Norwood, cradle of the UDV in the USA and of Nucleo San Miguel

Carmen Tucker*

Nucleo San Miguel (Norwood, Colorado – USA) is turning seven years old. On March 27^th, 2010, the then Authorized Distribution of Vegetal (DAV) of Norwood, was elevated to the category of Nucleo of the Beneficent Spiritst Center União do Vegetal, marking one more chapter in the rich trajectory that had its start in 1988, when the first Session of the Vegetal was realized in the United States under the responsibility of the UDV.

With the authorization of Raimundo Carneiro Braga (Mestre Braga), the General Representative Mestre at that time, the first session was directed on June 18^th, 1988 by Mestre Luiz Maciel (in memoriam), in the ReEnchantment Lodge in Norwood. The second session was directed by Mestre Luiz Gonzaga and took place outside at a place called The Meadows, near the city of Telluride, Colorado. It was when the story of Hoasca was told for the first time in the United States.

In January of 1994, Mestre (at that time) Raimundo Nonato Marques told the story of São Miguel (St. Michael) for the first time, and said that this would be a good name for a future nucleo. In this way, on March 27^th, 2010, the prediction was confirmed with the adoption of the name San Miguel for the Authorized Distribution of Norwood.

Visit to Brazil

In January of 1993, a group of 14 people from Colorado visited Manaus (AM), Cruzeiro do Sul (AC), Rio Branco (AC), Brasília (DF) and Salvador (BA) to get to know the UDV better and to ask Mestre Braga for more regular visits of Mestres to the United States. He agreed and the Mestres that visited that year were José Carlos Garcia, Edson Lodi, Gilson Vargas, Florêncio Siqueira de Carvalho and Luis Felipe Belmonte – who was in the place of General Representative Mestre when he visited the USA. During this opportunity, he directed the first July 22^nd session in the United States, also at the ReEnchantment Lodge.

In the following years, in addition to Mestre Florêncio, other Mestres of the Origin visited the group of people that drank Vegetal in Norwood: Pequenina, Raimundo Carneiro Braga, Manoel Nogueira, and Francisco Adamir de Lima (in memoriam); and also Raimundo Nonato Marques (who today is not in the UDV), Raimundo Monteiro de Souza, Jair Gabriel, José Luiz de Oliveira, Roberto Souto, and Francisco Herculano de Oliveira; and several other second generation Mestres, including Mestre Antônio Gabriel. In this way, the brothers and sisters were able to receive correct orientation to begin the works.

DAV in 1997

David Lenderts was the first coordinator of the works in Norwood. Carmen and Daniel Tucker went to live in Brasilia in 1994 and were convoked to the CDC by the Representative Mestre of the General Headquarters at that time, Edson Lodi, on November 1^st of the same year. When they returned in 1995, the General Representative Mestre, at that time Raimundo Monteiro de Souza, designated Counselor Daniel Tucker as Responsible for the works. Norwood officially became an Authorized Distribution of Vegetal on July 20^th, 1997, and Counselor Daniel Tucker was designated as Responsible for the Distribution.

The construction of the temple began in July of 1998 on land donated by Mestre Daniel Tucker and C. Carmen Tucker. Bryan Rea coordinated the work along with 13 other disciples that did all of the work (with lots of help coming from many brothers and sisters from the USA and Brazil). It was inaugurated on December 31^st, 1998 with, then General Assistant Mestre, Florêncio Siqueira de Carvalho, directing the session for 85 socios from the United States and Brazil. Counselor Daniel Tucker received the Star of the Mestre from Mestre Florêncio on November 1^st, 1999 at the General Headquarters in Brasília.

In March 2010, during the administration of José Carlos Garcia, Central Mestre of the 1^st Region of the United States, the DAV Norwood was elevated to Nucleo San Miguel, and Mestre Daniel Tucker was the first Representative Mestre, receiving the blue shirt from Mestre Florêncio on the 12^th of June. On January 6^th, 2012, Mestre Bryan Rea received the Representation of the Nucleo, and still occupies the place today.

In the middle of nothing, in the center of everything!

Today I look back and marvel at the arrival of the UDV in the United States, starting at the “ReEnchantment” Lodge in Norwood, Colorado. When you tell people about the locations of the UDV here in this country, they always nod as they hear the familiar names of “Santa Fe”, “San Francisco”, etc. But without exception, they always ask “Norwood? Where’s that?” Mestre Daniel would always say “In the middle of nowhere, in the center of everything!”

I’ve come to believe that Norwood, a very simple farming and ranching community in southwest Colorado, was the perfect place to start, reflecting a bit of the simplicity of the origins of the UDV in Brazil. Several of us were so captivated by the Mestre, that we went off to Brazil to learn more, having no idea that we were opening the door to the other side of Life! It’s been 28 years since I first drank the Vegetal, and I am still filled with awe and gratitude for this great work of Mestre Gabriel and the goodness it has brought to all of our lives.

–

*Member of the Body of Council of Nucleo Santa Fé (New Mexico – USA) and one of the pioneers of the UDV in the United States, participating since 1989, when mestres Luiz Maciel and Luiz Gonzaga visited Norwood during their second trip to the United States.

• Translated into Portuguese by Conselheira Iura Menão Araujo – (Núcleo Luz do Oriente, Brasília-DF)

• English Revised by Conselheiro Jonathan Spoliansky – (Núcleo Jardim Florescendo, Flórida-USA).

• Coordination and Translation Revision: Conselheira Isabel Cavalcante (Núcleo Jardim Florescendo, Flórida-USA).

Posted on March 27, 2017.