Description
Book SynopsisThe Santo Daime is a syncretic religion whose spiritual practice is based around the sacramental use of ayahuasca. G. William Barnard—an initiate of the religion and a scholar of religious studies—considers the religious practice and transformative inner experiences of the Santo Daime community.
Trade ReviewLiquid Light is a monumental achievement, a unique synthesis of psychedelic experience and critical scholarship. Writing as a philosopher, historian, psychologist, and
daimista, Barnard takes us deep into the Santo Daime community and its sacramental use ayahuasca. His descriptions of ayahuasca initiation are penetrating, searingly honest, breathtakingly beautiful, and told with self-deprecating humor.
Liquid Light is an absolute gem of a book and a milestone in the emerging field of psychedelic philosophy. -- Christopher Bache, author of
LSD and the Mind of the Universe: Diamonds from HeavenLiquid Light is a magical mystery tour of Barnard's immersion into the Santo Daime Church. As a professor of religious studies, his journey is set within the sophisticated context of William James and Henri Bergson. It's a wild ride on many levels and an important contribution to our understanding of what it means to be a modern mystic. -- Rachel Harris, author of
Listening to Ayahuasca: New Hope for Depression, Addiction, PTSD, and AnxietyLiquid Light is a spiritual-intellectual memoir that moves back and forth between two voices or genres: that of the believing (if often struggling to believe) participant in the religion of Santo Daime and that of the more detached scholar of religion. In his doubled spirit, Barnard answers objections to and criticisms of visionary experience, psychedelic revelation, and the often quite striking experience of mediumship. By so doing, he makes a most welcome and original contribution to the growing literature on Santo Daime and its central sacrament, commonly known as ayahuasca. -- Jeffrey J. Kripal, author of
The Superhumanities: Historical Precedents, Moral Objections, New RealitiesIn this book, Barnard describes, in a highly personal and vivid manner, some of the experiences he has been having during the over fifteen years that he has been taking Daime (the name given by the Santo Daime tradition to ayahuasca). The result is a rather unusual blend of rigorous academic thought and vivid descriptions of his own personal spiritual experiences, written in a highly readable style that makes the book difficult to put down. -- Edward MacRae, coeditor of
Ayahuasca, Ritual, and Religion in BrazilTable of ContentsAcknowledgments
Introduction
1. First Encounter with the Daime
2. Initial Philosophical Reflections
3. Next Steps on the Path
4. Céu do Mapiá—Beginnings
5. Feitio—the Ritual of Making the Daime
6. Early Works in Céu do Mapiá
7. Mirações—Visionary/Mystical Experiences in the Santo Daime
8. Mediumship in the Santo Daime
9. The Holy House in Céu do Mapiá—Rosary Works
10. Final Days in Céu do Mapiá
11. Ending on a High Note
Notes
Bibliography
Index
