The Role of Sacramental Plants in Sustainable Communities in the Western Amazon


Google Tech Talk January 14, 2010 ABSTRACT Presented by Paulo Roberto Silva e Souza. The Amazon rainforest is an ancient and highly diverse ecosystem that provides essential benefits for our entire planet and everything that lives on it, breathes air and depends on water. This ecosystem is being destroyed and its existence is being threatened by unthinking greed in the form of cattle ranchers, the agriculture industry, logging, and the infrastructure required for these encroachments. The talk tells the stories of three communities living in the forest in sustainable ways as stewards with respect and emerging understanding of natures principles using the spiritual teachings transmitted through the use of sacramental plants: the Yawanawa tribe and the Santo Daime communities in Ceu do Mapia and Ceu do Mar. The common thread through the talk is the necessity for the social expansion of environmental consciousness and the ways that this can be facilitated in the minds and hearts of people living in the style of the Western World with its focus on acquisition and domination. Paulo Roberto Silva e Souza received his degree in psychology from the University Gama Filho in Rio de Janeiro and began his professional carrier as a psychologist at the Pinel Hospital Suicide Prevention Center and the Ana Freud Clinic and Health Center Saint Romain in Rio de Janeiro. In 1976 he had first experiences with Santo Daime in Amazonia and was initiated by Padrinho Sebastiao. In 1982 he founded

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25 Responses to The Role of Sacramental Plants in Sustainable Communities in the Western Amazon

  1. AlexPS92 says:

    im good old british :)

  2. freqazoidiac says:

    @cdbaby1001 Entheogens do apply, but the subtitles are correct in a broader sense to encapsulate the topic. .. hey if you are going to critique, then you should at least know how to spell ENTHEOGENS ..there is no “W” in the word. Also, “R” is not a word, but a letter. Get with it Twitter brain.

  3. freqazoidiac says:

    @AlexPS92 if it’s not a 1st player shooter or a huge 2 Liter bottle of Pop or online poker, then for most North Americans, this would be a total bore. For the 1% of intelligent people out there, it’s a fantastic presentation that touches at the roots of our culture called humanity.

  4. andrew12awesome says:

    My friend told me to search “black guy dies in terrible explosion” and somehow this video came up…

  5. AlexPS92 says:

    @empbac lmfao alright gay!

  6. yakkahDotCom says:

    I love watching this kind of videos

  7. empbac says:

    @AlexPS92

    Oh really? Try eating the plants he’s talking about and tell me it’s boring. You can have the best ride of your life without leaving your bed.

  8. AlexPS92 says:

    @empbac you geek, this is about as exciting as watching paint dry…..lol

  9. rgn1002 says:

    Viva Padrinho Roberto! Viva Madrinha Nonata! Viva Ceu Do Mar!

  10. cdbaby1001 says:

    dont u mean ewtheogens, i think the subtitles r wrong

  11. inspirepay says:

    Thank you Padrinho! Awesome lecture.

  12. Bigum99 says:

    Too bad the native culture is being wiped out as we speak…the Brazil claims they are just going what the Norte Americans did in the 1700-1800′s here in the USA.
    I belonged to the Rainforest Action Network for 30 years and the burn continues unabated. They make announcements of “new” reserves being protected, that allows other lands to be developed.

  13. LeoBuddah says:

    AT HE BEGINING WHEN HE WAS ATTEMPTIN TO EXPLAIN THAT USING CONVENTIONAL WESTERN SCIENCE METHODS OF LOOKIN AT PSYCADELIX, THAT WE WOULD ONLY REFUSE IT. sIMPLY DO TO THE FACT THAT IT HAS THE POTENTIAL TO CAUSE AN ABNORMAL MENTAL DISORDER. NONE THE LESS, YES ..-PSYCADELIX ARE..GOOD!..NOW AS A, “INTELEGENTE” SCIENTIST WOULD ..HE/SHE’D TAKE INTO CONSIDERATION HIS/HER WELL-BEING..THUS CONTROLING THE EXPERIMENT(KEEPING POINT-DEXTER SAFE FROM ANY HARM)..ULTIMATELY CREATING SMETHNG “SAFE”.-TO USE.

  14. TheOmira says:

    @soulsurferjeweet
    the website is ceudomar@org

  15. soulsurferjeweet says:

    If anyone has his email address, I would like to ask him something about his projects for eco-tourism. If anyone can PM it to me, great, thanks! :)

  16. trnobles says:

    its too bad he talked so much about sacramental plants; although its a fascinating subject, unfortunately it usually just distracts people into the old debate of whether psychedelics are good or bad.
    this talk was more about the plight of native peoples in south america and their efforts to reclaim their land. if he had focused more on this subject the talk would have been more effective

  17. teleomorph says:

    Excellent presentation. The importance and significance of these issues can’t be stressed enough.

  18. empbac says:

    WTF are you talking about? “medically” isn’t a noun. And what do you know about pharmacology? Apparently not much. Stop projecting your biases onto subjects you don’t comprehend. And Christianity is a drug; it’s an escape from reality. Ever heard the phrase, “Religion is the opiate of the masses”? I used to be Christian. I’d rather take mescaline than believe in absurd fairy tales any day.

    Who am I “giv[ing] the object to”? I don’t see myself as a witch doctor. What’s wrong with you? Oh yeah.

  19. Semnyi says:

    you would take these things without looking at the medically? religion is about other life, not trying to obtain some objhect for yourself. If you look at the Sacramental offering of Bread and Whine in Christianity, it is a symbolic offering. It is not about eating the bread, it is about eating the body of Jeasus. Why, i can explain, it is your ego attached to becoming the neighbourhood witch doctor. You are no just harming yourself, you are harming the people you give the object to.

  20. Fleischbanane says:

    He sounds like a german…

  21. empbac says:

    You can’t even spell yet you’re telling me I’m damaging my mind? Wow.

    What would you presume is pharmacologically safer: alcohol or psychedelics? Explain why.

  22. Semnyi says:

    @empbac
    … fear it.

    You might just get a look at your own mind to see the damage you are doing to it. Rosponcibly would mean extreme moderate. Zero is a good dosege to start with. What is the next smallest ammount after zero?

  23. empbac says:

    Don’t knock it… This isn’t just spirituality, this is taking substances that alter your perception of reality. This IS exciting.

    I’m an atheist yet still support the taking of these substances responsibly. I don’t think there is a god, but I do think these agents illuminate parts of the mind that are otherwise dormant. There’s a lot you can learn about yourself by taking them the way the natives do. I hope to see legalization and support of psychedelic research in the US, but… We’re scared.

  24. luiza2166 says:

    @empbac In Brazil natives are given huge stretches of land, about as big as Holland (the country) for them to carry on with their traditional way of life (basically hunting, fishing and gathering). However many tribes allow companies to take their trees and minerals and destroy their habitat.

  25. anthonzi says:

    Woo spirituality…sounds exciting! /sarcasm

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