204 D The Secret Liji of Nature
out the Daime at this time in history because humanlund has destroyed
a large part of the forest and threatens to destroy the rest. According to
Brazilian writer Alex Polari de Alverga, a principal leader of Santo
Daime Doctrine, its followers believe the Daime to be both an ally that
can guide people to the light and truth and a teacher that can provide
new guidelines for relating to nature.
In an interview with Polari, the American writer and photographer
Gary Dale Richman, who has lived in Brazil for almost twenty years,
has shot many hours of film in the rainforest, and has authored a book
on the Daime, reports that this small but articulate group of Brazilians
believes the best solutions for saving the rainforest may "lie within the
magic of her strongest medicine and purest essence-Santo Daime."
By championing ways of living in harmony with the rainforest and
encouraging an appreciation for the ecological and ethnobotanical
knowledge of the Amazon's ancient shamanic traditions, the Santo
Daime Doctrine, says Polari, may help preserve both the rainforest and
her inhabitants.
In these times when drug abuse has become rampant in most soci-
eties, undermining community morals, ethics, and health, the Santo
Daime Doctrine, says Alex Polari, also offers a message that certain nat-
ural sacraments or psychoactive substances-when properly used, as in
the shamanic traditions-are not only nontoxic and nonaddictive, un-
like tobacco, liquor, and crack, but also encourage high moral standards
and help addicts end their dependence on drugs.