UDV will participate in the II World Ayahuasca Conference

The Beneficent Spiritist Center União do Vegetal will participate in the II World Ayahuasca Conference, from October 17^th to 22^nd, in Rio Branco-Acre. The event is organized by the International Center for Ethnobotanical Education Research & Service – ICEERS, with the support of the Federal University of Acre, the Acre Government, and others. The Conference has the objective to expose and analyze the diversity around the Ayahuasca tea, which the União do Vegetal refers to as Vegetal.

The UDV will have representatives who will participate in two areas that will be addressed by the Main Conference Panel: Policy and Sustainability & Religions. On the Policy and Sustainability panel, during the morning of the 18^th, mestre Moacir Biondo (Nucleo Menino Deus-AM) will give a lecture about “The importance of Ayahuasca within the landscape of the collection of traditional knowledge,” within a panel that will address the plants of the Amazon. On the afternoon of the same day, mestre Jefrrey Bronfman (founding associate of Nucleo Santa Fe – New Mexico / USA – currently, Responsible Mestre for the DAV in Hawaii – USA) will give a lecture on the subject of: “Reflections on the legalization process of the UDV in the USA and the current global challenges of Ayahuasca.”

On the subject of Religions, during the afternoon of the 17^th, within a panel that will address the history of the founding mestres of the religions that utilize the Ayahuasca tea, conselheira Ana Maria de Lima Souza (Nucleo Mestre Gabriel, Porto Velho-RO) will present an exhibition about the life and work of José Gabriel da Costa, Mestre Gabriel, creator of the UDV. On the afternoon of the 18^th, Luis Felipe Belmonte dos Santos, one of the General Assistant Mestres of the UDV will participate in a panel that will focus on the theme of Building Credibility, and will make a presentation titled: Mestre José Gabriel da Costa Lineage.” On the afternoon of October 20^th, Edson Lodi Campos Soares, another General Assistant Mestre of the UDV, will participate in a panel called “Histories and ‘Stories’ of the Founding Mestres.”

Community Forum

Mestre Armínio Pontes (Nucleo Menino Deus, Manaus-AM) will participate in the Community Forum on the 20^th, which will address the planting and management of Mariri and Chacrona, plants that make up the Hoasca tea (ayahuasca) in the Beneficent Spiritist Center União do Vegetal. Pontes is the director of the UDV’s Department of Plantation and Environment, the body responsible for carrying out research, studies, and management of Mariri and Chacrona in the UDV.

“Children and Youth of the UDV: Planting Good Seeds for Awakening to Spirituality” is the subject of a second lecture that will be presented by conselheira Jeanny Luz (Sede Geral, Brasilia-DF), also in the Community Forum. In conformity with the subjects of the Aya2016 Program, the lecture will address the use of Hoasca tea (Ayahuasca) by children and young people within the União do Vegetal (UDV), and will present the rules for consumption of Tea by this group as well as the spiritual guidance work within the UDV from the premise that “the participation of young people in religious life, in accordance with their own interest, may be important for their healthy development and is also part of our religious rights.” The lecture will take place on the 21^st, marking the end of the UDV’s participation in the II World Ayahuasca Conference.

Talisman

The matriarch of the União do Vegetal, Mestre Pequenina (Raimunda Ferreira da Costa), who disincarnated on October 2^nd of this year, will be honored at the end of the II World Ayahuasca Conference with a presentation of the video Talismã/Talisman (access by clicking here). The video is a production by the Department of Memory and Documentation of the 4^th Region (Bahia and Sergipe) of the União do Vegetal.