ICEFLU letter to the Chacruna Institute for Psychedelic Plant Medicines
The ICEFLU-Igreja do Culto Eclético da Fluente Luz Universal has Padrinho Sebastião Mota de Melo as its patron and founder. Our institution has just completed fifty years of existence. During that time, it has made an important and solid contribution to the consolidation and expansion of the ayahuasca movement worldwide.
This has been the case since the police persecutions in Rio Branco in the 1970s when the padrinho Sebastião was the only leader to keep Santo Daime on his desk. In Rio do Ouro in 1982, he also received praise from Colonel Guarino, head of the first study commission that paved the way for the fight to legalize the sacramental drink in our country, at the height of the military dictatorship.
He was also present at the visits of the GT/Ayahuasca of the CONFEN-Federal Council on Narcotics to Céu do Mapiá in 1986, which suspended the 1985 ban by DIMED, now ANVISA. And finally, heirs to his legacy, it was also we at the ICEFLU who played an equally important role in 2006/2007 in the definitive regulation of our sacrament by the GMT/ CONAD, through the publication of the “Deontological Principles of the Religious Use of Ayahuasca.”
Throughout everything that follows, we have always maintained a respectful dialogue with all government authorities, seeking to overcome the challenges of our expansion and evolve our institutional and organizational practices. In short, we can say that the image of Padrinho Sebastião and the ICEFLU should be recognized and respected, as they are a fundamental pillar in the healthy dissemination of this Amazonian spiritual tradition throughout the world. To attest to this, one can see how our Doctrine is practiced in all our branches in different parts of the world, where they are regularized and/or consented to.
multidisciplinary expedition to study Santo Daime, Rio do Ouro, 1982 (CEDOC Collection)
However, we often see our name and that of our elders involved in sensationalist stories, without these being based on serious scientific research and proof of the facts reported, which characterizes a form of prejudiced, stereotyped, media-savvy journalism that seeks only to have repercussions on social networks.
This becomes clear, to cite a few concrete cases, when we see the insistence on linking the ICEFLU and the figure of our elders in the recent cases involving Mr. Paulo Roberto, Mr. Maurílo Reis, Mr. Gê Marques, and others mentioned, who have not had any institutional link with our organization for decades.
We have stated in our official notes and responses that we vehemently repudiate any form of spiritual, ethical, and criminal transgression, wherever it comes from. We have also tried to evolve in terms of listening to and receiving complaints that occur within our jurisdiction. To this end, there is a working group of women, as well as male leaders, who are committed to tackling all these issues that the times bring.
participation of representatives of the main traditions, the Government and Academia,
Rio Branco, 2006. (Alex Polari/CEDOC Collection).
Likewise, we vehemently repudiate the slanderous accusation that we use cocaine and other hard drugs in our work, published by Mr. Jules Evans, based on false information and frivolous illusions from the sources consulted for these articles.
In the same way, we repudiate any form of malice or irresponsibility in the training and guidance we give our children and young people, based as we are on the irreproachable Resolution of CONAD’s Technical Advisory Chamber of 2004, which guarantees us the right to bequeath our culture and spiritual tradition to our sons and daughters, as long as we respect family power, through the express authorization of both parents. By the way, a law we are very proud of and which should be an example for the whole world to follow.
Given the above, we are grateful for the space given to us by the Instituto Chacruna website to position ourselves clearly in the face of this type of accusation, which aims to portray us as a “sect” or “cult,” manipulating consciences and involved in criminal conduct. By acting in this way, this type of journalism adheres to the fake news so in vogue on social networks, providing stereotypes for conservative sectors and governments to feed on their prejudices and arguments to base legal setbacks, responsible for stigmatizing us, in a clear invasion of our rights to religious freedom.
ICEFLU Executive Secretariat
ICEFLU Legal Department
Art by Mulinga.
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