Mate do Alemâo – Die Ursprung der Ur-Uru….

Nearly two decades ago, following the death of his grandfather, with whom he used to make mate as a child, Ricardo returned to Linha Lorenz

„I just wanted to do something good with my life. So I went into the forest and prayed with all my heart“

Reviving his roots by harvesting mate from his family forests and firing up the old barbaqua every now and then, Ricardo started to distribute his self-made mate in a grassroots way amongst his friends as Mate do Alemâo.

It was this dream that was the inspiration to bring this „German Mate“ from Brasil to Berlin and beyond and 15 years ago what was to become Meta Mate was born when we joyned Ricardo at Linha Lorenz to harvest Mate together.

None of us were sure where the journey would take us back then, but we truly believed in the power of this special Mate.

The Uru is the one who lights the fire and cares for the drying of the Mate in the Barbaqua. Ricardo’s role in the early years was essential to teach us how to harvest in harmony with Caá.

Today there are many hands that joyn together to make it possible for us to serve you Meta Mate so far away from the forests.

The 2024 season is due to start soon and the mate making region has been engulfed by storms. There have been other seasons when the area was struck by severe drought. Nature is protesting the abuse.

At this point we can only send our prayers to the families and forests who have been affected and hope for some sunshine…

Click here to view photos of the 2009 Harvest at Linha Lorenz in the MateLeaks Book

April 29, 2024April 30, 2024

Friedvolle Mates……Walpurgisnacht 2024.

As the annual Walpurgisnacht Fire will fall out this year, we will be joining our systars on the streets this Tuesday evening for a Friedvolle Fest to stand up for a taboo topic. This time we will not be sharing mates in a circle but invite you all to take back the night and commemorate in a peaceful and powerful manner.

Infos zum Demo

Domestic Violence is a cliché; something that always happens out there but never in our close circles. The shame, self-blame and above all the pride.

There has been a move as of late towards relabelling such incidents as toxic relationships, but everything is toxic these days from the foods we eat to the digital mediums we communicate with.

Each story is individual, yet there are similar patters that weave through all. Resilience and cultural convictions twist the threads into a multitude of musters, fabricating our lives with fantasies that things will change.

„I was not ready to admit being a victim; that was for the weak. I have been raised as an independent strong woman, free to choose my future, educated with a black belt and college degree. Gaslighting belonged to the village dowry dramas of my mothers and grandmothers cloaked in burkhas in their ancient lands. „

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We believe in the power of dialogue and feel that Mate is a valuable tool in facilitating non-violent communication. In Berlin Mate is often associated with the rebellious counter culture as a energising fun fuel for partying and protesting. And as more people turn towards the traditional variations there is more of an opportunity to sit down and Mate together

We are open on the 1st of May from 2 – 6 pm

Joyn us for the Official Kick Off of Terere Season!!!

April 28, 2024April 28, 2024

Tribal Mates….Sunday Stammtisch…2-5pm

The Guarani are one of the largest ethnic groups in Brazil outside the Amazonia region. The culture of drinking mate stems from their connection with the forest spirits and nature. The forests of the native inhabitants of Brasil were invaded over the past centuries. For decades they have been struggling for demarcation of their territories. In recent years there have been attempts from various communities to “take back” their ancestral territories. However these are mostly fenced in by the agribusiness which leads to violent conflicts.

The 19th April is officially set aside by the Brazilian government as a special day to pay homage to indigenous peoples. This is somewhat of a paradox whilst their ways of life are under threat and they continue to face discrimination and violence and the forests continue to be eroded.

We drink in ode to the capitalistic caucasian colonisers of the 23rd century, responsible for the modern day massacre – genocide through gentrification. Seeking salvation in a bottle, numbing our nerves with Netflix.

Similar to the desert of deforestation, our landscape is slowly being eradicated of care-free colourful creativity and instead wrapping it up in pre-processed plastic packaging.

The Künstlers who inhabited the squats in Berlin have like-wise been eradicated by the immobilen mafia with their sky scraping luxury apartments.

These are increasingly inhabited by global expats slaving away for bitcoins and exotic retreats.

The free spaces like our forests have been invaded by commerce. The „lazy“ indigenous were once evicted from their land as property was claimed by the new settlers, ambitious and ready to conquer and create.

Similarly in the city these day, small spontaneous gatherings are on the decrease. A Roda do Mate is the epitome of a sharing circle – to connect and exchange ideas and opinions on an eye-to-eye level – deep rooted in the commons culture.

To maintain ancient practices in a modern day is nearly impossible in a society that is struggling to survive.

We are open on Sunday afternoons this Spring to gather and share a Mate and moments on a Meta level. A donation for the circle is always welcome from those who are able to and you are welcome to bring your own mate to share.

Roda do Mate. Sundays 2 – 5 pm

April 28, 2024April 28, 2024

Mate with Meta

Mate drinking is firstly about taking a moment to connect with oneself within and sharing the gratitude and good feelings (Meta) with those around. The more we are able to practice the act of drinking and sharing the mate with this consciousness, the more we are helping to heal ourselves and planet.

Prayer for our Planet – Mate with Metta

There will come a day when people of all races, colors, and creeds will put aside their differences. They will come together in love, joining hands in unification, to heal the Earth and all her children.

We will realize that we as human beings have been put on this earth for only a short time and that we must use this time to gain wisdom, knowledge, respect and the understanding for all human beings since we are all relatives.”

Today we are going through many crises; environmental, economic, political and the indigenous territories are being invaded and looted. Along with iron and fire, come abusive and racist conversion practices.

It should not be that only when the last tree has been cut down, the last fish caught, the last river poisoned, that we realize that one cannot eat money.

The healing prayers have been replaced by hate, and medicinal remedies with aspirin. Epidemics of depression has seen the world’s highest suicide rates, as the forests of the world are stained with tears and blood.

We must overcome our inability of living in harmony and equality in our differences and start learning to share the world with other living beings, living, seeing and recognizing each other in our gaze, with reciprocity, respect for humans and respect for non-human beings too, side by side, living together in our differences.

There is only one planet, and we can all live in it, free from the burden of racism and sexism and all the other isms that we create. There are many worlds that coexist in the different ways of inhabiting this planet.

Januar 29, 2024Januar 29, 2024

Brain and Body Boosters

One of the primary focuses with running a Mate Space in Berlin is to offer the curious a place to come in contact with the herb, learn more about the culture, experience a tasting and create their own circle.

Due to consumption in popular & football culture, cross-continental migration, and the Beliebte Brause, Mate drinking has been steadily on the rise in Germany over the past decade also amongst youth culture.

In 2023 we extended our Mate Seminars to high school groups (Yerba Mate and Tango are popular cultural themes in Spanish class). Mate is often wrongly categorized as an energy drink abroad due to the high amounts of additional caffeine in the bottles.

While children do not need high doses of caffeine or sugar, real mate contains valuable vitamins and „Bitterstoffe“ that modern diets lack.

In 2018 legislation in South Brasil ruled to include Mate-based food and beverages in the public school canteen menu due to its nutritional content.

While we do still get the silly question if it’s possible to smoke Mate and if the Bomba is a pipe, over the past decade we have witnessed many meaningful moments with teenage mate circles. The benefits of drinking Mate daily can be experienced by students who are often on a budget and opt for inexpensive sources of energy.

In order to support this, we do offer student discounts in our shop for our forest harvested mates (smoked and unsmoked) and are running a special set offer this semester.

Students are not the only ones who benefit. In a recent conversation with Meta-Matero Staniel, we reflected on his stamina and the positive effects of intermittent fasting with mate in his daily sports-regime. Recently his face has been plastered around billboards in Berlin advertising memberships in a local gym, which was a good occasion to promote Stan’s Starter Set again!

According to ‚Das Kleine Tee Buch‘ by Cornelia Osterbrauck, „auch als gut bekömmliches Schlankheitsmittel wird Mate gerne verwendet, da mit ihm auf rein pflanzlicher Basis Durst- und Hungergefühle unterdrückt werden können“

Let the Mate speak for itself! We invite the curious to stop in and try it out. It is possible to book a mate session online, via Groupon or just pop in during our opening hours!

Dezember 9, 2023Dezember 9, 2023

Snowy Mate Spirits

The elements combined perfectly on a Snowy Sunny Midday Monday at the Brazilian Botschaft in Berlin.

Mate is a sacred union between water and earth (forest) energy, and when combined with the act of sitting around a fire in the fresh air, the ritual can be quite magical.

Powerful Prayers are sometimes acknowledged by the spirits.

Paganistic Practices have been virtually erased from modern society with centuries of colonialism and cathocism culminating in a capitalistic culture where we are as disconnected from our roots and plugged in to a digital global matrix.

Sometimes the simple act of sitting around in a circle and sharing a Mate can cut across cultural barriers

From Berlin to Brasil and Beyond, the Holy Shift Activists who gathered on the banks of the Spree with Meta waited to warmly welcome the visiting diplomats with mantras and mate. Due to a water leakage and power failure in the embassy, President Lula and his ministers were unable to attend the sacred ritual but this did not diminish from the celebrations!

Later that afternoon we were able to directly express our gratitude towards the Brasilian environmental minister Marina Silva who has been fighting for forests and indigenous rights for decades.

Germany has pledged over 100 million Euros in answer to Brasil’s request for international support for environmental protection.

Raise Your Hands to Hold up the Sky together!

A Comunidade Berlinense lhe deseja sucesso na busca de soluções sustentáveis para proteger as terras e águas sagradas do Brasil. Em nome da natureza e de seus filhos, vamos criar um futuro igualitário para todos na essa Planeta.

#VivaFloresta #SalveYemanja!

Dezember 3, 2023Dezember 3, 2023

MediMation Invitation

Wer Montags Lachelt hat die Richtige Mate. Those who smile on Mondays have the right Mate. And hopefully by now most of you know that the chances of you finding our doors open on Monday are schlimm…..

BUT we do have an invitation for a MondayMittagMateMob to take in some fresh air and sunshine on the banks of the Spree and share a Mate and prayer for peace to protect the planet.

Serving Mate in support of Sacred Activism on 4.12 in Märkischer Platz, Berlin.

We will bring some mates and thermoses to share and can fill your gourds up as well with fresh forest energy from the Mata Atlantica.

The festivities will take place from 11-15 hrs, but bearing in mind that it is freezing outside and that most of us are on lunch break, we are making a core calling at 12PM Noon.

The Brazilian President Lula will be visiting Berlin and the mate will be served symbolically to show our support in the preservation of the forests, waters and people on the banks of the River Spree outside the Embassy.

Dezember 3, 2023Dezember 3, 2023

Sacred Activism – Serving Mate with Meta

It all started with an invitation to serve mate last new moon on 11.11 at a gathering in celebration of Yemanja and the Elements to raise consicousness & interconnectedness.

Building bridges between Berlin and Brasil under the umbrella of sacred activism in solidarity with protecting the forests, waters and native cultures resonates with the mission of serving mate with metta.

And it is in this spirit that the Mate was shared last month and will be shared again on Monday 4 Dec at noon on the banks of the Spree at Wallstrasse 57, Berlin.

The Brazilian president Lula will be in Berlin on 4.12 and friends from the Holy Shift Project which recently launched the Cacao Coast Crusade against Porto Sul would like to use the chance to catch his attention and send a positive public message.

There is a recognition that this is a David and Goliath move that probably cannot stop the construction of a billion dollar harbor, that is tied to corrupt compromises with China, but there is hope at least tied to make people aware of what is at stake.

Over the past 50 years under the motto ‘Big Brasil’ that was instituted by the military dictatorship, the destruction of the Amazon and Altantic Forests has accelerated with indigenous tribes massacred and their lands dug up and rivers poisoned with toxic metals.

Activists continue to be silenced and most live in fear to speak up.

While it seems we are immersed in a losing battle that has been fought over centuries with the ancient way of life being lost we cannot give up hope.

Colonisation and Capitalism destroyed the concept of the commons and collectivism but we who have had the privilege to live in Northern/Western nations and Cultures have the capacity to creatively weave our consciousness in communion.

Proteção e preservação das águas, florestas e terras indígenas

Regenerative Growth Vs. Economic Extraction

#VivaFloresta #VivaNatureza #SalveOSagrado

The artistic images were created by the Brasilian Berlin Artist Iru Waves whose creations are inspired by characters, mythologies, and forest cosmologies.

My art was inspired by the work of the artist Rita Huni Kuin who explores the history of the creation of ayahuasca medicine and my work aims to bring visibility and awareness about the respect for the original people of the Amazon.

November 25, 2023November 25, 2023

Is Mate a Tea?

The answer to this question depends on your definition of Tea.

Traditionalists mostly define Tea as all variations of the Camellia sinensis. However, the word is also losely used for infusions (herbal, floral, caffeinated or not).

In Germany most „Tee“ is sold in disposable paperbags which goes against the ceremonial preparation with unique ceramics that enthusiasts celebrated last weekend at the Berlin Tea Festival

We had the priviledge of once again occupying a niche role in showing Mate culture to the curious.

Mate is a world of its own yet we find ourselves constantly translating it into a tea or bottle in order to make it understood by the general public. Just like green, black, oolong and matcha all originate from the same plant, Mate comes in many flavors and colors depending on the sourcing, drying and aging.

In order to blend in we took a banner which had Meta Mate written in Japanese (this symbol was painted by Zen Monk Seigaku and refers to the forest origin and hand made facets of Meta Mate) & a thermos full of 23 tea bags for visitors to ‚try it out‘

The morning started off with a Mate making workshop attended by about 10 people who were encouraged to keep their freshly prepared cuias with them while walking around to arouse some curiosity by other guests.

Those wishing to learn more had the chance in the evening with a 30 min presentation about Meta Mate

On Sunday afternoon we opened up our space for Mate tasting circles and had 2 sessions of creative Mate sharing and trying out the different Mates that we have on offer. We were very pleased with the reception of Mate in a foreign situation and hope to be able to participate once again next year. Thank you to the volunteers, organisers and visitors for an amazing weekend!