UNIVERSIDADE FEDERAL DO RIO GRANDE DO SUL (UFRGS) Programa de Pós-Graduação em Antropologia Social (PPGAS) VRIJE UNIVERSITEIT AMSTERDAM (VU) Department of Social and Cultural Anthropology JOINT PhD / CAPES-NUFFIC Agreement RELIGIOUS BUTINAGE AS THE FLIGHT OF THE HUMMINGBIRD: RETHINKING SYNCRETISM FROM BRAZIL Doctoral Thesis Jéssica Greganich Supervisors: Dr. Ari Pedro Oro (UFRGS) Dr. Thijl Sunier (VU) Co-supervisor: Dr. Marjo de Theije (VU) Porto Alegre, 20 February 2016 PAGE 1 ABSTRACT This thesis develops the concept of religious butinage in order to understand what form of religious mobility and pluralization occur in Brazil, especially in the mediumistic field, since so far the explanations for syncretism do not satisfactorily explain as it occurs. By examining how religious practitioners practice throughout history and culture I identify some kind of experience that escapes the established structure, tradition and culture. It clarifies the syncretic processes. Data have been collected from participant observation, interviews, newspapers, and biographies. I build up the concept of religious butinage by a metaphor from ayahuasca religions. The religious practitioner compared with a hummingbird makes butinage from a religious denomination to another producing syncretism. This doctoral thesis is in some way a continuation of my master's thesis entitled: “Between the rose and the hummingbird: An anthropological study of trajectories in the União do Vegetal (UDV) and the Santo Daime”. Key-words: religious butinage, syncretism, religious pluralism. RESUMO Esta tese desenvolve o conceito de butinagem religiosa, a fim de entender como a mobilidade religiosa e a pluralização ocorrem no Brasil, especialmente no campo mediúnico já que até agora as explicações para o sincretismo não explicam satisfatoriamente como isso ocorre. Examinando como praticantes religiosos praticarm ao longo da história e da cultura eu identifico um tipo de experiência que escapa à estrutura estabelecida, tradição e cultura. Isso esclarece os processos sincréticos. Os dados foram coletados a partir de observação participante, entrevistas, jornais e biografias. Eu construo o conceito de butinagem religiosa a partir de uma metáfora das religiões ayahuasqueiras. O praticante religioso comparado a um beija-flor butina de uma denominação religiosa a outra produzindo sincretismo. Esta tese de doutorado é de alguma forma uma continuação da minha tese de mestrado intitulada "Entre a rosa e o beija-flor: um estudo antropológico de trajetórias na União do Vegetal (UDV) e no Santo Daime". Palavras-chave: butinagem religiosa, sincretismo, pluralism religioso. PAGE 2 CONTENTS INTRODUCTION: THE BRAZILIAN RELIGIOUS LANSCAPE 6 Historical background 8 Brazilian religious pluralism and syncretism 12 Chico Xavier’s story 18 The syncretism of Chico Xavier and the Brazilian culture and society 26 Research questions 29 Research methodology 32 Organization of the thesis 37 CHAPTER 1: SYNCRETISM AND RELATED ISSUES 39 Afro-Brazilian religions 40 A theoretical review on religious syncretism and adjacent concepts 46 A new religious ritual 59 Perspectives 63 CHAPTER 2: SYNCRETISM AND RELIGIOUS BUTINAGE 73 Syncretic work 64 Religious bricolage 75 Religious butinage 79 PAGE 3 Concluding the concept of religious butinage 94 Augastes Lirio’s story 100 Final considerations 107 CHAPTER 3: THE RELIGIOUS TRAJECTORY OF MARISA 109 Marisa’s story 109 Discussion 139 CHAPTER 4: UMBANDAIME: THE NEW BRAZILIAN RELIGIOUS COSMOLOGY 146 Umbanda 147 Santo Daime 148 Umbandaime 152 Discussion 155 Umbandaime in Southern Brazil 159 CHAPTER 5: THE SANTO DAIME AND UNIÃO DO VEGETAL BETWEEN BRAZIL AND SPAIN 175 The União do Vegetal (UDV) in Brazil 176 The Santo Daime (SD) in Brazil 186 Structure and agency in Santo Daime and União do Vegetal 190 The insertion of Santo Daime and União do Vegetal in Spain 194 The União do Vegetal and Santo Daime between Brazil and Spain 200 PAGE 4 Discussion 207 CONCLUSION 211 REFERENCES 221 PAGE 5 INTRODUCTION THE BRAZILIAN RELIGIOUS LANDSCAPE The aim of this thesis is to build up a concept as a model for the study of religious pluralism and syncretism; an interconnected phenomenon existing in a plural society such as Brazil. Religious pluralism, meaning the coexistence and practice of diverse religious groups in one society; and their syncretic processes, which regard the absorption of influences from one system of belief to another. Like Droogers (1989) says, if overlaps and similarities between religions do exist, however surprisingly, and at the popular level especially, then syncretism becomes an essential part of religious pluralism. To some researchers, syncretism, refers to the mixing of different religious traditions whether as an active, ongoing process or as a historical fact. In the present era of displacement, migration and generally increasing "cultural compression", syncretism is very much a current event. But syncretism does not just happen because religions have similarities and cross over into one another. It occurs in social conditions characterized by unequal power and it is sometimes directed by the interests and agencies of prominent individuals. (Stewart et al, 1994) Pierre Sanchis (2001: 47) states that the “syncretism is part of archaic traditions and at the same time, of emergencies of current time”. The “syncretism is diverse and conclusions can be mediocre”, that being, consequently more productive to search for a structure. Syncretism is commonly understood by junction, union, confluence, mixture, agglutination, association, symbiosis, amalgam, parallelism, correspondence, equivalence, juxtaposition or convergences, accommodation and synthesis. (Sanchis, 1994) "Structure in this context does not refer to a system," but the principle of framing a system. According to Levi-Strauss (1976: 115), it is "a force that always tends to organize PAGE 6 all the elements that history puts at its disposal in the same direction ". In this line of thought, structure is a trend, it implies orientation and not a fixed content, it is a process, or rather the direction of a process; and culture, as a framework. It is the fact that any human group whatsoever "tends" to organize the elements in the same direction at its own disposal. (Sanchis, 2008). I do believe syncretism happens not only because religions have similarities, and in social conditions are characterized by unequal power oriented by a structure and framed by the culture. I suggest that the social science explanation of religious pluralism and syncretism should not concentrate more on the religious beliefs and rituals, but from the perspective of the individuals, how the religious practitioners practice throughout history and culture, in which something breaks with the structure and the culture. In order to define my argument I will expose the life story of the famous Brazilian medium1 Chico Xavier2 (April 2, 1910 – June 30, 2002) in this introduction. This story is based on the biography titled “As Vidas de Chico Xavier” (The lives of Chico Xavier), by the Brazilian journalist Marcel Souto Maior (1994), and the best analysis made by the Brazilian anthropologist Bernardo Lewgoy (2001) so far. This will serve as my illustration to argue that attitudes towards religious pluralism and syncretism are not only influenced by a syntheses of the views of believers, power or shaped by the culture and structure. 1 Medium is one who is able to act as a connection between this physical world and the world of the afterlife, to facilitate messages between the living and the dead. (Buckland, 2005: 249) 2 Francisco Cândido Xavier popularly known as "Chico Xavier" was a popular philanthropist and medium. He was born in the small town of Pedro Leopoldo in the state of Minas Gerais, Brazil. He was automatic writer in the Spiritist movement. Automatic writing is an alleged psychic ability allowing a person to produce written words without consciously writing. The words are claimed to arise from a subconscious, spiritual or supernatural source. Brazilian Spiritists make a clear distinction between “escrita automatic”, automatic writing which may or may not come from the unconscious mind, and what they call “Psicografia”, which is the writing of a separate spirit entity. Chico said, “I have reached a state of certainty, an intimate certainty that is naturally personal and nontransferable, that if I were to say these books belonged to me, I would be committing a fraud for which I would have to answer in a very serious way after I left this world.” Chico was the second most prolific writer in the Portuguese language, after Coelho Neto. Yet his formal education had only reached the primary level and he had, for most of his life, suffered from defective eyesight precluding him from further study. (Buckland, 2005: 439) Chico Xavier is the main reference of Spiritism in Brazil. PAGE 7 In this regard, I will start this introductory chapter providing a Brazilian religious historical background. In the second section I will show the way of the Brazilian religious pluralism, what is specific about Brazil. The third section will be devoted to the case of medium Chico Xavier leading to my research questions. Then I will finalize with my research methodology and how the thesis is organized from the concept called religious butinage. Historical Background “One may call Brazil a laboratory for religious studies, as almost all of the world’s religions are represented in the country.” (Droogers, 2006a: 32). Brazil3 adopted Catholicism as