Christ Returns from the Jungle

Marc G. Blainey is an adjunct faculty member in Spiritual Care and Psychotherapy at Martin Luther University College in Waterloo, Ontario. He received his PhD in anthropology from Tulane University and is the coeditor (with Emiliano Gallaga) of Manufactured Light: Mirrors in the Mesoamerican Realm.

"…Blainey's book is an important contribution to the subject of the globalization of ayahuasca religions, in general, and Santo Daime in particular. I learned a great deal from reading it and would recommend it to other scholars with interest in entheogenic spirituality as well as those with interest in New Religious Movements more generally. Scholars in the humanities, social sciences, and any who are interested in questions of how the explosion of interest in entheogenic spirituality should be addressed by policymakers would all benefit from reading Marc G. Blainey's Christ Returns from the Jungle." — Bonnie Glass-Coffin, Journal of Psychedelic Studies"Christ Returns from the Jungle is comprehensive, careful, insightful, engaged, and sincere in an exemplary way. I suspect that its quality will long remain unmatched." — Stefano Bigliardi, Politics, Religion & Ideology"If you could read only one book about Santo Daime, Christ Returns from the Jungle would be an excellent choice. More than an ethnography of Santo Daime in Europe, the book offers a comprehensive overview of the religion's historical emergence in Brazil and a careful account of the theoretical and methodological debates that characterize the burgeoning field of entheogenic spiritualities." — Nova Religio"I read this book with great appreciation and admiration. Marc Blainey has managed to find a balance between emic, bottom-up fieldwork and etic philosophical, anthropological, and theological reflection. This book is a much-needed addition to many other scholarly works on Santo Daime and ayahuasca out there, which merely offer an outside-in approach." — Andre van der Braak, Professor of Comparative Philosophy of Religion at Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam"In this clearly written text, Marc Blainey weaves together the empirical data from his years of fieldwork in Europe (including his own experiences within various ritual contexts) with a wide range of theoretical perspectives, resulting in a book that not only illumines this fascinating tradition, but also tackles, head-on, profound existential questions." — G. William Barnard, Professor of Religious Studies at Southern Methodist University and author of Liquid Light: Ayahuasca Spirituality and the Santo Daime Tradition

• List of IllustrationsPrefaceAcknowledgmentsPart I: Framing and Tackling the Question: Why Santo Daime in Europe?1. Introduction2. How the Outsider Can Understand Daimista InsidersPart II: From Amazonia with Love3. Tracing Origins4. The Current State of Santo Daime Studies: Brazil and Beyond5. Passage to "Heaven" of MapiáPart III: Back to the Old World6. Santo Daime and the ReEnchantment of Europe7. National ProfilesPart IV: Santo Daime "Works"8. Framework for Curing the Ego9. Eclectic Symbolisms of Santo Daime Ideology10. BeingintheAstral: An AutoEthnography of EthnophenomenologyPart V: The Mystical Technology of Santo Daime Rituals11. A Key to Solutions12. Fardados' Conception of Santo Daime as a Mystical PathPart VI: Fardados' Existential Values13. Timeless Wisdom14. The Aims of Santo Daime PerennialismPart VII: Applying Anthropology to Public Debates about Ayahuasca15. The Cosmopolitics of Entheogenic Healing16. Closing Remarks: Toward Mutual Respect and TolerationAppendicesAppendix I: Glossary of Portuguese Santo Daime TermsAppendix II: Liturgical Calendar of Santo DaimeAppendix III: Master List of Sacred Plants (Europewide Sample)Appendix IV: Master List of Great Spiritual Teachers (Belgian Sample)Appendix V: Master List of Great Spiritual Teachers (Europewide Sample)Appendix VI: Triad Test Results and StatisticsNotesBibliographyIndex