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Article Title: The High Magic of Jesus Christ:
Materializing Secrets in Brazil's Valley of the
Dawn
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Hayes
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17
T H E H IG H
M A G IC
O F JE SU S
C H R IS T : M A T E R IA L IZ IN G
S E C R E T S I N B R A Z I L 'S V A L L E Y
OF THE DAWN
Kelly E. Hayes
F r o m th e H im a la y a s to th e H ig h P la in s o f B r a z il
"Our founder Aunt Neiva was initiated into the high magic ofJesus Christ," my guide Paulo told
me as he showed me around the expansive grounds of the Vale do Amanhecer or Valley of the
Dawn. It was many hours into my first visit to the headquarters of the "Doctrine of the Dawn,"
as adherents sometimes refer to it, one of the oldest and largest alternative religions in Brazil. By
that point, Paulo had been monologuing for the better part of a day as he showed me around the
group's colorful campus and my head was throbbing from the effort to follow his detailed explanations
of the group's labyrinthine theology. Finally,we arrived at the last stop on the tour: the great stone
temple. Its cool darkness was a restorative balm from the fierce sun of the central Brazilian high plains.
As my eyes adjusted to the temple's dimly lit interior, Paulo continued his lecture,
Aunt Neiva undertook a rigorous course of study with a living esoteric Master, a Great
Initiate named Urnaha who resided in a monastery in the most remote mountains of
Tibet. Every single day for five years Aunt Neiva would travel in the form of a conscious spirit to the astral plane to meet with Umaha, who instructed her in ancient
esoteric philosophies that had been forgotten in the West. In this way she received her
mesttado (master's degree);'
He paused to see if I was taking this all in, before continuing,
This initiatory knowledge enabled Aunt Neiva to implant here on Earth the Doctrine
of the Dawn: a precise, technical-ritualistic system conceived by our Spiritual Mentors
for the spiritual evolution of humanity. This doctrine revives the true magic of our Lord
Jesus Christ and by living out this Gospel, we are able to manipulate powerful energies
for spiritual healing and karmic redemption.
With a dramatic flourish of his arms, Paulo concluded,
Formerly the focal point for this esoteric work was the Himalayas, but now it is here
at the Valley of the Dawn. This is where the great energies are concentrated and where
the great changes will start in the transition to the New Age.
DOl: 10.4324/9781003014751-21
243
Kelly E. Hayes
Part of a twentieth-century
"occult boom'?
in Brazil, the Valley of the Dawn is one of a number of
New Age and esoteric groups that have emerged in and around Brasilia since the late 1950s. Like many
of its kin, the Valley blends elements from various religions present in Brazil with an esoteric metaphysics
that emphasizes the hidden connections behind the world of appearances, promising adherents access
to wisdom of a higher order transmitted over the ages through a secret guild of beings whose evolution
exceeds that of ordinary humanity. Referred
to within theosophical
circles as Mahatmas or Masters of
Wisdom, these beings are known to Valley members as the Great Masters or Great Initiates.
One
thing
that distinguishes
the Valley of the Dawn
groups
is its phantasmagoric
colorful
vernacular
dazzling
garments. The sight ofValley members
fantasy coronation
elaborately
architecture,
the aesthetic
staged by the Merry
culture
Pranksters.
a perennialist
psychic
which
tradition
in high-necked
dressed in
modernism
on a long detour
1992). Outsiders
it functions
realities otherwise
capes and women
in
around a campus that,
through
often dismiss the Valley's
as a vital portal between
imperceptible
the
to the untrained
truths, Aunt Neiva situated her teachings
concerned
with
train followers
energies for healing
daily by members
one of these rituals calls to mind a
humans pass before we are born and after we die.
herself as heir to esoteric
science that would
powerful
Men
as garish or kitsch, but for adherents
wisdom
and symbols,
a genteel choreography
(Dibbell
physical world and the spiritual, hypostatizing
By positioning
and esoteric
iconography
rituals performed
gowns perform
golf course"
eye: the ethereal realms through
theosophical
distinctive
performing
observed, "takes monumental
of the miniature
from other
culture, comprising
and spectacular
sequined, multicolored
as one visitor trenchantly
material
material
the hidden
spiritual
dimension
as part of
of reality - a
to access latent faculties of the self and "manipulate
and karmic
redemption"
through
the practice
of spirit medium-
ship.' Over the course of nearly two decades, she created a spiritual metropolis
that today has
. over 25,000
with some 800
residents and is the center
affiliated
temples
exuberant
material
clairvoyance
and upwards
of 139,000
is not enough
worldwide."
for the world to understand
the initiations"
I examine
how Aunt
Great Masters was institutionalized,
While
members
religious
culture was necessary, Aunt Neiva explained
our colors, the constructions,
In this chapter,
of an international
many initiation
groups
movement
Every
our messages. It takes all our rituals, all
(Zelaya 1985: 16).
Neiva's
claim to initiatory
wisdom
materialized,
and democratized
at the Valley of the Dawn.
professing
esoteric
knowledge
Urban
are not widely known
(Urban 2008: 68).Thus,
layers of bureaucratic
this complex
dialectic
knowledge"
from the
elite, the
available
observed, however, a secret retains its power only so long as its contents
at the same time that the Valley promises universal
access to this secret wisdom, it works to preserve
it behind
derived
appeal to an educated
Valley of the Dawn is notable for its efforts to make what it calls "initiatory
to all. As Hugh
detail of the Valley's
to her followers, because "my
hierarchies,
of concealment
the powerful
specialized
and unveiling,
aura of the secret by obscuring
language, and baroque
secret knowledge
symbols. Through
is continually
made pre-
sent but in a semiotic code that - to outsiders - is bafflingly abstruse. At the same time, the Valley's
hierarchical
system ensures that the latent potential
equal distribution
of social power and bureaucratic
for secret wisdom
authority
does not translate into an
among initiates.
O r ig in s o f th e V a lle y o f th e D a w n
What
today strikes the visitor as a fully realized
hard work
on the part of Aunt Neiva
this imagined
world was the founder's
and other writings
extrasensory
as out-of-body
phenomena,
imagined
world
and an ever-growing
visionary
experiences,
voyages to other dimensions,
as well as interactions
was the product
of years of
cadre of followers. The genesis for
described
in her autobiography
intense premonitions
and other
with the Great Masters and other highly evolved
244
The high magic ofjesus christ
beings. Th;nks in large part to her personal charisma and reputation as a powerful medium, the
Valley grew steadily during Neiva's lifetime from several dozen to several thousands offollowers.
At her death in 1985,Aunt Neiva had become one of Brazil's best-known clairvoyant mediums.!
But before she was Aunt Neiva, Neiva Chaves Zelaya (1925-1985) was an ordinary housewife and mother: "a simple woman, frank and hard working" as her autobiography described
her, "with little interest in spiritual or theological matters" (Zelaya 1992: 9-10). The precipitous
death of her husband upended Neiva's settled life. Driven by her search for steady work, she and
her four young children led a nomadic existence for several years before heading to the newly
declared federal district in the central high plains.
It was 1957 and the country was feverishly reinventing itself as a modern nation.At the center
of President Juscelino Kubitschek's ambitious plan to advance Brazil "fifty years in five" was its
new, space-age capital city, Brasilia." Aunt Neiva was one of thousands of migrant workers who
heeded Kubitschek's call to "construct the Brazil of tomorrow" by participating in the construction of Brasilia (pires 2013: 94).7 The intrepid widow quickly found work and set about
establishing a new life for herself and her children. They had just settled into a normal routine
"amidst the vibrant rhythm of the construction of the capital city," as Neiva's autobiography put
it, when "suddenly, without any plausible explanation, contrary to the 'highly regarded' logic of
the physical world" she began to see and hear spirits" (Zelaya 1992: 10). Terrified and fearing
that she was going mad, Neiva sought help from a medical doctor and a Catholic priest before
becoming exposed to the teachings of Spiritism and Umbanda.
Spiritism is a movement that developed around the theories of the French philosopher Allan
Kardec (1804-1869). A schoolteacher and amateur scientist, Kardec claimed to have developed
an empirical science of the spirit world that provided a moral code for living based on the relationship between spirit and matter (Hess 1987: 16). He taught that after death, humans live on as
disembodied spirits in an invisible spiritual dimension. Following the law of cause and effect, or
karma, a spirit will undergo subsequent reincarnations on Earth in order to redeem karmic debts
and "learn lessons" that foster moral evolution. After reaching a certain level of moral development, the process continues in the spiritual dimension until the spirit finally reunites with God.
In certain cases, however, spirits oflow moral development can "obsess" or adversely affect the
living, provoking all manner of emotional, mental, and even physical illnesses.The process of
removing this negative spiritual influence is called disobsession.
Spiritism (or Kardecism as it sometimes is called in Brazil) proved far more influential in Brazil
than in the country of its birth and by the mid-twentieth century had become "a constitutive
part of Brazilian religiosity," asJose Jorge de Carvalho observed (Carvalho 1994: 4) .Among other
factors, Spiritism's emphasis on disobsessive healing and charity contributed to its popularity as
did its compatibility with Brazilian Catholicism, which enabled figures like Jesus and the saints
to be reinterpreted as highly evolved spirits. Kardec's ideas also interacted with other esoteric
currents in Brazil, as well as religions of African provenance, to produce Umbanda, sometimes
heralded as Brazil's first truly indigenous religion for its pantheon of spirits representing the
country's mix ofIndigenous,African, and European peoples (Engler 2012; 2020).
Within Spiritism's explanatory framework, Neiva's symptoms did not indicate incipient mental
illness or demonic possession but rather a highly unusual spiritual sensitivity or clairvoyance.
After months of frequenting different Spiritist and Umbanda centers, Neiva became convinced
that her paranormal experiences, which would persist for the rest of her life, were visitations from
highly evolved spirit entities who had chosen her for a special mission: helping them to guide
humanity's spiritual evolution through the dawn of a New Age.
The lore that subsequently arose around Aunt Neiva assigns great importance to the five-year
period from 1959-1964, which is understood as an important preparatory stage for her mission.
245
-
•
Kelly E. Hayes
As Paulo explained to me, during this period N eiva mastered
astral travel under the tutelage
of a Kardecist
medium
the basics of spirit mediumship
with whom
she had become
psychic skills enabled
Neiva to meet daily in the astral world with the Tibetan
I n 1964, her esoteric
apprenticeship
initiation
culminated
training
and initiation
Master Umaha.
Neiva's mestrado, or master's degree, and
with
into "the high magic of Jesus Christ." According
origins, this esoteric
and
close. These
to the Doctrine's
own narrative
was critical to the establishment
of its
of the Valley of the
Dawn, a topic I explore at more length in the next section.
I n early 1964, Neiva
established
separated
from her Kardecist
friend and the small community
and struck out on her own. I n her autobiography
sary step towards developing
her own doctrine,
she later described
they had
this as a neces-
one more "suitable to the realities of the modern
world"
(Zelaya 1992: 47). Assisted by close family members
and a handful
of loyal followers,
Neiva
founded
Order
Sociais da Ordem
Espiritualista
the Social Works of the Spiritualist
Crista)
or OSOEC,
Christian
(Obras
the official name of the Valley of the Dawn. For the first few
years of its existence, OSOEC
functioned
much like any other Spiritist center, with Aunt Neiva
and a small cadre of mediums
performing
the Spiritist version of charity by freely offering works
of spiritual healing, called disobsession,
I n 1965, Neiva met Mario
her most important
to join
collaborators.
the community
doctrinal
metaphysics
visionary
partner and one of
by interpreting
and esoteric
Aunt Neiva's visionary
literature
experiences
(Hayes 2020). By systematizing
and developing
an interpretative
Sassi's work laid the intellectual
and forging
framework
foundations
the content
of the movement
settled in its present location,
I n 1969, the group
outside Brasilia, giving rise to the moniker Valley of the Dawn.
The next fifteen years saw a dramatic outpouring
closely with Mario
Sassi, introduced
involved its own symbols, specialized
members
describe this period as one of perpetual
revelations. "The
recalled a veteran member
and built environments.
invention
and non-stop
from the spiritual
Aunt Neiva's collaboration
teric elements
healing remained
organizational
of initiatory
of Aunt Neiva's revelations
or "initiatory
network
innovation
gave the
period
magnified
the eso-
the Spiritist practice of disobsessive
ranks and titles based on a "descending
themselves
not to her partnership
plane by creating a multi-level
works."These
are elaborate
esoteric
attribute
forcefield"
the increasingly
lforfa
esoteric
with Sassi but rather to her progres-
to her followers
initiation
knowledge,
initiation
collective
which
she gradually
into
occurred
rituals that are believed to mobilize
in the mid-1970s
by creating
the "high
magic
246
implemented
system and a series of trabalhos inidaticos
forces and, as a result, can only be performed
in this esoteric evolution
the mestrado"
on her own
on Aunt
To the degree that she gained mastery of her psychic powers, they main-
of powerful transcendent
A key moment
to "bring
continual
Sassi over this fifteen-year
Neiva gained greater access to esoteric
on the terrestrial
work centered
planes did not stop coming,"
until Aunt Neiva's death in 1985.
and practices." Although
powers.'? Valley members
sive spiritual maturation.
tain,Aunt
each
Veteran Valley
central, around it Aunt Neiva began to institute, piece by piece, a complicated
hierarchy
decrescentei of spiritual
character
(Froes 2015).This
the movement
with Mario
of the Valley's doctrine
structures,
"and we were always at Aunt Neiva's side to take notes
about the laws and rituals and receive guidance"
that characterized
ritual, and bureaucratic
garments,
instructions
I interviewed,
farm in a valley some
of religious creativity as Aunt N eiva, working
new institutional,
of which
a former
in esoteric
and helped facilitate
40 kilometers
Valley a dynamism
a com-
of Aunt Neiva's
for them grounded
its expansion.
Neiva's ongoing
life
His mission, he later wrote, would be to "bear witness to
system around thern.s To do so he drew on his lifelong interest in alternative
experiences
metaphysics,
her romantic
Three years later, in 1968, Sassi left his family and former
permanently.
the Spirit of the Truth"
prehensive
to the public.
Sassi, the man who would become
a system
a dense
by the initiated.
when Aunt Neiva began
for initiating
of Jesus Christ,"!'
mediums
based
Later, she expanded
Kelly E. Hayes
The Dharman Oxinto initiation ceremony also references the esoteric version ofJesus Christ
that is central to Valley doctrine. According to Aunt Neiva,Jesus himself was initiated into esoteric wisdom by seven clairvoyant monks in Tibet when he was twelve or thirteen (Pierini 2020:
156). These Himalayan Masters taught Jesus how to create a system of karmic redemption and
the astral infrastructure for it, known to the Doctrine as the Christie System. Just as Jesus did,
Dharman Oxinto initiates are said to receive "seven mantras of light,' or spiritual forces from the
Great Initiates. Explains Pierini, these are "initiatic forces that open all of the chakras and that
especially mark the solar plexus, transforming its nature" and thereby distinguishing that individual as "initiated in the spirit worlds and in future incarnations" (Pierini 2020: 156). Doctrinal
materials also describe the Dharman Oxinto as "an initiation into the Enchanted Worlds of the
Himalayas," further evoking a constellation of esoteric-Orientalist references that link initiation
with the ancient wisdom and magical powers of the East (Sassi 1974: 22).15
To mark these inward transformations, those who have completed the Dharman Oxinto initiation are permitted to wear a short white vest, called a colete, over the white garments worn
by novices. As the individual continues to develop their mediumship and progress through the
hierarchy, she or he will acquire additional badges, symbols, and insignia collectively referred to as
armas mediunicas (mediumistic weapons) that are displayed on the colete.The vests of fully initiated
mediums are almost totally covered by these armas, so-called because they protect the wearer
from the adverse effects of powerful spiritual forces (Figure 17.1).
After completing another "development course" or series oflessons taught by trained instructors,
the "initiated medium" is considered ready for the second initiatory step.This is called the Elevation
of Swords (Eleva¢o de Espadas) in reference to the swords that feature in the ritual as a symbol of the
Figure 17. 1
Armas, Photo by Marcia Alves
248
d
The high magic of jesus christ
Figure 17.2
Uniform, Photo by Marcia Alves
initiate's oath (Pierini 2020: 156-157). I n the COurseof the ceremony, individuals are said to receive
another seven mantras of force from the Great Initiates, adding to the forces previously received
in the Dharman Oxinto initiation (pierini 2016: 36). This further transforms the solar plexus, a
psychic-anatomical nexus point of body, soul, and spirit that is associated with mediumship.
Following the Elevation of Swords ceremony, the individual is considered an official member
of the M estrado, the master's degree or corps of masters. Henceforth, men are referred to by the
title Master, as in Master So-and-So. Women, who as part of the mestrado also are considered
masters, are addressed as Nymph. At this point, the "elevated medium" is considered to have
the necessary knowledge and preparation of their solar plexus to evoke the "corrente mestm' or
master current, the spiritual force that powers the Valley's "initiatory works."These are elaborate,
collective rituals involVing dozens of mediums that OCCurin specific built environments, follow
a specific script and a set schedule, and require a certain number of participants representing
different positions and spiritual forces within the Valley's hierarchy.
Elevated mediums receive a certificate attesting to their status as well as additional armas
(insignia) as an Outward sign of their inward spiritual capacities. They are permitted to wear the
work Uniform, consisting of brown pants or skirt and black shirt, over which is worn the white
colete or vest (Figure 17.2).
Because they are now capacitated to work with a greater com plem ent of spiritual forces, elevated
mediums also wear specialitems of clothing intended to protect them from the intense spiritual energies with which they engage in certain rituals.For men this is a capa or cape with a high, vampire-like
collar.Women wear a special dress and cape called indumentaria de ninja (nymph vestment) adorned
with sym bols embroidered in silver or gold sequins and finished with matching trim. This protective
attire is required for all mediums participating in the initiatory works (Figures 17.3 and 17.4).
249
-
Kelly E. Hayes
Figure 17.3
Figure 17.4
lndumentaria, Photo by Marcia Alves
Indumentaria, male and female, Photo by Marcia Alves
250
<
The high magic of jesus christ
Figure 17.5
Radar de Centuria
After the Elevation of Swords is the third initiatory step, called the Consecration of the
Centuria (Consagrafao de Centuria). While there are higher ranks that an individual may pursue
afterwards, the Centuria is understood to produce a fully initiated medium. Those preparing for
the Consecration of the Centuria attend another series of lectures and receive further "mantras
offorce"that qualify them to participate in the full quota of the Valley's numerous rituals.P They
also acquire a number of other spiritual identifications as well as personal spirit guides that assist
and protect them spiritually. At this point, men achieve the title Adjunto (deputy or adjunct)
plus the name of their personal spirit guide, e.g., Master Froes, Deputy Adeja. There is no comparable title for women. Once concluded, the "centurion medium's" newly acquired spiritual
status is represented externally through additional insignia and symbols worn on her or his ritual
vestments (Figures 17.5 and 17.6).
Finally, each centurion medium is officially issued an "emission" (emissao), a ritual formula
specific to that individual, which they must memorize. These formulas, which are quite lengthy,
specify the medium's initiatory level, spirit guides, spiritual lineage, titles, and numerous other
identifications acquired in the course of initiation that I have not discussed. The emission also
indicates the medium's relationship to more senior members of the hierarchy, stipulating her
exact spiritual and social identity within the community. When Valley members ascend in the
hierarchy, affiliate with a particular subgroup within the community, or take on specific ritual
positions, their emission changes to reflect this new status.
When recited without error, an emission is said to open a direct channel into the most sublime
spiritual planes. This permits the circulation of spiritual forces across the chasm that separates the
dense, terrestrial dimension from the upper reaches of the Astral Superior or superior astral plane,
251
Kelly E. Hayes
Figure 17.6
Centurion Medium
home of the Great Initiates. Doctrinal literature describes the emission as an extension of the
medium's higher self into the spiritual planes as well as a means by which forces associated with
the Great Initiates descend into the terrestrial plane. For this reason, emissions feature prominently in certain initiatory works, where each participant recites his or her emission following the
hierarchical order of the" chamada oJicial" or official call. Higher-ranking members are believed
capable of summoning more potent forces that carry greater healing and disobsessive capacity
than those at lower levels.
As a vocal performance, the emission serves two functions. Within the group's collective
imagination, it signals that the medium has reached a certain level of spiritual development,
possesses an "initiated plexus," and therefore is able to mobilize corresponding spiritual energies
as part of the group's ritualizing. When they are performed as part of a collective ritual, emissions
are held to catalyze a corresponding spiritual network, or "descending force" lJorfa decrescente)
that radiates into the physical world through the Valley's hierarchical structure. This forcefield
is absorbed into the initiated medium's solar plexus and then is redirected outward to power
the community's projects of spiritual healing and karmic redemption. For this reason, Valley
mediums describe themselves as veritable "power plants receiving and emitting forces" (Sassi
1974: pamphlet 3, 39). Emissions, then, to keep with the metaphor, are a switch that activates the
Doctrine of the Dawn's psychic voltage system, enabling its spiritual current to flow.
On the social level, the emission functions as a "hierarchical code" that communicates each
member's exact place within the "hierarchy of the mestrado." During her lifetime, Aunt Neiva
occupied the apex of this pyramid as the community'S ultimate spiritual and temporal authority.
Since her death, and following a bureaucratic structure that she herself established, the topmost
252
rl
1
The high magic of jesus christ
ranks of the pyramid are open only to men. This male-dominated leadershipstructure is believed
to reflect on the physical plane the regnant hierarchy of the spiritual plane,conceived as a series
of descending forces that are invoked through emissions. 17 Thus, for those who can understand
their coded language, emissions offer a symbolic diagram of social power,bureaucratic authority,
and status within the community.
T h e S o c ia l H ie r a r c h y o f th e M e s tr a d o
The Doctrine asserts thatValley members progressively "become more sensitiveto the vibrations"
of the superior planes over the course of their initiatory trajectory, receivingat each level different
"mantras offorce" which are held to transform their solar plexuses (Sassi1974: pamphlet 4, 49).
These psychic transformations, otherwise imperceptible to the ordinary senses, are externalized
and made tangible through a highly elaborated semiotic system of tides,insignia, garments, ritual
positions, and verbal formulations or emissions that reveal to the community the individual's
acquirement of esoteric or hidden powers.
These symbolic representations do not just communicate the individual's state of spiritual
development, however. They also map a social hierarchy in which men and women at different
ranks have different levels of access to authority and other forms of social capital. For example,
while the mestrado itself is open to allValley members, only men can attain the uppermost ranks
of the Valley's hierarchy. Thus positions of greatest ritual and bureaucratic authority, which carry
the ability to make decisions that affect the entire community, are held by men. Women do take
on certain leadership positions within the community, but always in partnership with a man and
their authority is always over other women (Hayes 2018). The social capital associated with both
gender and initiatory rank also can bleed into non-ritual contexts in various ways.Lower-ranking
members may feel subtle pressure to do things if asked by higher-ranking members, for example,
even if they would prefer otherwise. Similarly,women, who are not permitted to "command" or
lead Valley rituals, often are expected to donate more of their time than men to tasks related to
the physical upkeep of the temple or the community's fund-raising activities (Lima 2019: 207).
At the same time, the basic equality of all members is underlined in different ways. Many of
the social distinctions of class and status ordinarily communicated through clothing are leveled
to some extent by the standardized uniforms that members wear, whichvassures equality among
our people: the cart driver and the doctor are on the same level and are both masters just the
same," as the current President of the Order, Master Raul Zelaya, put it in an interview (Telman
and Moon n.d.).Valley discourse depicts the educational process as "masters teaching masters"
(mestres ensinando mestres), indicating that all members have .knowledge to share. And, of course,
everyone is able to enter the mestrado, a term that is associated on the one hand with a university
education and, on the other, with the occult hierarchy of the Great Masters.
T h e F u n c tio n s o f S e c r e c y
With its multi-level system of initiation promising to reveal hidden dimensions of the universe
and the self, the Valley of the Dawn exhibits a form of secrecy that we might call gnostic, the
ancient Greek work for knowledge - especially knowledge of hidden spiritual truths. Gnostic
secrecy rests on the idea that insight into th.e true nature of reality depends on direct experience through the development of latent faculties or psychic powers of the self. At the Valley of
the Dawn, this process is conceptualized as, and termed, mediumistic development. A form of
training that is both intellectual and embodied, mediumistic development exposes initiates to the
253
r
I
Kelly E. Hayes
Valley's complex theology while simultaneously teaching them to perceive certain interior states
as linked to mediurnship and the energetic transformation of the solar plexus. 18
As the initiate "develops their mediumship," she or he ascends through different ranks that
are articulated in spiritual terms as the acquisition of "initiatory fo'rces"and spiritual powers that
transform the self.At every level, these otherwise hidden transformations are revealed to the
ordinary senses by a baroque array of titles, armas, ritual regalia, emissions, and so forth, that signal
the initiate's status and abilities. Both the gradual nature of the process and its performative display heightens the sense among participants that they are being transformed spiritually.Through
this dialectic of concealment and revelation, secrecy helps to produce a sensually felt experience
of transformation.
The various ways that an initiate's position in the hierarchy of the mestrado is materially
enacted through the body suggests another function of secrecy: its role as a kind of "adorning
possession."At each different level, the initiate's body is covered with specific articles of clothing,
symbolic insignia, and other adornments, and authorized to perform specific ritual activities and
emissions. Hugh Urban, drawing on the work of George Simmel (1950), calls this the "adorning
function" of secrecy: when publicly displayed, secret knowledge acts as a form of symbolic capital that enhances the status of those who possess it. As illustrative examples, Urban points to
the elaborate titles and regalia of the Scottish Rite of Freemasonry (Urban 2008: 71) and the
specially branded jewelry used by some Scientologists to announce their advanced status as OTs
or Operating Thetans (Urban 2017: 24). I n a similar fashion, the Valley of the Dawn initiate's
acquisition of esoteric knowledge is publicly announced through forms of bodily display and
performance that carry social benefits in the form of status, prestige, and other forms of symbolic
power.
The social implications of esoteric knowledge as an adorning possession are most evident
in the Valley of the Dawn's leadership structure. The hierarchy of the mestrado does not just
provide access to ever-greater degrees of spiritual power. I t also is the foundation for temporal
power within the religion, sustaining a male-dominated system in which only certain men have
access to the highest ranks. Since these ranks coincide with administrative and decision-making
authority over the group, the power associated with them is both symbolic and social. Secrecy
in this instance serves to mystify a gendered system of power, obscuring its social functions and
social effects behind a discourse of spiritual development.
Finally, the Valley of the Dawn illustrates the legitimating necessity of the secret to the enterprise of religion itself. If we understand religion as a human creation founded on claims about a
greater reality that is not completely knowable to humans, then we should expect to see a recurrent dialectic of concealment and revelation as a significant structuring element. "To hide and to
unveil, to contain and reveal," as Hugh Urban and Paul C.Johnson observe in their Introduction
to this handbook "this is the rhythm of secrecy, and also of religion" (Urban and Johnson 2022: 1
Johnson 2002: 3).
I n the case of the Valley of the Dawn, the generative secret for the emergence of the religion and its development over time was Aunt Neiva's claim to have been initiated into secret
knowledge under the tutelage of the Tibetan master Umaha, one of an esoteric hierarchy of
enlightened beings responsible for guiding the spiritual evolution of humanity. As a result of this
initiation, according to Aunt N eiva, she gained access to hidden dimensions of reality. She learned
the secrets of the relationship between the elevated spiritual planes and the lower, material world
where spirits continually incarnate in order to redeem their negative karma and learn lessons that
will enable their spiritual evolution. She was inducted into the "high magic of Jesus Christ" and
taught the Christie System as a means of accelerating karmic redemption, earning her mestrado.
254
The high magic of jesus christ
At
the
same
time,
Aunt
spiritual
and
temporal
Masters.
She
was
itual
evolution.
training
them
in
"formerly
the
focal
first
day, "now
agent,
working
this
knowledge
brought
gnostic
alone
had
to her
that,
until
work
was the
at the Valley
of the
once
hidden
away
redemption
and
spiritual
healing.
in a Tibetan
to the
this
their
followers
Thanks
monastery
now
to reinforce
wisdom
plan
them
as Paulo
to Aunt
powers
her
of the
Great
for humanity's
spir-
in the form
day, transform
Himalayas,"
Dawn."
served
esoteric
to implement
secrets
knowledge
knowledge"
access
for esoteric
point
it is here
she
of "initiatory
prophetic
then
the
assertion
-
their
She
Neiva's
authority
of the mestrado,
into
masters.
Where
had informed
Neiva,
me
that
the transforming
the Valley's work
of karmic
N o te s
1 Umaha
has variant
spellings, including
2 The phrase "occult
3 It also enabled
religions
boom"
the movement
of spirit possession
4 Emily Pierini
Umararna,
is from Asprem
to distinguish
(see Pierini
gave a figure of 138,768
in Brasilia in 2019
of members
is much
Temple
and mediums
who entered
a 2010 book
about
higher
initiated
discussion
mediums
as Pierini
who were registered
since not all affiliated
prepared
Raul
of the origins
with the Mother
notes, the Valley's leadership
temples
Zelaya
of National
Chaves
and development
Temple
that actual
were not formally registered.
for the Institute
Oscar
maintains
send their records to the Mother
in the early years of the movement
the Valley of the Dawn
complete
and Humarran.
Candornble and Umbanda and other stigmatized
itselffrom
Heritage
(IPHAN), the current president
active members (Siqueira et al, 2010: 9).
5 For a more
Humahan,
2020: 178-179).
(2020: 56). However,
number
Humaha,
(2019: 18).
wrote
Historic
In
and Artistic
that there were
800,000
of the Valley of the Dawn, see Hayes
(2013).
6 As Kubitschek's
1955 campaign
based on two key initiatives
promise
put it (see Holston
for the nation's
development,
Metas (Plan of Goals) which aimed to modernize
port
(Wjuniski
7 A December
1956 article in the newspaper
Correio Paulistano quoted
President
Kubitschek
that we will build [ ... J it is a step towards the consolidation
and trans-
as saying: "It
of our continental
destiny ... " (cited in Pires 2013: 94).
8 Sassi (1974: 4). The reference
where Jesus promises
to comfort
know
of Brasilia and the Plano de
five areas: energy, food, industry, education,
2013: 151).
is the Brazil of tomorrow
manifest
1989: 84). The motto of "Fifty in Five" was
the construction
to the "Spirit
ofTruth"
alludes to a passage in the biblical Gospel
his disciples that God will send them an advocate
and be with them. Although
the world will not recognize
him for he "abides with you and will be in you."]n.
Exilados
de Capela cites other spirit entities, among
numbering
among
the many Spirits ofTruth
14:16-17
them
Chico
who have guided
ofJohn
in the form of the Spirit ofT ruth
this advocate,]esus's
NRSv.
Xavier's spirit mentor
humanity's
disciples will
book
Os
Emmanuel,
as
Edgard Armond's
spiritual evolution
(Armond
1987 [1949]).
9 Aunt
Neivas
claim
to have completed
but I believe that Sassi introduced
an esoteric
apprenticeship
a far more complex
esoteric
with Umaha
vocabulary
predates Sassi's arrival,
and metaphysical
framework
into the mix. See Hayes (2020).
10 Litera1ly,forftl
decrescente means "descending
system based on descending
11 There
is some disagreement
linking
about
it to the first Dharman
ritual in 1975. Guilherme
force" but Valley members
forces, so I have translated
the exact dates for the "arrival
Oxinto
Stuckert,
initiation
also use the term to refer to a
it here as descending
forcefie1d.
of the mestado,'
with some sources
in 1973 and others with the first Elevation
the Valley's official photographer,
recalled in an interview
of Swords
published
in the short-lived Jomal do Jaguar (Journal of the Jaguar) that the mestrado arrived in 1975 with the first
Elevation of Swords ritual. "It was the beginning of a whole initiatory archive brought by our Mother,
Aunt
Neiva, for the formation
Sampaio
Froes also described
(Froes 2015).
12 There are a number
ment
of our Doctrine"
of other levels and "classifications"
at the Valley of the Dawn,
Readers
interested
(Stuckert
the arrival of the mestrado
involved
but here I am focusing
in a more complete
description
255
2005: 7).Veteran
as happening
should
member
in the trajectory
only on three moments
consult
Master Adevaldo
in 1975 in an interview
Pierini
(2020).
of spiritual
with me
develop-
in this larger process.
=
Kelly E. Hayes
13 For a more complete discussion of the spiritual development process and the various levels through
which it proceeds, see Pierini (2020).
14 These also are significant sites for Valley members' previous incarnations as a collective, although this is
an aspect of the group's cosmology that is beyond my scope here. Readers interested in a fuller description ofValIey cosmology should consult Hayes (2013); Hayes (2015); Pierini (2013); and Pierini (2020).
15 For more on Orientalism in esoteric movements, see: Partridge (2013); Hammer (2004).
16 With the exception of one ritual, calIed the Millennial Throne, which requires participants to have
completed additional consecrations above the Centuria.
17 I analyzed how the ValIey's overlapping spiritual and bureaucratic hierarchies correlate with gender at
greater length in Hayes (2018).
18 For more on mediumistic development as a (largely) embodied process ofre-educating the senses, see
Pierini (2020).
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257
THE ROUTLEDGE
HANDBOOK
O F R E L IG IO N A N D
SECRECY
Edited by
Hugh B. Urban and Paul Christopher Johnson
I~~~o~:~~n~~~up
LONDON AND NEW YORK
v=
Cover image: Getty Images
«
I Sean Gladwell
First published 2022
by Routledge
4 Park Square, Milton Park,Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN
and by Routledge
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Routledge
is an imprint
10158
if the Taylor & Francis Group, all iliforma business
© 2022 selection and editorial matter Hugh B. Urban and Paul Christopher Johnson;
individual chapters, the contributors
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Names: Urban, Hugh 13, editor. I Johnson, Paul C. (Paul Christopher), 1964-editor.
Title:The Routledge handbook of religion and secrecy/edited by Hugh B. Urban
and Paul Christopher Johnson.
Description: Abingdon, Oxon; New York, NY: Routledge, 2022. I Series: Routledge
handbooks in religion I Includes bibliographical references and index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2021048273 (print) I LCCN 2021048274 (ebook) I
ISBN 9780367857417 (hbk) I ISBN 9781032228655 (Pbk) I ISBN 9781003014751 (ebk)
Subjects: LCSH: Secrecy-Religious
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Classification: LCC BL65.S37 R68 2022 (print) I LCC BL65.S37 (ebook) I
DOC 20o-dc23/eng/20211207
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