Sacred music and dance are fundamental to the Santo Daime religion. The earliest hymns are those of the founder, Raimundo Irineu Serra - 'Mestre Irineu'. While the rituals and music originated with a very few hymns, sung by a small group in the Brazilian Amazon, the practice of these spiritual works in diverse parts of the world since it began expansion around the beginning of the 1990s has given rise to a significant body of music, in many languages. Daimistas from Brazil and other countries have contributed to this growing genre, while continuing to sing the principle hinarios in Portuguese.
Among adherents to the doctrine, songs tend to be referred to as 'received' from a spiritual source rather than written from the writers mind alone and confirmed by their use in ritual. Variously these hymns may be viewed as 'calling' energies or divine entities, as transmitting sacred doctrine, as bringing healing through the act of singing what the community is affirming are eternal truths. In the spiritual works and communities of Santo Daime, the hymns are a bond of shared understanding and a daily practice. New hymns are often introduced in ceremony by those who receive them, by the leader's invitation.
A Santo Daime hinário (Portuguese) or hymn-book (hinario), can be a life work of its owner, chronicling that person's spiritual journey. During a ritual, one or several hinários or compilations may be sung in their entirety. While they are sung outside of the rituals in ensaio (practice) and listened to in various settings, the real distinction of is genre is that it is intended to be sung in ritual, by a group going into what is understood to be spiritual work of transformation. The hymns can be seen as integral to the ritual, the transformation, and the revealed messages as each person understands them. Hinarios that are central to the doctrine may be sung once or several times per year, and practiced many times more.
Calendar of official hinarios
Mestre Irineu on the Virgin of Conception (Dec. 7), Christmas, Day of Kings (January 6), St. John (June 23). The hinario of Padrinho Sebastiao is sung on Irineu's birthday (Dec. 15), Saint Sebastian (January 19), Madrinha Rita's birthday (June 25), as well as Brazilian Father's Day. Padrinho Alfredo's hinario is sung on Padrinho Alfredo's birthday (January 7), St. Joseph (March 18), and Saint Peter (June 28), as well as New Year's Eve (December 31)
Historical Hinarios
Raimundo Irineu Serra - 'Mestre Irineu'
'O Cruzeiro' (The Cross), 'Cruzeirinho' (The Little Cross) and 'A Santa Missa' (The Holy Mass)
The first part of Mestre Irineu's hinário, O Cruzeiro, contains hymns up to number 116. After an interval of 11 years he received hymns 117 through 128, which are now known as the Cruzeirinho or occasionally as the Hinos Novos. After the time of Mestre Irineu it became a more common practice to finish or close an hinario as a complete work, after which a new hinario might be received.
Maria Marques Vieira - 'Maria Damião'
'O Mensageiro' (The Messenger)
Maria Marques Vieira was born in Belém do Pará, in 1917. She was very young when she moved with her family to Rio Branco, Acre, where she met Mestre Irineu, in the early 1930s. She was sallow and blond with white skin. Maria Damião, as she was known, married and had seven children (one adopted) but lost her husband early. She worked hard to support her family but had many difficulties in her material life, as in her works with Santo Daime. She died of pneumonia, aged just 32 years, on 2 April 1949.
Antônio Gomes
'O Amor Divino' (The Divine Love)
Antônio Gomes da Silva was born in Ceará, 30 April 1885. He married Maria de Nazaré in Ceará, and had five children. He lived in Belém do Pará for a while, and then moved to Rio Branco, Acre, in 1921. He worked as a seringueiro, or rubber tapper, and later as a farmer. He lost his first wife, married again, and had another four children. He met Mestre Irineu in 1938, and he received benefits for his unstable health. Antônio Gomes then became a member of the Santo Daime doctrine, as did his whole family. His son Leôncio became the new leader of Alto Santo, after Mestre Irineu's death, in 1971. His granddaughter, Peregrina Gomes, was the third wife of Mestre Irineu. Antônio Gomes da Silva died 14 August 1946.
Germano Guilherme
'Vós Sois Baliza' (Thou art a Beacon)