Glossary

Santo Daime

A Brazilian syncretic religious tradition founded in the 1930s that uses ayahuasca (called Daime) as a sacrament within a framework blending indigenous Amazonian tradition with Christianity and Spiritism.

Santo Daime is a Brazilian syncretic religious tradition founded in 1930 in the Amazonian state of Acre by Raimundo Irineu Serra, known within the tradition as Mestre Irineu. It blends elements of Indigenous Amazonian plant-sacrament practice with Christianity, Spiritism, and other influences, and uses ayahuasca — known within the tradition as Daime — as its central sacrament.

Santo Daime has since spread internationally and, alongside União do Vegetal, has played a significant role in the broader legal and cultural history of ayahuasca as a protected religious sacrament. Santo Daime is a distinct religious tradition with its own lineage, doctrine, and leadership; ECC is a separate organization, follows the Shipibo curanderismo tradition, and is not affiliated with Santo Daime.