208 D The Secret Lqe fe Nature
congregation in a recital of the Lord's Prayer in Portuguese, followed
by an Ave Maria. Only the words are subtly different. Then the
Brazilian woman intones a hymn to the Daime, singing loudly in a
high rasping but not unpleasant voice as everyone joins in to the
rhythm of mariachis and a drum.
The Daime is the Daime,
I affirm it.
He is the Divine Eternal Father
She the Sovereign Queen.
The Daime is the Daime
Teacher of all Teachers,
The Divine Eternal Father
Of all eternal beings.Each couplet is repeated with increasing gusto, the melody carried
by two guitars, and a hypnotic effect is created by mariachis and drum-
ming, until at last comes the time for action.All turn toward the altar,
forming five long lines'of men and five of women. As one by one we
approach the Brazilians, they pour out jiggers of Santo Daimedark
like tea but with more consistency-into small plastic cups. I watch
those ahead of me stoically drink it down in two or three gulps.
Approaching the altar, all dressed in white, as if for tennis, I am re-
minded of my first communion, aged nine, the main difference being
that my devotion then has turned to slight anxiety now.Am I becom-
ing involved in a ritual of the devil? Are these shamans Luciferic? Or
were the priests of my childhood devils? I seem to be sensing the fore-
taste of a nightmare I might be about to suffer under yaje, that ever-
excruciating search for truth.
I drink my potion in three gulps; it tastes like Fernet Branca, only
more astringent.
The effects of the Daime are supposed to be felt within minutes of
taking the first dose and to last an average of two hours. Subsequent
doses renew the effects with the same or greater intensity.