Opening the Portals of Heaven: Brazilian Ayahuasca Music by Beatriz Caiuby Labate and Gustavo Pacheco examines the use of music in the religious contexts of the UDV church and the Santo Daime, which highlights the designation of ayahuasca as an immaterial cultural heritage of the Brazilian nation. The book explores the key role that music plays in the everyday life of these religions, in the production of religious meanings, and in the construction of the bodies and the subjectivity of adepts.
Publisher Summary
“The book provides a concise summary of the use of music in the Santo Daime and UDV religions. Embracing the phenomenology of musical practice in broad terms, summarizing its history and treating long-awaited questions, the book touches upon crucial points regarding the power and efficacy of musical performance in religious frameworks, thus pointing towards fruitful future research in that area. It assists in understanding the relation between music and religion in broader terms, and the way that we become spiritual beings through poetry, rhythm, and melody, and communicate with realities other than the immediate.”