is an element that allows you to feel part of the group; it makes the wearer feel like they belong while still being in service to others.

From a psychoanalytic viewpoint, according to Wilfred R. Bion, the farda is considered a “mind organizer,” [14] insofar as the behaviors already mentioned (discipline, firmness, humility, willingness to serve others, brotherhood, truthfulness, and justice) are acquired. This also promotes John H. Flavell’s process of “metacognition,” [15] which is the mental capacity to have an awareness of one’s own thought processes and an understanding of the patterns behind them. 

The fardados develop these behaviors constantly in daily life, not just on the day of the ceremony. The more they attend ceremonies and participate in the ritual, drinking ayahuasca in the form of Santo Daime, chanting and contributing to emotional healing, the more positive changes become permanent elements in fardados' lives. These permanent changes are humility, cooperation, solidarity, service, firmness, discipline, truth, justice, and love towards all other human beings.

Conclusion

We want to close our article by drawing attention back to our belief that mental health is reflected and promoted by the way we dress. The farda, with its blend of simplicity and elegance and its message of service, humility and brotherhood, is a fine example of this belief. Santo Daime has a profound positive effect on the mental health and lives of fardados, promoting the integration of the values of discipline, truth, justice, faith in God, love, and brotherhood with all fellow human beings.

Notes

1. Andrew Bolton, Heavenly Bodies: Fashion and the Catholic Imagination (New York: Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2018).

2. “The term ‘syncretism’ refers to the cultural mixture of diverse beliefs and practices within a specific socio-historical frame; to the congruity of dissent within such a frame, despite differences of opinion; to the non-organic solidarity of heterodoxy which constitutes a collective worldview; to the forging together of disparate, often incompatible, elements from different systems; and to their intermingling and blending”. Vassilis Lambropoulos, “Syncretism as Mixture and as Method,” Journal of Modern Greek Studies 19, no. 2 (2001): 225.

3. “Vocabulary,” Santo Daime. A doutrina da Floresta, accesed June 20, 2021, http://santodaime.nextohm.com/Vocabulary/Rainha-da-Floresta/ .

4. Daimistas are active members of Santo Daime rituals. There are different churches that practice this ritual, each one with its own ideology. It is not a unified doctrine.

5. Roland Barthes developed one of the most important sociological studies in this vein: The Fashion System and Other Writings (1957), in which the author analyzes how men and women create meaning through their clothing.

6. Autoethnography “is an approach to research and writing, which seeks to systematically describe and analyze personal experience to understand cultural experience”. Carolyn Ellis, Tony E. Adams, and Arthur P. Bochner, “Autoetnografía: un panorama,” in Autoetnografía. Una metodología cualitativa. Selección de textos, ed. Silvia Bénard Calva (México: Universidad Autónoma de Aguascalientes, 2019), 17.

7. Also known as Star of Solomon. It is a symbol associated with other religious traditions and is part of the syncretic elements of this religion.

8. Gregório de Melo, Alfredo, “A farda,” Santo Daime, accessed June 17, 2021, https://www.santodaime.org/site/ritual/a-farda 

9. "Medicine" is the term used by daimistas to refer to ayahuasca. In the ritual context studied, ayahuasca comes from Brazil and is facilitated by the group's Padrinho (Godfather). It is a thick brown liquid with a very pungent flavor. During the ceremony the Padrinho offers the drink in a small glass (shot) to each participant.

10. The "job" is what the daimistas call their ritual participation, which is generally driven by a personal intention of healing or of various purposes. Generally, when taking ayahuasca, the Padrinho and the companions give support saying: “Have a good job”. And at the end of the ceremony: “Very good job”.

11. Here, it is important to mention that if the participant enters the ceremony in a disturbed emotional state, the psychoactive experience generated by ayahuasca could intensify said state. Therefore, the participant feeling well prepared is important to having a satisfactory experience.

12. Mauricio Genet et al, “El culto del Santo Daime. Apuntes para la legalización del uso de sustancias psicoactivas en contextos ceremoniales en México,” Revista de El Colegio de San Luis, Nueva época, Año III, no. 5 (January-June 2013): 73.

13. Ibid.

14. “Mind organizer” is a concept by Wilfred R. Bion, a British psychoanalyst. It refers to mental functions that contribute to the forming and ongoing correct functioning of the mind as a whole. Some of these are thinking, memory, planning capacity, etc. The behaviors already mentioned that are acquired are discipline, firmness, humility, willingness to serve others, brotherhood, truthfulness, and justice. Wilfred R. Bion, Learning from Experience (London: William Heinemann, 1962).

15. John H. Flavell, “Metacognition and Cognition Monitoring: A New Area of Cognitive-Development Inquiry,” American Psychologist  34, no. 10 (1979).

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