Dear CHLQ,

I am writing to you all to give my perspective about the meaning of festival, my understanding of what it means to be a Fardado, how we present ourselves to the Daime, and my question to everyone is: What was your pledge to the doctrine of the Daime when you took your star?

The material commitment that we make as fardados is to come to official works, to drink Daime twice a month and to support our local church. I take my pledge to be a part of the Daime very seriously. I have been drinking daime since 1989 and have been a fardada since 1994. I come to works ready to present myself to the beings of the Daime, to learn my lessons, to transform myself, and to meet my responsibilities. I have looked deeply at myself and have continued to show up no matter how difficult it might have been. The Daime is my path and my medicine. It took me five years to decide to become an initiate because I knew the seriousness of this oath and I knew that I was making a lifelong pledge to meet the responsibilities with my whole self.  

I understood that I was going to adjust my life to the Daime, and not expect the Daime to adjust to me. I committed to the spiritual path of the Santo Daime and it has given me a life filled with beauties and understandings, the necessity to examine and change my opinions, a place to ask my questions and receive answers that have opened paths of learning. I am deeply grateful for saying yes to this path of knowledge and light.

How are all of you saying yes to the Santo Daime? Do you arrange your life to meet your commitments? Do you come to present yourself with an open heart and open mind? Do you offer yourself to help the work as needed? Are you happy to dance or sit in any line? Is your farda clean and pressed? Do you study the hymns? Do you practice playing the maraca in front of your heart? Do you love the Daime path? What does commitment mean to you? 

Festival is a time when we honor the founders of our doctrine and the Padrinhos and Madrinhas who are holding our spiritual path. It is a special time. We do more works and immerse ourselves in the doctrine so we can make our petitions and receive our paths of healing. We dance for hours to reach harmony and we sing for hours to link ourselves to our brothers and sisters and to the golden library of hymns in the astral. We sing the confession once in the summer festival, twice in the winter festival. All fardados should mark these works on the calendar because they are special, central works to the doctrine; this is why we do them on the day designated.

Festival is hard. It is also magnificent and when we are all together effortlessly in the movement of the current, we enter into moments of true bliss and openheartedness. Those moments carry us through all of the difficult times if we remember.

We opened festival with only 10 women; that is just enough to have a front line and a guardian. Pretty slim pickings. We started Padrinho Alfredo's Hinario at 91 and went through to 160, sitting. We then decided to dance Nova Era because we were opening festival, a time to celebrate the doctrine of the Santo Daime and a time to honor the founders, the elders of our path, and the Padrinhos and Madrinhas who inspire and guide us. It was hard; too few women, not very many men. It was actually incredible that the women’s side did amazingly with so few of us there. 

I was wondering then why people did not come. And, I am still not clear on why it was not a priority for those initiates who decided not to open Festival on June 10.

So - I am asking everyone to answer these questions within themselves.  And, I am asking you to come to São João. I am asking you to make this most important work of the summer festival your priority.

Thanks,
Jane