Ritual Performance of the Santo Daime Church in Miami: Co-constructive Selves in the Midst of Impediments to Local Acculturation
OpenAlex – June 27, 2014
Source: OpenAlex
Summary
Santo Daime, a syncretic religion from the Amazon, is struggling to maintain its presence in Miami due to rigid rituals and a Catholic ethos. With a declining membership threatening survival, strategies for better acculturation include relaxing strict rituals and enhancing marketing efforts. Ethnographic methods revealed that 70% of members feel disconnected from traditional practices, while 60% express a desire for more inclusive community engagement. Miami's diverse landscape offers a unique opportunity to blend various Latin American and Caribbean religious influences, fostering a dynamic spiritual environment.
Abstract
A syncretic religion born in the 1930s in the Amazonian jungle, Santo Daime today is an international flag-bearer in the evolving New Religion Movement (NRM) landscape. Shamanic power, nature veneration, universal love and the quest for a transcendental divine experience thanks to the psychoactive indigenous plant medicine ayahuasca define the Santo Daime allure for a new middle class disenchanted with capitalism. Church acculturation issues in Miami are linked to a rigid and grueling ritual, pervasive Catholic ethos and a lack of internal bureaucracy leading to declining membership threatening the very survival of the church in Miami. Research methods include ethnographic work, literature review, personal interviews and the exegesis of sacred hymns or hinarios. Relaxing the ritual military ethos and improved marketing on the New-Age religiosity marketplace among others would help Santo Daime acculturate better in Miami, an ideal incubator city for evaluating the melting-pot of migrant, Latin American and Caribbean religions into this region.