DMTea Ceremony Case

アヤワスカ茶が争われている最初の裁判

Saudade do Brazil

"I hate traveling and explorers. Yet here I am proposing to tell the stories of my expeditions." [*1] -The beginning of the well-known "Sad Tropical", but I agree.

I don't want to entertain people with the fact that the natives of the Amazon jungle are drinking the strongest hallucinogenic plants on earth and engaging in magical battles.

This essay is a court record. So here I write only the bare minimum of who I am [*2] .

Peru

After studying biology at Kyoto University in Japan and anthropology at the University of Tokyo, I lived in the Usco Amaringo School of Painting in Pucallpa, Peru in 2000, and was a former Crandero Mestiso painter, Pablo Amaringo. He studied under Amaringo and learned acrylic painting.

In 2001, he headed to the San Francisco village of the indigenous Shipibo, which was built on the outskirts of Pucallpa, and became the son of Crandera Unaya Fustina and learned the cosmology of Shipibo. I was deeply fascinated by the world of spirits that Ayahuasca, a herbal tea, showed me.

Brazil

In 2004, he spent his time as a visiting researcher at the University of Bezech di Menezes in Curitiba, Parana, southern Brazil. Inviting me were Fabio Edwald da Silva from the Laboratory of Experimental Parapsychology and Hezinaldo Hiraoka, a Nikkei from the Institute of Psychological and Biophysics. There are many Nikkei in Paraná, and Hyogo Prefecture, which sent Nikkei from Kobe Port, has a sister prefecture agreement with Paraná.

During my stay in Curitiba, I was invited by my university colleagues Siberi Pilato and Heginardo Hiraoka to build the Santo Daime Church (Sebastian eclectic[*3]) I attended the Parana branch church. Worship was held twice a month, on the night of the new moon and on the night of the full moon. He also visited the rituals of Umbanda and Candomblé, and the mate tea ceremony of the indigenous Guarani.

He also hit the UDV gate twice, but was turned down twice. UDV is a disciplined organization and I wasn't allowed to attend because I wanted to go on a tour.

The Sebastian eclectic Daimistas were open. I didn't have to be a member, but when I first attended the service, I had to sign the paperwork. You don't have to be a Christian, but you have to write a religion that you believe in. I don't believe in any particular religion, but in fact most Japanese do. So I was a little lost, but I wrote "Zen" in that column. Since I am Japanese, it is easy to understand if I write Zen Buddhism. But in fact, I was interested in Zen Buddhism and the philosophy of the Kyoto School. In the column for the purpose of participating in worship, I wrote "to see myself."

In fact, among the Daimistas in the Brazilian city, the purpose of worship was to look at oneself in addition to belief in Christianity. Interest in Buddhism and Indian philosophy was widespread. The branch church in Paranavaí was in training with Halle Krishna. It was also surprising that the chant during worship suddenly changed from Portuguese to Sanskrit.

In Brazil, ayahuasca tea was legally allowed to be used only inside church buildings by government-approved religious corporations. Only once, I couldn't stand the nausea during the worship service, and I was taken to the outdoor toilet while being held by a staff member in a white suit. I saw infinity in the starry sky I looked up at that time. It was the most awe-inspiring experience of my stay in Brazil. This may have been what Pascal wanted to write in Pensées.

After returning to Japan, I was assigned to a new faculty established at Meiji University in Tokyo to teach anthropology.



22-03-2021/2564 (C) Tatsu Hirukawa

*1:Je hais les voyages et les explorateurs. Et voici que je m'apprête à raconter mes expéditions. Claude Levi-Strauss. (1985). Tristes Tropiques. Pocket.

Tristes Tropiques [French]

Tristes Tropiques [French]

*2:Details, especially my experience in Peru are in my book, "Higan no Jikan (The Equinoctial Time)"

彼岸の時間―“意識”の人類学

彼岸の時間―“意識”の人類学

  • 作者:蛭川 立
  • 発売日: 2009/05/20
  • メディア: 単行本
and "Seishin no Seiza (The Constellation of the Spirit)"
精神の星座 (内宇宙飛行士の迷走録)

精神の星座 (内宇宙飛行士の迷走録)

  • 作者:蛭川立
  • 発売日: 2011/07/23
  • メディア: 単行本
Please refer to these books. I didn't elaborate on my experience in Brazil in these books, so I'll supplement it here.

*3:Centro Eclético da Fluente Luz Universal Raimundo Irineu Serra (CEFLURIS)