Sebastião Mota de Melo explained

Sebastião Mota de Melo (Eirunepé, October 7, 1920 — Rio de Janeiro, January 20, 1990), also recognized as Padrinho Sebastião, was a significant religious figure in Brazil, notable for establishing the religious organization CEFLURIS, a prominent branch of Santo Daime.^[1]

Biography

Sebastião Mota de Melo, born in Eirunepé, Amazonas, Brazil, exhibited a strong affinity for spiritual and religious exploration from an early age. Though his formal education details are limited, his religious journey notably flourished under the mentorship of Mestre Irineu, a key figure in the Santo Daime tradition. This mentorship significantly influenced Sebastião's understanding and practice of Santo Daime doctrines, leading him to a leadership role within the community. Following Mestre Irineu's passing in the mid-1970s, Sebastião, now known as Padrinho Sebastião, alongside a group of followers, initiated the community of Céu do Mapiá, and under Padrinho Sebastião's guidance, the community relocated to the heart of the Amazon rainforest.^[2]

Early life

Born to Manuel Mota and Dona Vicença, Padrinho Sebastião exhibited a propensity for astral travel and interactions with enchanted forest entities from a young age. He wed Rita Gregório and the union was blessed with four offspring: Valdete, João Batista (who died during childhood), Alfredo, and Nonata. His journey with Daime commenced following an esophageal ailment, which led him to seek healing from various medical and spiritual sources. His initial attempt to connect with Mestre Irineu was delayed due to the latter's travels, but a subsequent encounter in 1965 facilitated his healing through Daime, thus cementing his allegiance to the practice.^[3]

Death

Sebastião Mota de Melo, also known as Padrinho Sebastião, passed away on January 20, 1990, in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, at the age of 69. Following his passing, leadership was transferred to one of his sons, Alfredo Gregório de Melo, and his legacy continues to be celebrated within the Santo Daime community and at Céu do Mapiá, where his wife Madrinha Rita, along with their children and grandchildren, continue his work, welcoming visitors from all over the world who come to learn about Santo Daime and Padrinho Sebastião's teachings.^[4]

Legacy

Padrinho Sebastião's legacy is deeply intertwined with the Santo Daime tradition, notably through founding CEFLURIS and establishing the spiritual community of Céu do Mapiá. His spiritual leadership, post Mestre Irineu's era, fostered a unique communitarian lifestyle in the Amazon, emphasizing spirituality over materiality. Known for his healing and mediumship, his life's work transcended geographical and cultural boundaries, contributing significantly to Amazonian ethnobotany and cultural preservation. His efforts propelled the Santo Daime Church into a global spiritual movement, reflecting a lasting legacy that continues to resonate with practitioners worldwide, encapsulating a spiritual path that intertwines cultural, ecological, and spiritual dimensions.^[5]

See also

• Santo Daime hymns

Bibliography

• Bauval, R., & Hancock, G. (2011). Keeper of Genesis. Random House.
• Becci, I., Burchardt, M., & Casanova, J. (2013). Topographies of faith: Religion in urban spaces (Vol. 17). Brill.
• Bewley-Taylor, D. R. (2012). International drug control: Consensus fractured. Cambridge University Press.
• Biondi, K. (2016). Sharing this walk: An ethnography of prison life and the PCC in Brazil. UNC Press Books.
• Constantineau, W., & McLuhan, E. (2010). The Human Equation: The Constant in Human Development and Culture from Pre-Literacy to Post-Literacy--Book 1, The Human Equation Toolkit (Vol. 1). BPS Books.
• Csordas, T. J. (Ed.). (2009). Transnational transcendence: essays on religion and globalization. University of California Press.
• Dawson, A. (2007). New era, new religions: Religious transformation in contemporary Brazil. Ashgate Publishing, Ltd..
• Dawson, A. (2013). Santo Daime: a new world religion. A&C Black.
• Day, A. (Ed.). (2016). Religion and the individual: Belief, practice, identity. Routledge.
• De Alverga, A. P. (2010). The religion of ayahuasca: the teachings of the church of Santo Daime. Simon and Schuster.
• De Rios, M. D. (2009). The psychedelic journey of Marlene Dobkin de Rios: 45 years with shamans, ayahuasqueros, and ethnobotanists. Simon and Schuster.
• Dulles, A. (2002). Models of the Church (Vol. 13). Image.
• Dyck, E. (2008). Psychedelic psychiatry: LSD from clinic to campus. JHU Press.
• e Souza, L. D. M. (2003). The devil and the land of the holy cross: witchcraft, slavery, and popular religion in colonial Brazil. University of Texas Press.
• Ellens, J. H. (Ed.). (2009). The Healing Power of Spirituality: How Faith Helps Humans Thrive [3 volumes]. ABC-CLIO.
• Estes, D. (2009). SimChurch: Being the church in the virtual world. Zondervan.
• Fadiman, J. (2011). The psychedelic explorer's guide: Safe, therapeutic, and sacred journeys. Simon and Schuster.
• Goodrick-Clarke, N. (2008). The Western esoteric traditions: A historical introduction. Oxford University Press.
• Grof, S. (2006). When the impossible happens: Adventures in non-ordinary realities. Sounds True.
• Guenon, R. (2001). Traditional forms and cosmic cycles. Sophia Perennis.
• Harrison, J. (2011). Singing to the Plants: A Guide to Mestizo Shamanism in the Upper Amazon. International Journal of Transpersonal Studies, 30(1), 18.
• Hartogsohn, I. (2020). American trip: set, setting, and the psychedelic experience in the twentieth century. MIT Press.
• Hüsken, U. (2007). When rituals go wrong: Mistakes, failure, and the dynamics of ritual (Vol. 115). Brill.
• Koutrafouri, V. G., & Sanders, J. (2013). Ritual failure: Archaeological perspectives. Sidestone Press.
• Labate, B. C., & Cavnar, C. (Eds.). (2014). Ayahuasca shamanism in the Amazon and beyond. Oxford Ritual Studies.
• Labate, B. C., & Cavnar, C. (Eds.). (2014). The therapeutic use of ayahuasca.
• Labate, B. C., & Cavnar, C. (Eds.). (2018). Plant medicines, healing and psychedelic science: Cultural perspectives. Springer.
• Labate, B. C., & Cavnar, C. (Eds.). (2018). The expanding world ayahuasca diaspora: Appropriation, integration and legislation. Routledge.
• Labate, B. C., & Jungaberle, H. (Eds.). (2011). The internationalization of ayahuasca (Vol. 16). LIT Verlag Münster.
• Labate, B. C., & MacRae, E. (2016). Ayahuasca, ritual and religion in Brazil. Routledge.
• Labate, B. C., & Pacheco, G. (2010). Opening the portals of heaven: Brazilian ayahuasca music (Vol. 4). LIT Verlag Münster.
• Labate, B. C., Cavnar, C., & Gearin, A. K. (Eds.). (2016). The world ayahuasca diaspora: Reinventions and controversies. Taylor & Francis.
• Labate, B. C., Cavnar, C., & Rodrigues, T. (Eds.). (2016). Drug Policies and the Politics of Drugs in the Americas. Switzerland: Springer International Publishing.
• Langlitz, N. (2013). Neuropsychedelia: The revival of hallucinogen research since the decade of the brain. Univ of California Press.
• Lash, S. (2014). Sociology of postmodernism. Routledge.
• Leary, T. (2009). Start your own religion. Ronin Publishing.
• Levine, R. M. (1992). Vale of tears: revisiting the Canudos massacre in Northeastern Brazil, 1893-1897. Univ of California Press.
• Lewis, I. M. (2002). Ecstatic religion: a study of shamanism and spirit possession. Routledge.
• Livezey, L. W. (Ed.). (2000). Public religion and urban transformation: Faith in the city. NYU Press.
• Loseke, D. R. (2011). Thinking about social problems: An introduction to constructionist perspectives. Transaction Publishers.
• Maroukis, T. C. (2012). The peyote road: Religious freedom and the Native American Church (Vol. 265). University of Oklahoma Press.
• McDaniel, J. (2018). Lost Ecstasy: Its Decline and Transformation in Religion. Springer.
• McDonald, B. (Ed.). (2002). Every Branch in Me: Essays on the Meaning of Man. World Wisdom, Inc.
• Metzner, R. (Ed.). (2005). Sacred vine of spirits: Ayahuasca. Inner Traditions/Bear & Co.
• Metzner, R. (Ed.). (2014). The ayahuasca experience: A sourcebook on the sacred vine of spirits. Simon and Schuster.
• O'dougherty, M. (2002). Consumption intensified: the politics of middle-class daily life in Brazil. Duke University Press.
• Oldmeadow, H. (2010). Frithjof Schuon and the Perennial Philosophy. World Wisdom, Inc.
• Oroc, J. (2009). Tryptamine Palace: 5-MeO-DMT and the Sonoran desert toad. Simon and Schuster.
• Page, C. (2009). Frontiers Of Health: How to heal the whole person. Random House.
• Peláez, I. E. A. (2020). Ayahuasca: between cognition and culture (Vol. 32). Publicacions Universitat Rovira i Virgili.
• Peristiany, J. G., Peristiany, J. G., & Pitt-Rivers, J. (Eds.). (2005). Honor and grace in anthropology (Vol. 76). Cambridge University Press.
• Pessar, P. R. (2004). From fanatics to folk: Brazilian millenarianism and popular culture. Duke University Press.
• Pinchbeck, D. (2017). How soon is now: From personal initiation to global transformation. Watkins Publishing.
• Rice, J. (2009). The church of Facebook: How the hyperconnected are redefining community. David C Cook.
• Rocha, C., & Vásquez, M. A. (2013). The diaspora of Brazilian religions (Vol. 16). Brill.
• Roett, R. (2011). The New Brazil. Brookings Institution Press.
• Ruck, C. A. (2016). Sacred Mushrooms: Secrets of Eleusis. Ronin Publishing.
• Santo, D. E., & Tassi, N. (Eds.). (2013). Making Spirits: Materiality and transcendence in contemporary religions. Bloomsbury Publishing.
• Sax, W., Quack, J., & Weinhold, J. (Eds.). (2010). The problem of ritual efficacy. Oxford University Press.
• Schilbrack, K. (Ed.). (2004). Thinking through rituals: Philosophical perspectives. Psychology Press.
• Schmidt, B., & Engler, S. (Eds.). (2016). Handbook of contemporary religions in Brazil (Vol. 13). Brill.
• Seeger, A. (2004). Why Suyá sing: a musical anthropology of an Amazonian people. University of Illinois Press.
• Sotillos, S. B. (Ed.). (2013). Psychology and the perennial philosophy: Studies in comparative religion. World Wisdom, Inc.
• Spinella, M. (2001). The psychopharmacology of herbal medicine: plant drugs that alter mind, brain, and behavior. Mit Press.
• Urban, H. B. (2015). New age, neopagan, and new religious movements: alternative spirituality in contemporary America. University of California Press.
• Vatter, M. E. (Ed.). (2011). Crediting God: sovereignty and religion in the age of Global Capitalism. Fordham Univ Press.
• Whitsitt, L. R. (2011). Open Source Church: Making Room for the Wisdom of All. Rowman & Littlefield.
• Wilber, K. (2018). Integral Buddhism: And the Future of Spirituality. Shambhala Publications.

Notes and References

1. Dawson, A. (2013). Santo Daime: a new world religion. A&C Black.
2. Vieira, Elaine. (2010) Rituais do Santo Daime: uma viagem que não é para todos. https://web.archive.org/web/20200206230102/http://gazetaonline.globo.com/_conteudo/2010/03/615088-rituais+do+santo+daime+uma+viagem+que+nao+e+para+todos.html
3. Fraternidade do Coração. (2009) A História do Padrinho Sebastião. https://web.archive.org/web/20090519004045/http://fraternidadedocoracao.org/?page_id=132
4. Luke, D. (2019). Otherworlds: Psychedelics and exceptional human experience. Aeon Books.
5. Labate, B. C., & Pacheco, G. (2011). The historical origins of Santo Daime: Academics, adepts, and ideology. The internationalization of ayahuasca, 16, 71.