Introduction
One of the misconceptions that many Daimistas throughout the “Daime-diaspora” is that the doctrine is one neat and nice linear path that leads up to them doing their work in whichever Western country in which they reside. Mestre Irineu was the original guy, then Padrinho Sebastião was his successor and the Daime moved to Mapiá which is like the holy city of Santo Daime globally.
Our goal with this article is to give a complete and comprehensive explanation as to how the succession of leadership progressed through the various lines of Daime that lead us to where we are today. Daimistas should not hesitate to learn the full story so that they can come to a complete understanding of the doctrine.
One can work in the line of Padrinho Sebastião and give reverance to him and Céu do Mapiá while also accepting that Mestre Irineu had a specific intention that the Daime was meant to stay on its original path with a different successor. However, Mestre’s wishes to leave the doctrine unchanged in 1971 does not necessarily invalidate the line of Padrinho Sebastião as being a valid religion to practice. One can see that the same spirit and principles applied to the specific orignal format as defined by Mestre can be excersized at all times in the changes in the works that were developed in the sphere of the Melo family.
It is pretty damn close to impossible to run the works exactly as Mestre described outside of Brazil, especially in the way that Daime churches in the west will often hold works out of homes and rental spaces.
Up to the 1960s, Santo Daime was practiced in a single center in the neighborhood of Alto Santo in Rio Branco. Barquinha had already branched off, however note that this is ultimately regarded as a completely different religion.
Padrinho Sebastião begins to do Daime activities off-site
It was a very long walk for Padrinho Sebastiao to get to the center run by Mestre. However he did it with his family with a lot of firmeza.
Mestre appoints Leoncio Gomes and tells him to not make any changes to the format of the work as he described it
This is a very contentious point.
It also brings into question about the Daime as to which parts of the doctrine of Mestre Irineu were revealed to him by the Rainha da Floresta, and which ones were his own decisions.
Mestre Irineu was the human vessel who carried out the dissemination of the path on how we can use the holy drink of Daime for our path to salvation. The personified entity which exists psychically inside the drink as well as the divine Virgin Mary revealed specific instructions on how to conduct the works, but some parts of the doctrine were codified from the personal wishes and desires and influences of Mestre Irineu and may not have been explicitly divinely revealed to him. For example, the uniforms were defined by Mestre and they changed several times throughout his lifetime.
With this point, we can see that Mestre Irineu instructed Leoncio Gomes to carry out the works exactly as they were in 1971. There is no distinction about which parts of the work can change and which cannot. There is no distinction between divine and human transmissions either. Unless of course, one could say that every single one of Mestre Irineu’s actions was divinely inspired? Hmm, maybe.
Regardless, Leoncio Gomes who had a close relationship with Mestre Irineu for many years accepted this and was determined to carry on the tradition of the Daime in this exact manner.
What is shocking is that you can go to a Mapiá line Daime church in a western country and ask someone who is Leoncio Gomes and they almost certainly have no clue.
The vivas including “viva nossa presidente” as an ode to Leoncio, this viva is never given outside of the traditional daime lines.
Who was Leoncio Gomes?
Leoncio Gomes was …
Leoncio Gomes had a car and a driver’s license, and would drive Mestre around whenever necessary. There are no known photos of the car but it is hard to image given how huge Mestre Irineu physically was.
Padrinho Sebastião as the spiritual successor to Mestre Irineu
- Point about being the spiritual successor
- References in the hymns about him being the successor
- passages from the gospel of padrinho sebastiao about how he says Mestre founded the doctorine and it is sebastiao’s to create.
Padrinho Sebastião as the start of a new beginning of universal Daime, so as to not contradict Leôncio’s role as the successor
.
References of Leoncio Gomes’ presidency found in the line of Padrinho Sebastiao due to his relationship with Teteu
In the serving hymns by Teteu, the President being referenced is Leoncio Gomes.
Padrinho Sebastiao went his own way in the early 1970s, however the split in Alto Santo between the original church and Teteu’s group happened in 1981. At that time the original group later to be known as “CICLU – Alto Santo” kept its own original path and the other group contained figures known today by many different Daimistas such as Teteu and Luiz Mendes.
The line with continued as Teteu and Luiz Mendes went on to re-establish a relationship with Padrinho Sebastião’s daime and Céu do Mapia. While many parts of their line remain traditional, many parts incorporate components from Sebastião such as reverence of Santa Maria.
Teteu is a little black bird. It’s a nickname. Teteu had a close relationship with Leoncio Gomes, and he referenced him many times in his hymns. Partiicularly – in the hymns that would later become the serving hymns that are used in churches worldwide in the line of Padrinho Sebastiao!
In the line of Padrinho Sebastião those hymns are often sung during the service of Daime, where everyone is singing “Eu tomo daime com meu presidente” … directly in reference to Leoncio Gomes himself!