Mestre Gabriel

Mestre Gabriel

José Gabriel da Costa, later known as Mestre Gabriel, (1922–1971), is the founder of the União do Vegetal, a Christian religious sect that utilizes the entheogenic tea Hoasca as its main sacrament. The tea is made of the union of the products of two plants, Mariri (Banisteriopsis caapi) and Chacrona (Psychotria viridis), which are both found in the Amazon rain forest.

Gabriel was born on February 10 in Coração de Maria, in the state of Bahia, Brazil. He received minimal education and moved to Acre, Brazil, later becoming a rubber tapper in the Amazon region. It was through his work as a rubber tapper that Gabriel first encountered Hoasca; receiving what he believed to be revelations, he formed the UDV on July 22, 1961, organizing a coherent belief system and gathering followers. By the time of his passing away, the religion had spread through the Brazilian Amazon and urban areas of Brazil, and continues to grow today, in countries such as the USA, Spain and others.

References

External links

• History of the UDV and Mestre Gabriel
• UDV official website

Persondata
Name	Gabriel, Mestre
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	1922
Place of birth
Date of death	1971
Place of death