Uma análise da atuação das mulheres na transnacionalização do Santo Daime

Abstract

In this research, I investigate the role of women in the transnationalization of Santo Daime. To do so, based on the narratives of these women, I analyze their experience with the religion in a transnational context through three main axes: power, body, and esotericism. Using a qualitative approach and from a hybrid position as a lesbian daimista woman and researcher, I conducted semi-structured and in-depth interviews with daimista women from different parts of Brazil and the world, exploring how they play central roles in the dissemination and adaptation of Santo Daime across diverse cultural contexts. The analysis demonstrates that international expansion is strongly mediated by female agency, both in the organization of churches and in the reinterpretation of norms and practices. This research also addresses how gender issues influence the daimista experience and how women's participation in the expansion of the religion has enabled the flexibilization of rules and power asymmetries, opening pathways for female participation in leadership positions and other roles previously restricted to men in this religious context. Additionally, I examine themes such as corporeality, sexuality, and gender dissidences through the lens of Santo Daime as a religion embodied by women. This perspective highlights the daimista women's bodies as sites of negotiation and flexibilization, as well as key agents in the reproduction of the religion within global flows. The study also reveals how these women engage in healing experiences with "Daime" and take the lead in forming spiritual alliances with other religions and spiritualities, such as Umbanda, as well as with other entheogens, such as cannabis, which in this context is referred to as Santa Maria. Thus, this thesis contributes to the debates on religious transnationalization, gender, and entheogenic esotericism, emphasizing how women not only play a leading role in the global dissemination of Santo Daime but also influence its internal dynamics by negotiating their practices amid modern tensions, while also having their lives and worldviews transformed. In this sense, the transnationalization of the daimista religion is not a homogeneous process but rather one marked by local adaptations and symbolic disputes, in which women play a fundamental role, shaping not only the daimista experience but also the maintenance of Santo Daime as a global religion in the 21st century.