Untamed tiger election year

LETTERS FROM THE AGNO

March L. Fianza

The election campaigns which start on Tuesday will usher a new set of political leaders in May and will show more power and might. Candidates who will balance their moves and plan against a divisive and hateful political campaign will likely be successful, said a Feng Shui personality.
    Another Feng Shui expert predicted that politicians born under the Rooster, Horse, and Goat signs might be lucky this year. Although what is proper for politicians born under other signs is to gather positive energy and walk the path to success.
    The more popular presidentiables belong to different animal signs of the Chinese zodiac. The Rooster persons have a lot of supporters in whatever they do. This is a fortunate year for those seeking positions in public office.
    Bongbong Marcos is a Rooster person (1957) but while one Feng Shui expert said the Roosters could be lucky in politics, they should be forewarned and watch out for interference and sudden changes.
    Vice president Leni Robredo was born under the Snake sign (1965). One Feng Shui says, the Snake person should develop relationships with families and social circles, and watch out for conflicts at home, and people who may not be good for him or her, whatever that means.
    The Snake person’s allies are the Ox and Rooster. But how will Snake Leni and Rooster Bongbong become allies? How can that be when one is hating and the other claims to belong to a unity team? It could be that the Feng Shui expert did not see the good balance or was cross-eyed.
    Sen. Ping Lacson and those born under the Rat sign (1948) are advised to be courageous about new opportunities. They must also monitor their personal health and that of their loved ones as well. They must watch out for bad temper and cool down, which is what Ping is doing.
    The lone presidential bet born under the Tiger sign is Manila mayor Isko Moreno (1974). This could be a year of change, but also a time to show new skills. But he should watch out for words that come out of his mouth and what he writes.
    The only eight-division world champion in the history of boxing, Sen. Manny Pacquiao was born under the Horse sign (1978). Feng Shui says, 2022 is a good year for developing a career, business and academic life.
    Yes, the Pacman should consider withdrawing from the presidential race and focus on developing sports, start a new business and finish formal school.  He was allowed to graduate from University of Makati with a bachelor's degree in political science through the Expanded Tertiary Education Equivalency and Accreditation Program (ETEEAP).
    The program allows qualified persons to complete a college degree through an informal education system. Imagine people in the academe who spent so much time, effort and money to finish four to five year college courses but still cannot make ends meet. Then here comes Pacman who gets a college degree in a few months and later runs for president.
    The Feng Shui experts say people are inclined to follow and listen to Horse persons but at the same time, Horse persons should take care of their mental health, otherwise go astray. Nobody wants an off-track president.
    But just like presidentiables who say a lot of things different from each other, the Feng Shui experts agree that 2022, the Year of the Water Tiger could be unfortunate since it would be accompanied by fights, tensions, struggles and rebellions.
    As we already know that the tiger is a wild, ferocious and an aggressive animal, we as individuals and our governments should therefore be warned to not glide along with such qualities. Instead, we should avoid hating people, honor and respect each other.
    Above all, the year 2022 asks everyone to be more resilient as a tiger, strong and keen in surviving the pandemic. Amid the approaching mudslinging, hate and smear campaign, this is the best year for all to give their best, accept a new normal lifestyle and be more positive but not with Covid-19.
    Keng Hei Fat Tsay!

Read more...

Pangasinan healer still sought after by foreign, local clients

By Liezle Basa Inigo

MANAOAG, Pangasinan – Around 40 foreign tourists seeking treatment for various ailments were warmly received by Rev. Alex Orbito, president of the Philippine Healers’ Circle, at the Pyramid of Asia Healing Center in Barangay Cabanbanan, Manaoag, Pangasinan last week.

Among the visitors were Americans, Germans, Russians, Canadians, Czechs, as well as nationals from Bulgaria, Switzerland, Belgium, Sweden and Holland.

Journalists who visited the welcome party tendered by Orbito, owner and overall manager of the picturesque Pyramid of Asia, opined that “it’s about time the province acknowledged Orbito’s contribution to the tourism industry as well as his role in restoring to wellness hundreds of patients coming from foreign lands.”

“Orbito has been receiving at his Pyramid Center foreign patients from all parts of the world,” a journalist said.

Orbito has acquired a reputation for healing individuals suffering from different ailments and diseases, particularly those with malignancies.

A revered healer, Orbito is reportedly most sought for his rare gift of healing with bare hands and prayers here and abroad where he is received even by royalty, heads of state, and prominent show business personalities.

Read more...

The calming power of rituals

BENCHWARMER

Ramon Dacawi

Julian Chees, the Igorot former world champion in traditional karate, needed to have two rituals performed to re-anchor him to his cultural roots.  So he rushed home the other week for a memorial for his aunt who recently died and  a “daw-es” (cleansing ritual) that had been delayed for three months.

The  whistle-stop also allowed him to sustain a personal and collective ritual that he, his martial arts students and friends in southern Germany have been into since 2004: reaching out, whenever they could, to indigent patients in the Cordillera homeland.

At Christmas ten years ago, he traveled to Banaue, Ifugao with the late Baguio newsman Willy Cacdac to deliver P70,000 to two women in black. They had just lost two kids who were entombed alive when their house along the rice terraces was buried by a landslide at the height of a rare year-end typhoon.

Last week, he motored to his native village of Maligcong, Bontoc, Mt. Province for a “mangmang” ritual in memory of his maternal aunt, Dolores Pursen-Hilgert, a nurse who recently died in Germany. While in Bontoc,  he found time to cheer up a patient – accident victim David Chumacog – who was confined at the Mt. Province Hospital:

Back in Baguio last Sunday afternoon, he sat beside an old man, a native priest from Maligcong Village, Pinsao, in the company of mentor and fellow fifth dan blackbelt Edgar Kapawen Sr. of the Japan Karate Association based at the YMCA of Baguio.

The priest offered a chicken for the daw-es, so performed to cleanse people of bad luck or the influence of evil spirits they might have encountered while helping people in need, such as victims of typhoon Yolanda that hit central Philippines last November.

A month after the killer storm struck, Julian, Alberto Manaois and this writer flew to Capiz to deliver about a million pesos in cash and in kind. The amount was pooled in less than two weeks by people who responded to his appeal on the web for support to victims of the super-howler. We reached barangay Concepcion in Dumalag town, and St. Andre Mission and San Nicolas de Myra Parish, both in neighboring Tapaz town.

We were met by a team of linemen from the Benguet Electric Cooperative who, for a month by then, had been restoring the lines of the Capiz Electric Cooperative as part of its own out-reach to co-ops in distress.  The crew headed by engineers Rocky Pallogan, Zac Torres and Carlo Bentayen, tipped Fr. Niel Olano of St. Martin of Tours Church in Dumalag, of Chees’ relief mission and arranged the purchase of 200 sacks of rice from a miller in Panitan town.  The priest, who opened the parish as quarters for the Beneco team, set the relief distribution the following morning.

In keeping with the Christian ritual, Fr. Olano opened the day with a community mass. He then christened three toddlers to mark their entry into the community: three-month old John Eman Berino, one-month old Remy Remaze Queen and two-month old Alyza Faeldin.

The rite of baptism at the Imaculada Concepcion Chapel on top of a hill provided the village folk the symbol of hope they badly needed. It delivered a counterpoint to the sight of destruction and depression all around, along the highway from the Roxas Airport 50 kilometers away: crumpled huts of the poor, mangled steel trusses stripped of roof sheets, thousands upon thousands of tropical trees and coconuts lying where they had fallen or sawn for rebuilding, or standing naked, their leaves, branches and otherwise productive upper half blown off.

Upon the Beneco crew’s return to Baguio on Dec. 20, co-op officials headed by general manager Gerry Verzosa arranged a “daw-es” for them at the Beneco-DPS compound.

Back in Germany where he had settled for years, Chees rued why, notwithstanding his cultural upbringing, he had forgotten to have the same ritual performed for us immediately after arrival in Baguio from Capiz.

Haunted by the thought and the need for a native rite in memory of his aunt Dolores, he booked a Qatar Airways flight for home. Before returning to Germany, he handed P30,000 to Berdeng Karunungan, a community service group headed by television journalist Dhobie de Guzman to boost  its campaign to set up a community library and museum for Pasil town in Kalinga.

The amount came from German karate students who had invited Chees to conduct kata and sparring seminar for their clubs - the  Bushido Siegen-Rolf Ringe (380 euro) and Karate-dojo goettingen (P220 euro)

Last Monday, Julian met Joshua Paway, the nine-year old boy born with a hearing defect that former journalist Annabelle Codiase-Bangsoy wrote about. He handed the kid’s mother, laundrywoman Nancy, who is singlehandedly raising two kids, P10,000 for the basics.

Doctors are waiting for Joshua to turn ten before they will extract a cartilage from his rib cage and implant it in his ear to enable him to hear.

Calmed by the indigenous rituals of respect and cleansing and renewed by the  humanitarian reason for his home-coming, Julian was on his way back to the airport last Wednesday morning. He has a schedule of seminars for karate students until Easter Sunday in Germany, the country that honored him as the only non-German by birth to have been drafted into its national karate team.

Dr. Carl Hammerschlag who, as a physician to Native Americans, learned from them the healing power of indigenous rituals, summed up the reasons for Julian’s sudden home-coming: “Rituals have most power and meaning when they are shared in groups that reinforce the unity and community we need to sustain ourselves. But individuals can also develop personal rituals that are touchstones for their own truths.”

As the late Baguio journalist Jose “Peppot” Ilagan pointed out, culture is man’s way of coping with nature.  (e-mail: mondaxbench@yahoo.com for comments.)  

Read more...

Closer to Kabunian and spirits

HAPPY WEEKEND

Gina Dizon

SAGADA, Mountain Province -- Here in this cultural-knit town and neighbouring  Besao, the Appais  revere  ‘inayan’ as an influencing  factor in  thoughts, acts  and decisions.

Inayan simply means don’t do anything bad but the local context is as notable and spiritual as one’s reverence to  the earth around  --  plants, rocks, waters  “inhabited” by  spirits  and Kabunian (God) who lords over everything.  

Along with reverence to nature, Appais in their community upbringing come face to face with rituals as they relate with family members, relatives, peers, and community from birth, marriage, death and in socio-agricultural practices.

One’s birth begins with a ritual of attachment to home and roots of where one belongs. The umbilical cord cut off from one’s navel and buried under the house or near the very home of one’s parents reminds one of remembering home, ancestors, community where one comes from.

Naming a child is again a ritual called  ‘gubbao’  -- the  giving of a name derived from a grandmother or a grandfather’s name  traced from a great- great- grandmother or a great- great- grandfather’s name; and so with acts guiding his/her childhood and practices during marriage and death keeping a person close to his roots and the psyche of his being.

And so a name taken from the very genealogical lineage of a person shall  let the person  know who his/her  grandparents  and  ancestors  are and  to keep them close to him/her as a kin, a clan, and a community. It is a plus factor to know that the good traits of a name derived from who formerly had the name  who may be  wise, industrious, kind, brave, full of laughter and wit, storyteller etc are traits  maybe passed on to the child.

It follows that from birth to marriage to death, it is a cycle of rituals that happens in the life of a person born in a cultural knit place where everyone knows everyone. A very natural and most genuine way of living and dying that is life to a person born in a cultural village.

Such that an act which happens not of the very nature and normal practice is questioned, negated and condemned. Along with this is the “inayan” of the matter for an act done alien to the very customary manner of why an act is being done.

Practices are meant to be done the true, natural and normal the way as the people normally breathe and not for something else.  

“Inayan,”  this very basic thought process ingrained in the mind of an iSagada or an iBesao revolves  around a distinct value of  what  is revered  as  a basis of  behavior  to preserve one’s person, family, clan  and community. A Christian may associate “inayan” with a similar practixe of “doing unto others what one wants others done unto you.”

This very thought and act of revering what is valuable  and is also related to material possession. What one eats and sleeps in  makes  a most distinguishable  aspect of the  being of a person living in a community which collectively considers what is sacred and practices  that have to be respected.

Practices done over the test of time by a people over a period of time have been done with the beliefs over nature and spirits as people conversed and moved around the unseen in the most intricate manner of being one with nature and spirits, thus the practice of rituals to bridge the gap between the seen and the unseen.  

For even God cannot be seen but His overpowering presence is not denied. And so with lesser spirits who have their own influence to matters that happen and challenges the realist who sees with his physical eyes.

Such that the very violation of a practice, a ritual most especially  is much revolting to see. A violation which could be a re-enactment of a death ritual equated to making lesser and diminished of value a time tested and long- time practice.

For one, the re-enaction of a death ritual by a foreign firm late July this year aided by an elder, the municipal secretary, and a lead  guide, that of  the conduct of a ritual, hauling  a coffin atop the rocks of  Baw-eng  at Echo Valley across Calvary Hill and no dead body to go along with it  was seen as most condemnable.

Even the legislative body of the town, the Sangguniang Bayan, has condemned this in one of their regular sessions for being violative of the peoples’ customary practices.

Read more...

Miracles still happen

LIGHT AT THE END OF THE TUNNEL

Roger Sinot Sr.

TUBA, Benguet -- In an annulment of marriage case, the judge said, “Mister and missus, will you please approach the bench together with your lawyers.” They came forward and the judge continued, “After 30 years of being married, for the last time, will you go down to Asin and take a bath in one of the hot springs in the area. To be specific, go with your lawyers to the original hot springs managed by Roger Sinot.”

The following day, the wife came ahead with her lawyer. She paid their entrance fees to the pool area, saying: “Hmm, bayadanna met a ti entrance na ken ti abogado na” (He should pay his and his lawyer’s entrance fees), referring to her husband. After a few minutes, the husband came with his lawyer. As they approached the receiving area, the husband opened the registration log book and noticed that the names of his wife and her lawyer were listed. He said, “Talaga nga madi ah… binayadan na laeng ti bagi da” (This is bad, she paid only for their own entrance fees).

As per instruction from the judge, the husband and wife went inside one of the private hot bathtub cubicles available at that time. The private bathroom is located very near the Asin riverbank. It was here where ancestor Ibaloifolks said that “miracles still happen” because rivers, like any other bodies of water, are the highways of the unseen. It was common belief among many Ibalois that when you want to talk to a departed loved one, you go to the river.

Your prayers will be answered. So after being together for almost an hour inside the hot bathtub in a private room, the couple came out screaming and raised their hands saying “It’s a miracle!” The lawyers were shocked with what they saw. One of them said to the other, “Panyero, naabak tan. Sapay nagngina abang ko ti upisinak ijay Session road” (My friend, we lost. I even have an expensive rented office along Session road).

***

A doctor’s advice to a young lady patient who cannot walk: “You might as well try soaking your body in hot water. Go down to Asin Hot Springs. It is our last resort.” In the days that followed, the parents saw to it that their young lady dipped in hot water everyday. They even found a room nearby to stay in as transients. In a month of dipping in Asin’s medicinal hot waters, the young lady can now walk.

A year has passed and unaware of the event, a couple of parents came down to Asin looking for their daughter. They said, “Remember us? We were the family that came to this place one time because of our daughter’s problem with her legs.” Before their conversation with the Asin Hot Springs manager ended, they said, “After our ordeal, we are now looking for her – because now that she can run, our problem is “nakitaray metten!” She ran away with her boyfriend.

***

One morning, two muscled members of the Philippine National Police SWAT team came to dip in the private bathtub near the Asin river. After a long, hard night’s mission they undertook, they thought of coming to Asin to relax. After registering at the entrance, they laid down their heavy equipment hanging from their bodies. They undressed their uniforms and went inside the bathroom in their bikini briefs. I put their armalite rifles inside the house for safekeeping. After an hour, the bathroom door quickly opened and I saw the two holding hands, raising them and shouting, “It’s a miracle!”

***

Benguet’s finest officials could hardly come to a common stand on a certain financial issue. One of the members got an advice from my columnist neighbor on what to do and come to a solution to the problem. He told them to go to Asin and have a dip in the mini pool by the river then sit around the dap-ay that has 13 stone backrests and three stones at the front. The 13 dap-ay stones symbolize the Benguet 13 towns while the three stones in front stand for the congressman, the governor and vice governor. So the Benguet officials scheduled their trip.

They all undressed and soaked their bodies all together in the open pool by the Asin river. As they dipped in the warm medicinal water of the Asin Hot Springs, they talked about issues, the pros and cons. They bowed their heads and rested while soaking in the pool. After an hour they went to the dap-ay and prayed that the spirits of their ancestors and Kabunyan be upon them as they decide on issues that have divided them.

The eldest said a prayer like a “mambunong.”  After all the decision-making, I noticed the tilapias in the river grouped on one side of the river, as if they were all ears to what was going on at the dap-ay. It looked like the fishes grouped the way the government officials did. The tilapias were in a dialogue. It’s a miracle.

Miracles still happen. Happy trails to everyone… and Happy Father’s day. - RDS

Read more...

Don’t trust a ‘rabbit’

LETTERS FROM THE AGNO
March L Fianza

For the Chinese, 2011 is the Year of the Rabbit, the fourth animal in the 12-year cycle of the Chinese Zodiac. But before we talk about that, this space reprint parts of commentaries by Dr. Teresita Cheng Yu, about two books written by his uncle Engr. Richard L. Cheng of Trancoville,Baguio City and Nevada, USA.

Dr. Yu is the Medical Director of West Valley Center for Asian Medicine and Acupuncure and Snow Lotus Herbal Center.

Engr. Cheng, the author of Valley of Peace and The Day the Crickets Stopped Singing is the brother of Dr. Charles L. Cheng, Medical Director of the Baguio Filipino-Chinese General Hospital, M. Roxas St., Baguio City, Philippines and the author of Pesticides and Hazardous Effects on the Benguet Vegetable Farmers, 1993.

I asked permission from Engr. Cheng to use Dr. Yu’s statements about his books, parts of which I edited. Here goes:

“His first book, Valley of Peace, is a simple and easy book to read. Some may say, it is a children’s book belonging to the genre of folktales and fables. So be it. To me, it is much, much more.

The stories echo the voices of our forefathers. They teach us the lessons of humanity. They bring to life the sceneries of old. The ‘Ancients’ I think will give this book a grin and an encouraging nod. I myself, upon reading this book, was reminded of my grandfather Kungkung.

The Day the Crickets Stopped Singing, Uncle Richard’s second book, belongs to a different genre altogether. It is the story of a family – our family.

Reading the book transported me to a different time and place, a generation before we were born. It is a book with many voices, young and old, in a time of great turmoil and change. It is a story of survival, of love, of dreams, of togetherness and individual responsibility.
I hear the voices of my grandparents, my young mother, my aunts and uncles telling of their experiences of growing up in Baguio amidst the tragedy of war and the hope for peace.

What a wonderful surprise to find PoPo’s recipes! Just as I thought they were lost to our generation, lo and behold, this book resurrected them. I do remember grandma’s nine-layered cake. So that’s how you make it! And my Mom’s favorite taro root cake, what a delight.

Just for my grandma’s recipes, this book is a gem. What’s more, there are stories within the stories as told by my grandparents. I can hear their voices and realize how much I miss them. I am indeed so grateful that their legacy will forever live in this book.

I fancy myself an extensive reader, inspired by my mother. I began reading epic novels in the fifth grade and have not stopped since. Indeed, in each book, I always learned something new.

In my readings, I have yet to come across a book that uses so much symbolism as this one. I learned the symbolism of fruits! Thanks to this book, I will not eat a peach the same way again. Nor will I drink the sixth cup of tea at the office without thinking that I am now drinking with the immortals!

In my heart, I have always known that my family is special, that I am special. So it’s true, I come from a long line of great ancestry, from Admiral Zheng He to General Cheng Xing Kung. My name is Teresita Cheng Yu. I am the second daughter of Ah San in the book. I belong to the 26th generation of the Cheng clan.

I give my uncle Richard three bows – one for each book and the third to thank him for this great endeavor.”

I have read Valley of Peace. It is a collection of short stories based on old Chinese tales that are suited for children as a reading material in the classroom, and for adult readers because it leaves lessons that only mature readers may recognize. It also includes original stories by Engr. Cheng.

I met Richard Cheng more than a year ago when he came home to launch Valley of Peace. My uncle, the late Joseph L. Fianza was his school mate and playmate in Trancoville.
***
Now we talk about the rabbit. The rabbit years are 1915, 1927, 1939, 1951, 1963, 1975, 1987, 1999 and 2011. My first encounter with the rabbit was when I was a young boy, when I used to buy the white rabbit candy at one centavo per piece.

Then I saw my first rabbit when my father bought a pair. So first, it was a candy, then the real animal… now we have rabbit persons.

Famous people born in the Year of the Rabbit were Albert Einstein, Frank Sinatra, Pope Benedict the XVI, Angelina Jolie, Brad Pitt, Johnny Depp, Tiger Woods, Sting, Whitney Houston, Harry Belafonte, Bob Hope, Roger Moore, Tatum O'Neal, Jane Seymour, among a thousand others.

Rabbits make model diplomats or politicians, according to Atty. Cristeta Leung who introduced the Rabbit to the media in a presscon at the Hotel Supreme of Peter and Ivy Ng.

According to Chinese astrologers, what makes the rabbit unique is its nature in doing things, including sex. What I knew was that rabbits have a lot of sex. In fact they hump on anything they encounter, including chickens.

And so, North Korea decided to take advantage of this scientific fact and is encouraging its people to breed rabbits for food because of that. In one news item in a Korean paper, it said that rabbit farms have been built to increase parent rabbits that have very high or unusually high fertility rate and grow fast and produce much meat with less feed.

When asked if rabbit meat is good to eat, Dr. Cheng said that aside from the fur that fashion designers get, the government once upon a time during the Marcos era, made rabbit meat a supplementary diet as this is highest in protein.

I remember in the 70s, there was this restaurant-bakery in Burnham, Baguio called Bussurca (I forgot what the acronym stood for) that served rabbit burgers.

According to Chinese astrologers, rabbit persons, like the animal, are graceful and get on well with others. They are reserved ‘creatures’ and are happy when they are involved in intellectual works. The ‘rabbit’ stresses the significance of small details and pay attention to color and design, food taste and everything but live a conservative lifestyle.

‘Rabbits’ are easily moved by problems of others and they cry easily too. This makes them sentimental and compassionate. So that salesmen have much better luck with rabbit people as customers who will definitely buy their products.

By the way, Baguio is the only city in the Philippines that officially celebrates the Chinese Spring Festival (Chinese New Year). Hence, Malacanang is studying the possibility of declaring it a national event. That is a development worth following up.

But whatever the astrologers foretell, do not put full trust on the personality of the rabbit because the person, whether born in the year of the Rabbit or not, controls his own fate. And the astrologers’ predictions are effectively for amusement and are not meant to replace your natural talent on decision-making. – marchfianza777@yahoo.com

Read more...

Law of karma

SUPPLEMENTAL KNOWLEDGE
Jhunie B. Wahayna

Will honest repentance about an evil act done in the past decreases the bad consequence of karma?

Honest repentance does seem to have a sobering effect on its specific consequence of punishment for the evil act. But canceling out of a bad karma by an independent good karma doesn't seem to be a practical proposition, though it may have a definite bearing in lessening the burden of the bad karma.

Doing "prayaschitta" is generally recommended by saints to lessen the bad impact of “prarabhdha”. Karma means work or action. When you perform a work or action, it is bound to produce an effect, a reaction or a result. If you are the doer of karma with a desire, you are to own up the result or the fruit it produces. Good karma will get you good effects and bad karma will get you bad consequences.

“For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction” - says science. “Thou shall reap what thy sow” - according to English proverb. “Watch your thoughts, for they become words. Watch your words, for they become actions. Watch your actions, for they become habits. Watch your habits, for they become character. Watch your character, for it becomes your destiny”- unknown author. This is a simplified explanation of the law of karma.

The doctrine of karma has many implications as to how we may lead our lives. It means that all our actions will lead to its natural consequence. We may not know what the consequence will be and in fact it may be delayed for many lengths of time but the consequence will follow inevitably. In Tibetan Buddhism the inevitable retribution is compared to the shadow of a kite or an eagle as it searches for its prey.

When the eagle is high in the sky its shadow is not to be seen. However when the eagle swoops to the ground to catch hold of its prey the menacing shadow appears. Similarly we are not aware of the consequences of our actions for most part but they will appear just as the shadow of the eagle suddenly appears.

The application of the law of karma is applied to chain smokers. Let say a person who starts smoking at the age of 16 till his 50’s will definitely have lung cancer and eventually will die. The action here is smoking and the reaction due to smoking is having a lung cancer and the destiny is death. The consequence here of the bad karma is delayed for many lengths of time but the consequence will follow inevitably, there is no escape.

What are the consequences of a bad karma to a government official or a public servant who always engage in graft and corruption? A priest or a pastor who do the reverse of what he is preaching. A contractor who always constructs his projects in a sub-standard manner. A lawyer or a practicing professional who always cheats his clients. A doctor who charges his patients exorbitantly. A journalist using his profession to extort money, and among others. I will leave these questions for you to think about on the negative effect and impact of the bad karma. To be safe from the consequences, always do good things and deeds, even if others don’t. Life is short. We must make our life the best of it while we are still living.

The law of karma is not confined to individuals - there is family karma, national karma, international karma, the karma of a city. All these are mixed with the karma of the individual, and thus it happens that people lives are influenced by events completely beyond their control. All these karma's are inter-related and can be understood in its full complexity only by an enlightened being.

The law of karma gives us guidance as to how we may lead our lives. When misfortune strikes we know that it will not last forever but will pass in time. We know through the law of karma that these are consequences, which have inevitably followed from our past actions. The attitude when difficulties befall us should be - This is the coming to fruition of our past karma.
We should not see suffering as a punishment nor do we blame ourselves and indulge in self-hatred. Tibetans say that suffering is the broom, which sweeps away our negative karma. We can even be grateful that one karma is coming to an end.

Eastern philosophy is full of stories of how bandits and murderers have overcome their bad karma and gone on to become monks and even saints. Angulimala is an example. He had killed 999 people in his previous life as a bandit. But he was won over by the Buddha and went on to become a monk and a sage.

Similarly in Tibetan Buddhism the story is told of Milarepa. He was a sorcerer who killed many people with his black magic for revenge or profit. Yet through his remorse and hardships and penances that he underwent, he went on to become enlightened. This is a figure of inspiration to millions.

This coming election, we must choice our right leaders so that we can experience the effect of good karma. Choosing the wrong one will be a bad consequence of karma to our city and to our country as a whole. These are some brief remarks about karma.

Read more...

Seeing the big picture

BUSINESS BITS
Aileen Santos

Our life coach teaches an exercise on how you can train our mind to use the Big Picture Experience to bring success.

When you're just starting out in your business one of the most powerful resources you have is your passion which you can leverage in a variety of ways. One leveraging tool which can be extremely effective at quickly bringing success is something that I call the "Big Picture Experience."

Let me tell you why this is so powerful: In the movie The Secret, quantum physicists and medical doctors alike agreed on three breakthrough discoveries about the human mind:

That people's life situations are always caused by their deep-seated beliefs and expectations. Plastic surgeon Dr. Maxwell Maltz supports this in his book Psycho-Cybernetics. He wondered why more than 80% of his patients still felt unhappy even after receiving the surgery they wanted. He found that the reason was they still retained their old beliefs about themselves (causing the people around them to treat them the same way, too)

That real life change only begins to happen NOT after reading or hearing about something, but after actually experiencing it.

That the human mind actually can NOT distinguish between what we imagine from what we actually experience. So if we can imagine something so fully and completely that our minds cannot tell it apart from reality, then we have no choice but to make it happen.

Have you ever given yourself the chance to really experience this? Remember, "learning" about something isn't the same as experiencing it. Here's what you can do:

Imagine what a successful day would look like, feel like, sound like, smell like? and write it down. The more multi-sensory your ?story? is, the more your mind would be able to experience it and believe in it. Professional life coaches often do this for you as part of your coaching package, and will even send you a recording that includes relaxation techniques that help your mind absorb it faster.

Record this Big Picture Experience and save it as an audio file in your computer, then download it into your iPod or phone. You?ll then be able to access it whether you?re on the road or at your office.
Really commit to listening to this recording every morning for the next 30 days, before your start each day. I challenge you to try this--really try this--and tell me how it affects your life.

At the very least, this exercise will jumpstart your day with renewed passion and enthusiasm; it even helps you make easier decisions about your tasks and priorities, because you have a clearer idea about where you want to go.

At its very best--particularly when it's done beyond 30 days, this habit will reprogram your mind to "create success" while you're working towards your goals, and create lasting positive changes in your life.

(Aileen Santos is an internationally certified Work-Life ReInvention Coach & A-Ha! Trainer who helps overwhelmed leaders & entrepreneurs create more balance in their lives by helping them achieve success in the things that truly matter. Learn more about her training & coaching work at LightBulbOnYourHead.com or visit her blog at AileenSantos.com.)

Read more...

Freudian slip or self-prophecy?

PERRYSCOPE
Perry Diaz

When former President Cory Aquino passed away last August 1, 2009, some media people made erroneous reports saying that it was President Gloria Arroyo who died.

The first came from Lala Rimando of Newsbreak magazine who reported that Gloria Arroyo passed away. Rimando later apologized saying, “I’m guilty. I killed our president,” which was posted on abs-cbnnews. com. "I wrote an online story about the passing of a former president but inadvertently referred to the current one who's still very much alive in portions of the story. Instead of Mrs Aquino, some sentences had 'Mrs Arroyo'..." Freudian slip?

Then in a live ABS-CBN TV coverage showing the military honor guard waiting for Cory’s body to arrive at De La Salle Greenhills, the caption says, “Military honors para kay Ginang Arroyo, inihahanda na.”

Then during Cory’s wake, a story posted on Philstar.com says, “Wearing a white blazer suit, President Arroyo went straight to view the coffin of former President Arroyo and offered a short prayer before joining Senator Noynoy Aquino, who received the president in behalf of the Aquino family.”

And the day after Cory’s burial, Manila Bulletin published a photo with the caption: “With utmost care, military honor guard carefully moves the coffin of President Arroyo out of the Manila Cathedral.” Was it a self-fulfilling prophecy?

Was there a deliberate effort to put Gloria in a bad light? We can only speculate. But one thing went unnoticed: ABS-CBN and Manila Bulletin did not apologize for these mistakes. It was also evident that nobody was fired or reprimanded publicly which in a way suggests that the publishers might have condoned the faux pas. I could just imagine the chuckling amongst the media top honchos. Why not? After all, the Arroyos have dealt them with hard-hitting blows including more than 40 libel lawsuits filed against them by First Gentleman Mike Arroyo. Well, it’s payback time, folks.

In an attempt to downplay the errors, Gloria’s spin doctors issued a statement which says that they believe that these were “honest mistakes.” But what else can they say… or do? It’s best to just forget about it and move on with the affairs of state.

But there was one event that put Gloria in a very bad light. She just finished her working visit President Barack Obama at the White House when news of Cory’s death reached her. But for a couple of days, she went on with her scheduled activities. On August 3, she decided to cut her visit short and fly back to Manila to attend Cory’s wake.

However, just before flying back home, Gloria and her entourage of about 30 people went to New York City’s upscale French restaurant, Le Cirque, for dinner. They spent a whopping $20,000! That’s almost one million pesos, enough to feed 100,000 poor and hungry Filipinos.

On August 7, the New York Post published on its front page an article, “Eat and Drink,” which says that Gloria and her entourage were “enjoying the good life” and “ordered several bottles of very expensive wine, pushing the dinner tab up to $20,000.” Indeed, it was a sumptuous dinner that not even King Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette could have afforded it during their time. After all, didn’t Marie Antoinette tell the hungry French people to eat cake when they couldn’t afford to buy bread?

Gloria’s expensive excursion to a posh French restaurant in New York City did not bide well with the people. It was a crass display of insensitivity to Filipinos who were grieving the death of their beloved Cory. Gloria’s haggard “grieving” appearance at the wake was probably the result of eating too much caviar and drinking too much champagne -- frolicking while her country was mourning. It was a fake grief and they could see through her.

Cory’s nine-hour 20-kilometer funeral procession from the Manila Cathedral to the Manila Memorial Park was joined by more than 300,000 people, the largest in Philippine history. The mourning people -- a lot of whom wore yellow, Cory’s color -- braved the rain to bid farewell to their heroine.

It was a final “show of force” by Cory’s loyal followers, many of whom have participated in the “People Power” revolution of 1986. It gave a strong signal to Gloria that Cory’s followers would protect Cory’s legacy -- freedom and democracy -- which are embodied in the 1987 constitution, oftentimes referred to as the “People Power” or Cory Constitution.

And with Cory’s passing, the political landscape has changed irreversibly. Any attempt to amend the 1987 constitution now would spark the ire of the people which could lead to another “people power” revolt. And Gloria, smart as she is, wouldn’t dare touch Cory’s constitution, not now, not during her presidency.

With the 1987 constitution untouched, any attempt by Gloria to stay in power beyond June 2010 would be futile. The people would resist it. Charter change is not in the cards anymore, not while Gloria is still in power.

And this brings to mind whether the media’s “honest mistakes” announcing Gloria’s death were the result of Freudian slip or self-fulfilling prophecy. I believe that it was Freudian slip. However, I also believe that it was a self-fulfilling prophecy -- that of Gloria’s imminent “political death” in 10 months. Cory’s death has sealed Gloria’s fate.

There is an adage that says, “Quit while you’re ahead.” A second version says, “Quit while you’re a head.” Marie Antoinette had a chance to quit while she was a head but she didn’t. It’s a lesson that Gloria should not forget. (PerryDiaz@gmail. com)

Read more...

100 students ‘possessed’: Bontoc tribal elders ‘drive away demons’

By Francis Degay

BONTOC, Mountain Province -- A group of elders of four central barangys of Bontoc led by Ama Posot of Bontoc Ili performed a two-day tribal rite to “impel evil spirits” that “possessed” around 100 students of the Mountain Province Comprehensive General High School here since July 29.

Latest cases involved 49 students on July 29, 37 on July 30, nine on Aug. 3, six on Aug. 4 and four on Aug 6. To date around 100 students have been “possessed.”
Now, the ceremonies were apparently effective as no untoward incidents happened after Aug. 6.

Late afternoon of July 30, elders performed changtey (tribal cleansing rite) at the school quadrangle. A chicken was butchered and the bile was interpreted as ekeb (good luck). The chicken meat with etag (salted meat) was cooked.

While the food was being cooked, lakay Posot spewed from his mouth tapey (rice wine) on the branches of tikem, an indigenous tree, that were laid on the ground before these were hung at the center of the municipal quadrangle and two entrances of the school compound.

Some elders from Bontoc Ili and Samoki went back to their respective ato to perform the same ritual.

This was followed by drinking of rice wine, basi (sugar cane) and gin while relating the incidents and finalizing their plans for the succeeding ritual the following day.

Before the folks left for home at about 7:30 p.m. after partaking of the food, unconsumed wine was placed near the ritual site. Firewood left in cooking was put in the embers until it turned to ashes.

At about 6-7 a.m. of the second day the elders met and at the school main gate to check if untoward incidents happened after the first ritual.

Since everything was fine, the next ritual, the pa-ang, was performed.

During the pa-ang, the head bones of pigs were suspended in the two entrances of the school compound simultaneous with the burning (chenet) of bones of animals.

This ritual is believed to drive away bad spirits.

The same ritual was simultaneously done in all the entrances of the villages of Samoki and Bontoc Ili where they have atos. Barangays Caluttit and Poblacion did only the chenet.

The area in the Poblacion where MPGCHS is located was described by elders as burial grounds for victims of accidents several decades ago.

Elders here said the “disturbed spirits” were angry about a situation in the school compound.

Earlier the “demonic possession” of the students was immediately attended to by parents, officials, government officers, and tribal priests and priestesses.

Dr. Janice Bugtong from the regional CHD and psychiatrists from Baguio General Hospital were immediately were deployed to attend to the students following coordination by Dr Diga Gomez, municipal health officer.

MPGCHS faculty and staff, Dr Penelope Domogo from the Provincial Health Office, Dr. Judith Pagaduan and Winifred Ananayo from Bontoc General Hospital, Dr. Dalome Dalog- Peckley and staff from Department of Education , Mayor Franklin Odsey and Bontoc councilor Poblacion barangay captain Erlinda Bucaycay, Dr Gomez, elders and the media provided support.
Group counseling sessions were conducted. Dr. Elizabeth Solang based in Baguio, and who traces her roots from Bontoc considered the phenomenon “mass hysteria”.

Read more...

Mass hysteria or demonic possession?

HAPPY WEEKEND
Gina Dizon

BONTOC, Mountain Province -- Medical specialists attributed the fainting spells which happened to some 100 students here the past two weeks as “mass hysteria.” With no medical findings of sickness among students, the fainting and screaming were mass hysteria, Dr Elizabeth Solang told school and municipal authorities here.

Mass hysteria is " socio-psychological phenomenon of the manifestation of the same or similar hysterical sign by more than one person. A common manifestation of mass hysteria occurs when a group of people believe they are suffering from a similar disease or ailment. Features of mass hysteria include no plausible cause found, ambiguous symptoms, rapid escalation of cases- often spread by line of sight and rapid remission of symptoms." (Wikipedia)

Dr Solang said features of the Bontoc fainting phenomenon are similar to features of mass hysteria. The cause of mass hysteria is often “a baseless belief that begins small but, like a hurricane, travels and becomes more devastating as it picks up speed.”

Mass hysteria describes the spread of psychologically produced symptoms such as fainting and screaming from person to person. In most cases, mass hysteria occurs in schools and institutions to young women in response to group tensions or worries and often triggered by one of two persons.

Dr. Timothy Jones of Tennesse Department of Health says that outbreaks of mass hysteria “often occur in groups experiencing physical or emotional stress. From 1973 to 1993, one half of reported outbreaks of psychogenic illness occurred in schools, followed by factories (29 percent), towns and villages (10 percent), families and other institutions.”

We talk about the mass hysteria in Tanzania where 20 girls fainted after taking their final exams a year ago. There were more girls, (at least two thirds) than boys in the recent mass fainting in Bontoc.

Hysteria is derived from the Greek word uterus. Hysteria was originally thought to be a physical disorder confined to women. By the 19th century, hysteria was believed to have a psychological origin.

Mass hysteria is also termed as mass psychogenic illness according to Dr Timothy Jones. It is “characterized by symptoms, occurring among a group of persons with shared beliefs regarding those symptoms, that suggest organic illness but have no identifiable environmental cause and little clinical or laboratory evidence of disease. Mass psychogenic illness typically affects adolescents or children, groups under stress and females disproportionately more than males.”

American Medical Association says, “Today, many psychiatrists feel that the term hysteria is no longer helpful in diagnosis. In modern classification, the symptoms formerly grouped under this term are now included in the more specific diagnostic categories of conversion disorder, dissociative disorders, somatization disorder, and factitious disorders, and anxiety reaction”.

Anxiety disorder is characterized by chronic free-floating anxiety and such symptoms as tension or sweating or trembling or lightheadedness or irritability that has lasted for more than six months

Dissociative disorders are defined as” conditions that involve disruptions or breakdowns of memory, awareness, identity and/or perception. The hypothesis is that symptoms can result, to the extent of interfering with a person's general functioning, when one or more of these functions is disrupted.

Dissociative symptoms seem to be more common in less industrialized societies, whereas the pure anxiety symptoms are more common in industrialized ones. The crucial point is that symptoms appear to be contagious. Usually, the sufferers have had a high level of communal stress.”

Tribal priests performed a ritual of butchering chicken and offering these to the spirits believed to be hovering at the school grounds. The tribal priest spewed rice wine from his mouth to the branches of an indigenous tree and let it hung at the entrance of the school.

In the case of the Bontoc mass hysteria, observations were noted about a sleeping girl who was “lifted at an angle without support until she was literally standing. Someone’s hair was flying as if the victim was in front of an electric fan. A student-victim spat on a Bible, one broke a cross.”
In a related event, an outbreak of mass hysteria is reported to have struck three indigenous communities living near the river Coco in northern Nicaragua. A total of 43 people have reportedly fallen ill with what is known locally as "grisi siknis" (crazy sickness) March this year, Nica Times reports.

“Thirty four young people were affected putting them in trance and with super-human strength. A 15-year-old girl with grisi siknis can overpower six or seven men. The men can't detain her, and have to tie her up in bed sheets", Nica Times adds.

The people who were attacked were cured by a traditional healer using herbs and candles. Doctors, anthropologists and sociologists who have studied this case of mass hysteria have so far failed to come up with any clear explanation for the phenomenon which happened in Nicaragua.

Recommendations from medical institutions who studied cases of mass hysteria among students forward the need for separation of the affected individuals from the group for quite some time. Psychologically, mass hysteria-related attacks cause a considerable burden on the students and their families. In some cases, students who underwent the attacks reported some type of adverse social or psychological consequence, such as ridicule from other students, and strained family and interpersonal relationships.

American Medical Association in its studies says, “Delayed recognition of mass hysteria led several individuals to have diagnostic procedures and receive treatment that could have been avoided had the similarities between these individuals been noted earlier.

Another factor may have been the reluctance of some families to consider psychological explanations for the episodes. Its prompt recognition allows physicians to avoid unnecessary tests and treatments and to reassure both the affected individuals and the public.”

Read more...

Straight from the ‘Exorcist: ‘Evil spirits, devil, possess’ 50 MP students for a week

By Alfred Dizon

BONTOC, Mountain Province – In scenes straight from the movie “Exorcist,” more than 60 students here were “possessed” by the “devil or evil spirits” Monday to Thursday last week on different occasions at a government high school alarming parents and school officials.

Witnesses said students fainted for no reason at Mountain Province General Comprehensive High School while others fell down on the ground. Some spoke with guttural voices “not their own” as if from the underworld.

Francis Degay of the mayor’s office said a student became violent and tried to strangle a teacher but was restrained by teachers.

The “possessed” were rushed by residents to the Bontoc General Hospital and nearby churches where they recovered. But some parents said their children experienced fainting and screaming spells days later.

Degay said doctors couldn’t explain their “sickness” saying it could have been psychological so they sent home the afflicted.

School officials said they scheduled a mass early Thursday morning at the school to pray for “possessed” students and souls of the dead who may have been buried in the area and were trying to communicate from the “other world.”

But before the mass would be held, scores of students again started to faint and fell down on the ground, some screaming while others were talking in loud voices.

“Sounds of sirens of ambulance pierced the air; vans coming in and out of the school grounds, as shots were fired into the air by unidentified persons,” said eyewitness Joel Fagsao, owner of Xygen College in the town. “I and my workmates rushed to the church thinking my daughter was there as I learned that my daughter was one of those who fainted again.”

Fagsao said students were rushed to nearby All Saints Cathedral and BGH.

“The scene at the church was too much for a normal person to handle,” Fagsao added. “Students were being held tight as they were screaming, struggling and acting strange.

“The priests were going from one youth to another, offering prayers,” he said. “Everyone was there to give comfort and help. The whole town rallied to offer support. We were stunned and you could feel the hair at the back of your head stand up.”

Fagsao said a teacher and a nurse related what they saw. “One of the ‘possessed’ was lying down then all of a sudden without support from anybody, was lifted at an angle until she was literally standing. Someone’s hair was flying as if the victim was in front of an electric fan. A student-victim spat on a Bible, one broke a cross. Parents frantically made calls. It was a relief when I learned my daughter rushed home upon seeing the events unfolding.”

Mass was held later after the incident. During the week, Anglican and Ramon Catholic priests held mass in their churches for the phenomenon to stop.

Degay said, tribal elders held a native “cleansing” rite at the school site Thursday to drive away or appease the evil spirits.

Called ‘changtey,’ the ritual consisted of butchering chickens and offering these to Kabunian (God) and the spirits to stop the students from being “malugananan.”

It is not uncommon, they said, for people among Cordillera tribes to be “maluganan” wherein souls of the dead “enter” bodies of the living to express their “sentiments” particularly during wakes on the nature of their death particularly violent ones.

During such occasions, the “naluganan’s” voice reportedly resembles that of the dead when he was alive.

And when the “naluganan” becomes conscious, he usually doesn’t remember the incident.
Around 6 a.m. on Friday, tribal elders held another ritual called “paasok” in all entrances of Central Bontoc barangays “to drive away evil spirits.”

This was done by burning wood or sticks at odorous sites and concentrating the smoke near the entrances while tribal elders chanted and prayed for the victims and repose of the departed.

Elders said “spirits” may have been displeased over something like students encroaching on their “living quarters” at the school basement or making loud noises.

On Friday, no similar incidents were reported even as classes were suspended at the MPGCHS. Residents said prayers and tribal rites may have been effective in stopping the phenomenon.

In adjacent Tabuk City, Kalinga, scores of students also recently suffered the same fate at an elementary school.

Kalinga tribal folk held a native “cleansing” rite in the school. No similar incident happened there later.

A few months earlier, a similar case was also reported in Tublay, Benguet wherein students were “naluganan” in a school.

Read more...

‘Inayan’ and rape-slay of Sagada teenage girl

HAPPY WEEKEND
Gina Dizon

The rape and killing of teen-age girl Winnie Dumakit from Aguid, Sagada is a blow to the small-knit cultural town of Sagada in Mountain Province in the northern part of the country.

Winnie Dumakit, a third year high school student from Bangaan National High School was allegedly gang-raped by three young men from Taccong, Sagada. She was reportedly found dead morning of July 25, at the Tangeb grounds of Sagada Poblacion.

Medical records say the victim died of asphyxiation. For years in Sagada, such incident never happened making this crime the first of its kind and let it be the last. While Sagada has its share of crimes on theft, drugs, robbery and muggings, aside from malicious mischief and isolated cases of homicide, such an incident involving rape and death has gone beyond ordinary crimes.

Sex-related violence is creeping in the peaceful cultural-knit tourist town of Sagada. Such offenses had been done to children in the very recent years which include acts of lasciviousness done to an eight year old girl by a 17 year old boy two years ago, among others. The effect of sex videos might have something to do with these perverted and beastly acts.

Residents of Sagada and Sagada migrants abroad are alarmed how such incident (rape-slay) could happen in Sagada among a people (along with residents from nearby Besao) who believe in inayan, a cultural and psycho-social principle of doing good to others lest harm will be done to one’s self or other members of the family.

Inayan as a belief is the classic Golden Rule which traces to ancient Greek philosophy, ‘Do unto others what you like others do unto you’; or among Christians where Jesus Christ said, ‘Whatever you do to the least of my brothers you do unto me’. Such value system is closely practiced among the Hindus’ belief in karma which tells one reaps what one sows in later life.

The perpetration of the rape-slay tells of offenders who must have lost all sense of what inayan means. Such a rape-slay offense smacks against the very values of inayan of the community and what must have been values ingrained to them by their own friends, neighbors, people in the community, teachers, and more especially by their very own parents and elders.

What might be weaknesses of parents, the school, and the community in disciplining children and the youth, is left to authorities and institutions to regulate behavior. We talk of the police who have to strictly implement curfew rules.

In Sagada for example, curfew starts at 9 p.m. In the capital town of Bontoc, the Women’s Brigade help the police in telling people to go home when they are seen still out in drinking pubs and in streets. Curfew in this capital town is 9 p.m. for minors and 10 pm for adults.

The school also as a second parent comes in to inculcate the subject, Good Manners and Right Conduct (GMRC) if such subject is still there, unless the subject is taught in another subject. Perhaps the cultural value of inayan can be integrated in related subjects as well.

Even the church, which means any church, has this major role in actually practicing and preaching about inayan as how it is interpreted in the Christian Bible. Children and the youth receive role models in how they actualize their behavior.

Neighbors too have their important role in being alert and vigilant to suspicious and abusive behavior. A concerned neighbor makes a community a better place to live in where they are alert in stopping or reporting any wayward behavior as it affects community welfare.

The values preached by elders as they sit in the dap-ay (indigenous hut where elders meet to discuss community affairs) smoking their pipes, need to creep in the schools, churches, parents, and all institutions including business.

"It takes a village to raise a child", an African proverb says. Let it be that every one in the community watch and help each other in making a better place to live in.

Read more...

Eclipse ‘unrest and beginnings’

HAPPY WEEKEND
Gina Dizon

Asia watched in awe as the longest solar eclipse crossed the moon last July 22 first in eastern India then paced on to Bangladesh, Nepal, China and southern Japan.

A total solar eclipse usually occurs every 18 months or so, but July 22’s spectacle
was special for its maximum period when the sun was wholly covered by the moon
-- of six minutes and 39 seconds.

Experts and enthusiasts boarded on expensive seats on planes chartered by specialist travel agencies that afforded extended views of the eclipse as they chased the shadow eastwards.

Sanjoy Majumder on BBC Newswho was on the flights says, “The shadow of the moon traveled slowly across the face of the sun until was completely obscure - a darkened orb with the sun's white crown visible in a perfect circle. Around us the sky was pitch dark and the galaxy glittered in all its glory. It was, as one passenger put it later, an emotional and breathtaking moment.”

The eclipse which was shrouded in mystery, superstition and spirituality was also an occasion for people to dip their feet at the Ganges River for renewed spiritual energy.
“The extreme pull exerted by the combined energies of the sun, moon and the planets during solar eclipse makes it a good time for devotees to make use of the energy, “spiritual guru Jaggy Valued, head of the spiritual organization, Isha Foundation says.
Other astrologers see the eclipse as doom.

Reports say, superstition has always haunted the moment when Earth, moon and sun are perfectly aligned. The daytime extinction of the sun, the source of all life, is associated with war, famine, flood and the death or birth of rulers.

“The ancient Chinese blamed a sun-eating dragon. In Hindu mythology, the two demons Rahu and Ketu are said to "swallow" the sun during eclipses, snuffing out its light and causing food to become inedible and water undrinkable.”

The foreboding doom that the eclipse brings made many expectant mothers scheduled for July 22 caesarian deliveries at New Delhi Hospital to have their schedules changed. The famous Sri Kanakdurga temple at Indrakeeladri hill in Vijaywada, and almost all almost all temples in Kerala were closed.

Temple idols and sanctums were “covered by organic material like 'grass, leaves of the neem or vila trees or raw silk shroud to prevent the natural aura from being destroyed” a Hindu seer said over online reports. It is believed that “deities which have been consecrated by mantras and rituals have an external energy field around the form which when combined by the pull of the sun and moon during an eclipse can weaken.”

In the next few months preceding the eclipse, Mumbai astrologer Raj Kumar Sharma predicted “some sort of attack by (Kashmiri separatists) Jaish-e-Mohammad or Al-Qaeda on Indian soil and a devastating natural disaster in Southeast Asia,” Phil Hazlewood of AFP reports.

Southeast Asia has always been under intense political unrest within its internal affairs and neighbor-countries like the years-long conflict between Pakistan and India over Kashmir. Issues of terrorism and insurgency are almost found in almost every country of South Pacific and South East Asia to include the Philippines, Indonesia, and Burma.

Also in ancient China, eclipses were often associated with disasters, the death of an emperor or other dark events, and similar superstitions persist. “The probability for unrest or war to take place in years when a solar eclipse happens is 95 percent,” announced an article that attracted a lot of hits on a popular Chinese website.
Siva Prasad Tata, who runs the Astro Jyoti website says, “During the period of the eclipse, the opposite attracting forces are very, very powerful. From a spiritual point of view, this is a wonderful time to do any type of worship.”

Yet, the eclipse is also a sign of going back ‘home’ and a start of new beginnings.
In astrology as Domestic Cancer leaves and ushers in fiery Leon, the eclipse gets one reminded on the domestic Cancer sign.

Café Astrology.com says, “Occurring in the symbolic last degree of Cancer, we are called upon to feed our foundation–all of that which we call ‘home’, including the foundation we have built inside of ourselves, needs to be tended to and honored. We need to pay attention to our instincts, our deepest needs, and our feelings.

We need to recognize the importance of our family and our personal circle of friends and the security, sense of belonging, and safety we derive from them. Although we might stay in situations that are making us miserable for longer than we should, deep down inside we know that change is necessary for growth”. (Sources from BBC News, Yahoo News, AFP News, and astrology blogs.)

Read more...

07/08/09 is an Eight

HAPPY WEEKEND
Gina Dizon

Do you believe in the meaning of numbers? July 8, 2008 is written this way 07-08-09 or 07/08/09. The configuration rarely comes. It's once in a lifetime. And next year’s 08-09-10 would be a date to look forward to. Back to 07-08-09. What does this mean aside from its chronological order? Numerology says the addition of the numbers will add up to an eight (8). Eight is determined by adding 08 (day) + 07(July) + 2009.

Eight is an auspicious number among Chinese. Eight (8) as a lucky number associated with wealth. The opening ceremony of the Summer Olympics in Beijing began on 8/8/08 at 8 seconds and 8 minutes past 8 pm. And among Buddhists, there are eight auspicious symbols- conch shell, lotus, wheel, umbrella, endless knot, a pair of golden fish, banner proclaiming Victory and treasure vase.

The eight petal lotus, symbolizes, ‘the spirit of the best of men is spotless, like the lotus in the muddy water which does not adhere to it. In esoteric Buddhism, the heart of the beings is like an unopened lotus, when the virtues of the Buddha develop therein, the lotus blossoms.' The wheel recognized as a shape that is “complete and perfect in it, qualities which inform the teachings of the Buddha”.

“The endless knot signifies the dramatic interplay and interaction of the opposing forces in the dualistic world of manifestation, leading to their union, and ultimately to harmony in the universe.” Buddhists also have the 8 Fold Path of living in spiritual moderation introduced by Siddhartha Gautama, the goal of the 8 Fold Path frees the individual from attachments and leads one to understand the truth about all things- right view, right intention, right speech, right action, right livelihood, right efforts, right mindfulness, and right concentration.

Eight also sums up the chakras (wheels) in the body from the root to the chakra above the crown. The number 8 has its meaning according to numerologists and astrologers. If you’re born with a Life Path 8, you have natural leadership skills.

Your life path says you are very goal oriented which can make you successful in business. You thrive on hard work and very good with money and your work ethic can make you wealthy. Although this pursuit of materialistic gains can let you become unscrupulous, or neglect your family and loved ones while earning money.

The Life Path according to astrologers is determined by adding all the representative numbers of your birthdates. Add each other of the sum till you come to either number from 1 to 9. A life path of 8 means material success or failure depending on what side of the vibration you are living on. If positive, then it means you have a life path of materialism, strength, a capacity for focused effort and reward for past efforts.

But if negative, it means your life path is ruthless, no thought for others, guilt ridden bad luck, and material loss. Eight ‘warriors’ must learn to balance their material desires with their spiritual desires. When they are in balance, they enjoy helping others, and life will reward their generosity. Another auspicious date is September 9, 2009 written 09-09-09.

Link here to find out more about numerology

Read more...

The dog, a symbol of death and protection

HAPPY WEEKEND
Gina Dizon

Dogs are both guardians and harbingers of death. They are portrayed so in different cultures, places and era.

An Indo-European ritual has the dog as the symbol of death. In the beginning of the new year at the winter solstice, boys were initiated into manhood and became warriors according to Indo-European mythologists.

At the mid-winter initiation ceremony, young men witnessed the death of both the old year and their old identities, while as warriors they would become men who fed the dogs of death by killing enemies. The priests who officiated over the midwinter rite were called dog-priests, the Vrâtyas.

There is the 'black dog' also known as 'spectral hound', 'death hound', 'hound of hell', 'Black Angus' in Great Britain. A howling dog is also interpreted as an omen of death. With the powerful sense of smell of dogs, these animals can smell chemical changes that take place in the body before death perhaps leading them to howl.

The dog’s appearance also meant flooding of the river Nile in Egyptian mythology. Orion, the great hunter, had a dog named Sirius seen in the constellation of the same name. Sirius, who played a role in Egyptian mythology, heralded the annual flooding of the Nile. Sirius’ signal was shown in a light having blended with the morning sun.

The dog as a symbol of death is also manifested among the indigenous Igorots of the Cordillera. The dog is offered as a sacrifice in a ritual to guard the spirit of one who killed somebody whether in a battle or other encounter. The ritual is called daw-es or sumang.

A soldier from ethnic tribes’ populated Mountain Province, who served in the Philippine Army years ago had to practice daw-es when he went home after military duty. Based now overseas, he say daw-es is done to protect or strengthen his spirit (ab-abi-ik) in case he is harmed or killed by somebody.

It is also the belief that the spirit of the ones harmed or killed won't be able to defeat his spirit, in case they come back for revenge. The subject is not also allowed to partake in eating the dog meat used for the ritual.

The butchering of dogs then is not just done to appease the appetite of one who
wants to eat dog meat as what is happening in the current world. Butchering dog
talks of death or misfortune having happened prior to the ritual. In such case,
a firm believer of the ritual would not like to be butchering a dog just to appease an appetite to eat dog meat.

In the highlands of the Cordillera region of the Philippines, the practice of daw-es is also done in cases where there is misfortune or pestilence which afflicted a person or a village. Butchering a dog means warding off evil and bad luck.

That is, the dog while it portrayed a symbol of death also portrayed a symbol of protection. This is portrayed in mythologies and in ethnic culture of some indigenous tribes.

In Greek and Roman mythology, Cerberus is a multi-headed dog who guards the gates of Hades, to prevent those who have crossed the river Styx from ever escaping; or rather, guarded the entrance to the Afterworld.

Hounds, in Celtic cultures, have been known for seeing into the Otherworld and perceived as guardians of the World people are now in, research says. And in Chinese mythology, the part lion and dragon Fu dogs are meant to guard homes and businesses,.

So sacred an animal that the capital city of Manila, Philippines, passed an ordinance specifically banning the killing and selling of dogs for food. The ordinance is based on the Philippine Animal Welfare Act 1998, ‘prohibiting the killing of any animal other than cattle, pigs, goats, sheep, poultry, rabbits, carabaos, horses, deer and crocodiles’ except in some instances.'. One exception is when it (dog) is done ‘as part of the religious rituals of an established religion or sect or a ritual required by tribal or ethnic custom of indigenous cultural communities’.

Benguet homeland of indigenous Ibalois and Kankanaey tribes in the Philippines, passed a resolution declaring, among other things, "it has been an evolved cultural practice of indigenous peoples of the Cordillera the butchering of animals, dogs included, as part of their rituals and practices leading to its commercialization to a limited extent…’

While this is the case, some dog meat eating Filipinos consume around 500,000 dogs killed annually, reports Dog Meat Trade.com, an organization working in the Philippines to eliminate eating dog meat in the country.

Meantime in Iran, the dog symbolizes the West, news reports say. One can be charged for ‘moral corruption’ for owning a dog and a dog is caged for ‘walking on public’. Interesting.

While that is so, it is despicable to note how some 50 Igorots were displayed and made to butcher and eat dog meat during the 1904 St Louis Fair in Missouri, 1909 Alaska-Yukon-Pacific (AYPE) Exposition in Seattle and the 1913 World’s Fair in Ghent Germany. How the indigenous Igorots were made to eat dog meat on almost a daily basis talks of exploitation of a sacred ritual.

Read more...

JDV necklace ‘drives away’ germs, virus

SAN JACINTO, Pangasinan– Wondering what is that little object hanging like a necklace which has a blinking pendant that Pangasinan fourth district Rep. Jose de Venecia Jr. is using lately during his speaking engagements?

JDV, answering a newsman’s query of what the item is, said the small machine which is like a big pendant of a necklace will capture all the virus and germs in the environment.

He said it was a gift to her wife Gina by a friend and it looks effective.

Amid the A(H1N1) scare and with De Venecia who also frequently travels abroad for his speaking engagements, he said with the small machine, “So far, I have been virus-free.”

He said the battery-operated small machine has been attracting attention as it is blinking and some people he met recently in Nepal kidded him by asking if their conversations are being recorded by it.

He said once proven effective, he will recommend it to be manufactured in the Philippines.

Relative to this, Gina said in a text message that the small machine which she also uses - hers with pinkish light while Joe’s is blue, is called an ozonator.
“Supposedly it kills the virus before it reaches your mouth and nose,” she said.
However, she added that they’re still testing it.

They have been using it for a month now and so far they’re physically fit.
 
She, however, is not sure where it was manufactured.

Read more...

MORE NEWS, DAGUPAN CITY

Cancer patient’s brod wins P1-M BIR ‘resibo’ raffle
By Jennelyn Mondejar

DAGUPAN CITY -- A 50-year-old hardware store manager here whose sister is undergoing cancer treatment won the first P1 million jackpot of Premyo sa Resibo Champion contest on October.

Napoleon Co never joined raffles before but something made him join the Bureau of Internal Revenue’s Premyo sa Resibo contest last month.

The 50-year-old hardware store manager won the first P1 million jackpot of Premyo sa Resibo Champions Edition, in time so the money could be used in the treatment of his youngest sister.

Co’s youngest sister is undergoing treatment for colon cancer but they stopped chemotherapy treatment, as they did not have enough money. “Hirap na kami sa pagkuha ng panggastos – yung chemo treatment niya dapat 12 sessions pero huminto na kami sa pang-pito lang.”

When he received the P1-million check in Oct. 27, he still couldn’t believe he won the P1-million. He gave the check to his mother. “Tuwang tuwa siya dahil hirap na rin siya maglabas ng pera. Malaking tulong ito sa aking kapatid.”

Each chemotherapy session costs around P70,000. Co said his sister has been responding to chemotherapy, adding that he did not keep any of the winnings for himself.

The receipt that won him the jackpot prize was a P27,000 receipt for construction materials.

Co said he wasn’t doing anything that day but something urged him to join the Premyo Sa Resibo drive which is the BIR’s way of plugging tax leaks by encouraging consumers to demand a receipt and for stores as well as professionals to issue receipts.

Read more...

White lady’ tale in car mishap doubted

By Jennelyn Mondejar

ALCALA, Pangasinan – Local folk here said stories of a “white lady” which frequents a road here were figments of the imagination of the gullible.

This, after six people were hospitalized when the Nissan Frontier Navara they were riding in turned upside down after its driver allegedly saw the “white lady” crossing the street in Barangay Kisikis here before dawn last week.

Police quoted Jimmy Lanusa, 39, as saying that he was driving the brand new pick-up truck with five passengers when the “white lady” suddenly crossed the road, prompting him to avoid her.

The truck smashed into a parked mechanized farm tractor, locally known as kuliglig, and then into a mango tree, sending it turning turtle.

The victims were rushed to the Polymedic and Trauma Hospital in Villasis town.

Police merely shrugged off Lanusa’s claim on the “white lady,” saying it was just a tale good for All Souls’ Day.

Local folk said the driver might have fallen asleep and merely used the “white lady” tale to cover up his fault.

Read more...