Join us to our Hudson Valley Psychedelic Society Meetup, for a Sacred Talk and Medicine Concert with Dara Freire and Camila Vásquez, practitioners of Umbandaime—the unique spiritual fusion of the Afro-Brazilian tradition of Umbanda with the Amazonian force of Santo Daime.
A lecture and concert dedicated to the theme Healing Line – Portals of Life and Death in Umbanda.
In the Afro-Brazilian worldview, life and death are not opposites, but expressions of the same sacred cycle. Death is not an end, but a passage, continuity within ancestry. Life is the vital force, constantly renewed through each transformation.
In Umbanda, these portals are held by Orixás such as Obaluayê and Omulu, guardians of healing, cleansing, and profound transformation, and by Nanã, who governs time, memory, and the ancestral paths of return.
This evening is an invitation to reflect on how birth, illness, death, and rebirth intertwine in our spiritual journey. Through shared knowledge and live music, we will explore how healing and transformation are inseparable from the human experience.
A call to:
Listen deeply
Welcome the mysteries
Reconnect with the cycles of existence
Join us for a night of learning, music, and connection, open to all who feel called to engage with the wisdom of Umbanda and the living presence of ancestral knowledge.
Facilitators:
Dara Freire, born in Brasilia, DF, has been practicing Umbanda since childhood and has studied and trained at the Umbanda Temple of São Sebastião in Brazil for the past 18 years. She received initiations in the Umbanda tradition and has expanded her studies to the USA, Europe, and Canada. Dara has also spent time in the Amazon with native communities to deepen her knowledge of sacred medicines. She is an actress with expertise in Brazilian cultural movements, rhythms, and dances.
Camila Vasquez, the daughter of Babalorixá Adolfo Pxanticosusque, was born into the Umbanda tradition at the Umbanda Temple of São Sebastião in Brazil. From a young age, she studied to be a Curimbeira, playing a vital role in ceremonies by playing the Atabaque drum, a sacred devotional instrument for the Orisha divinities.