Philosophy in the UDV: Imaginaries of Panentheism, Hermeticism and Hermeneutics

Abstract

Ayahuasca religions such as Santo Daime, Barquinha and União do Vegetal are considered legitimately Brazilian because they syncretize Christian, Spiritist and Afro-descendant elements. We intend to establish a reflection that begins with a udvist cosmology, goes through ethical, epistemological elements and arrives at a philosophy of language with panentheistic foundations of the theology of the UDV, we will try to understand the União do Vegetal as a religious and philosophical system and demonstrate how the caboclo popular wisdom is permeated by ancient hermetic and hermeneutic ideas. Although it was founded by an almost illiterate person, as was the case of Mestre Gabriel, the disciples of this master using the entheogen Ayahuasca are able to develop their memory degrees to remember details from childhood to past lives, that is, unfolding as part of a Christian conception of a form of spiritism.  This knowledge is very similar to that of Pythagoras, Socrates, and even the theological presuppositions of St. Augustine. Therefore, we will try to approach an overview of the ritual aspect of the UDV, as well as a more critical view of the principles that make this society establish itself as the largest Brazilian hoasqueira religion with tens of thousands of adherents. We will use a methodology based on bibliographic reviews, as well as an analysis of an oral history of how the teachings can be preserved and faithful to the doctrine of Mestre Gabriel, which will finally be contextualized in a hermeneutic perspective of Hoasqueira religiosity.