The World Ayahuasca Conference 2019 Begins

Jocimar Nastari*

| May 31^st, 2019

Girona (Spain) – With the active participation of the Beneficent Spiritist Center União do Vegetal, the World Ayahuasca Conference 2019 began today, in Girona, Spain. Until the coming Sunday (June 2^nd), the event will bring together representatives of religions that use Ayahuasca (called Hoasca Tea or Vegetal in the UDV), scholars, scientists and persons interested in the theme. The conference is promoted by the International Center for Ethnobotanical Education Research and Service (ICEERS). The opening of the conference was held by representatives of indigenous peoples of Brazil, Peru, Columbia and Ecuador who make ritualistic use of Hoasca Tea.

Eleven associates of the União do Vegetal will participate in the event, making presentations and lectures, and even joining debate panels. This group will be composed of the General Representative Mestre of the União do Vegetal, Paulo Afonso Amato Condé, the General Assistant Mestre Teodoro Irigaray and the President of the General Directorate of the Center, Mestre Tadeo Feijão. The Blog of the UDV will make a daily report on the participation of the lecturers from the União do Vegetal.

See below the report of content that will be presented by the 11 associates of the UDV during the World Ayahuasca Conference 2019:

Day 1: May 31^st

Presentation

• Science in the UDV: scientific and academic interest and orientations of the Beneficent Spiritist Center União do Vegetal | Joaze Bernardino Costa (Representative Mestre of the Núcleo Principe Teceu – Brasilia-DF)
• Molecular research of the fast-acting antidepressant effects involved in the pharmacodynamic of Ayahuasca in patients with resistant depression: a bibliographic review | Francisco Cid Coelho Pinto (Núcleo Fortaleza – Fortaleza-CE)

Day 2: June 1^st

Conference in the main auditorium

• Environment and cultivation of the sacred plants: the experience of the UDV | Paulo Afonso Amato Condé (General Representative Mestre)
• Brief History on the institutionalization of the religious use of Ayahuasca in Brazil | Edson Lodi (member of the General Council of Administration – Conage)

Panel

• Envisioning the future: Towards sensible, human rights-based policies for ayahuasca practices | Various participants, among whom Jeffrey Bronfman (Responsible Mestre for the Authorized Distribution of Vegetal of Hawaii, USA and Vice President of the General Directorate of the UDV)

Presentation

• Ayahuasca and cooperative learning: the experience of the União do Vegetal | Cristiane Holanda (Núcleo Imaculada Concepción – Madrid, Spain)
• Can environmental characteristics cause variation in the production of DMT (N-Dimethyltryptamine) in the Psychotria viridis? | Ordilena Ferreira de Miranda (Núcleo Lupunamanta – Campinas-SP)

Day 3: June 2^nd

Presentation

• Ayahuasca, “buen vivir” and multiculturalism: UDV, experience in the realization of the principles of religious freedom, “good life” and intercultural dialogue | Teodoro Irigaray (General Assistant Mestre)
• The fundamental right to the religious use of Ayahuasca: a new approach to strategically position Ayahuasca in a regulated scenario | Náiber Pontes de Almeida (General Headquarters – Brasilia-DF)
• The multifaceted challenges addressed by the UDV in the course of its 58 years | Tadeo Feijão (Mestre and President of the General Directorate of the UDV)
• Mestre Gabriel: the pedagogy of the example | Patrick Walsh Neto (Núcleo Fortaleza – Fortaleza-CE)

>> Click here and access the complete conference program.

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*Jocimar Nastari is a member of the Body of Counsel of the General Headquarters (Brasilia-DF) and Adjunct Director of the Department of Memory and Communication (DMC).