Santo Daime hymns

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.