if not now - when?

Native tribes practice a tradition known as leveling the waters. When young braves took part in a hunt or raiding party, upon their return they did not enter their village immediately. Instead they sat apart and away from them - watching in silence from a distance.

The benefit of this was two-fold. First, it allowed them the time to bring down their adrenaline or blood rush. Plus the wait and watch created the space to connect with their community and villagers. Once that bond was made solid and steady once more, then they could enter and be a part once more.

cause for celebration

As my father celebrates his 95th birthday across the globe we browse through years of past celebrations together. At his 80th birthday he announced that from then on he was going to celebrate his birthday every year. Bonus years we all call them.

True enough each year has been precious to each of us who count ourselves part of the Gregorio Zayco Urra clan. Wife, children, in laws, grandkids, spouses, great grand babies - mga bata tanan ni Goyo. All his descendants.

my creation story

I was born into this world, seeded from the stars
bourn on the wind, rooted into the earth
nurtured by sunlight, nourished by rain

tentatively breaking ground
from deep in the dark and dank
rich core of Mother Gaia

blessed Palm Sunday

Palm Sunday and Passover are major occasions evoking sacred rites, rituals and communal practices among many. 

Palm Sunday marks the first day of Holy Week, the last week of the Christian solemn season of Lent that precedes the arrival of Eastertide. The beloved palm frond has become for many a precious symbol of triumph and victory. 

The origins of the Passover festival predate the Exodus. The Passover ritual, prior to Deuteronomy, is widely thought to have its origins in an apotropaic rite, unrelated to the Exodus, to ensure the protection of a family home, a rite conducted wholly within a clan. 

When done properly, their preparation is Sacred Alchemy - balancing mythology with technology and philosophy. 

Ganachakra (a Dakini feast) is a sacramental meal and festive celebration invoking an alchemical transmutation from base to higher vibration. 

In this process, the negative energy of baser emotion or klesha (poison) is transformed into the luminous energy of enlightened awareness or gnosis (jnana). 

Its ingestion is highly intoxicating where the physical digestion leads to spiritual unfolding and God realization.