União do Vegetal

If the days are so noisy that our confusions get loud to the point of losing our balance… this is the place that holds the silence: an opportunity to listen to what’s inside and see the light within each and everyone of us.

One of Ayahuasca’s branches of religious ingestion, the União do Vegetal was created in 1961 by a man from Bahia state who had moved to the north decades earlier to work in rubber farms: José Gabriel da Costa was introduced to Hoasca Tea on the Bolivian margins of the country. That was when it occurred to him that the Vegetable – that’s how he named the liquid prepared from Chacrona (Psicotria viridis) leaves and Mariri (Banisteriopsis caapi) vines should be shared so more people could reach peace.

“Firstly, there’s God

Then you must be patient with people.”

Master at Templo da Ordem Universal de Salomão

Master Gabriel was born in 1922, in the hinterlands of Bahia state, close to the city of Feira de Santana. And it was in that region that he first incorporated the entity that would spend a lifetime by his side; the wise and simple man admired by so many people had been considered special and enlightened since his childhood, and was embraced and made a part of Umbanda from an early age. He was the Sultão das Matas himself, he knew the plants and remedies made from the forest’s wisdom. From the northeast to the north, he built a path marked by respect and charisma: he healed bodies and cared for people, and he continues to spread joy and peace.

“Ayahuasca is self-knowledge.”

Master at Temple da Ordem Universal de Salomão

During the Christian and spiritualistic practices founded by Master Gabriel, Ayahusca is included as an aid to reaching mental focus. The ritual at Templo da Ordem Universal de Salomão consists mainly on meditation.

“We have been fighting for decades

to provide the Vegetable for the people

and care for those who need it.”

Master at Templo da Ordem Universal de Salomão

At the Ordem, where the space is divided between a Temple and a therapeutic community called Caminho de Luz, the vast majority of devotees come in with the purpose of curing some sort of addiction: they see in União do Vegetal a possibility for hope and for reshaping their history.

Along with other infusions made from the forest’s herbs and plants, Ayahuasca is administered every other Saturday or at healing sessions to those believers who slowly but surely reconnect with their essence and show signs of independence and recovery: the thing with the rubber plant, as Ayahuasca is known for its impact, is that it’s really strong!

“When you recover someone,

you recover a whole family.”

Master at Templo da Ordem Universal de Salomão

A force that has been growing and is continuously shared with more and more people: it is the most widely practiced religion using Ayahuasca, as far as the number of practitioners is concerned. It sprouted on the grounds of a rubber farm and now blooms in villages and large urban areas; it is in any place where people allow themselves to be touched by simplicity. There are over eighteen thousand partners in countries such as the USA, Spain, Switzerland, the Netherlands, Australia, Italy, and Peru. Many stories held together by the same sacred vine from Amazonian lands: it’s when nature reminds us that we are all the same, one thing.