The Valley of the Dawn — Vale do Amanhecer

OVERVIEW

The Vale do Amanhecer is a religious movement founded in the 1960s by Tia Neiva (Neiva Chaves Zelaya, died 1985), a former truck driver and medium, centred on a mother temple in Planaltina in the Federal District, with around 600 temples in Brazil and abroad. The elliptical stone temple holds a great statue of Pai Seta Branca — Father White Arrow — the pre-Columbian spirit said to have begun speaking to Tia Neiva in 1957 and to have guided the founding of the doctrine.

HISTORY

About 500 people live in the Valley and some 20,000 around it. Outside the temple are the Estrela Candente, a Star of David 79 metres in radius with a waterfall and stone stairs, and the Lake of Iemanjá, with seven "doctrinary princesses", a pyramid and an arrow-shaped bridge.

REPORTED ACTIVITY

The doctrine is a syncretism of Christianity, Spiritism, Umbanda, belief in UFOs and esotericism. Its mediums — aparás, who receive spirits, and doutrinadores — are held to be reincarnations of the Equitumans, an extraterrestrial people said to have landed 32,000 years ago. Between three and four thousand people come every day for the spirit-healing "works" carried out in the temple. The entry records a living religion of spirit mediumship as practised.

VISITING

Thousands visit every day, in Planaltina in the Federal District. It is an active place of worship and healing; visit respectfully and follow the mediums' guidance.