União do Vegetal (UDV)

União do Vegetal (UDV) is a Brazilian religious tradition founded in 1961 in Porto Velho by José Gabriel da Costa, known within the tradition as Mestre Gabriel. It blends Christian and Amazonian spiritual elements and uses hoasca (ayahuasca) as its central sacrament, consumed communally during structured ceremonial sessions.

UDV holds a distinct place in ayahuasca's legal history: its U.S. congregation was the plaintiff in Gonzales v. O Centro Espírita Beneficente União do Vegetal (2006), in which a unanimous U.S. Supreme Court held that the federal government had failed to show a compelling interest sufficient to override the church's RFRA-protected right to use hoasca as a sacrament — a landmark precedent for religious ayahuasca use in the United States, including for organizations like ECC. UDV is a distinct religious tradition with its own doctrine and leadership; ECC is a separate organization, follows the Shipibo curanderismo tradition, and is not affiliated with UDV.