Ulali | all my relations

The last day of 2023 and New Year's Eve 2024 is most definitely a special occasion - 123123.

May the works of our hands be rooted in reverence for Mother Nature. May we be sustained by the grace of the Sun, the Wind, the Waters, the sacred Land - and by each other.

The Ulali Project founders

to our elders who teach us

of our creation and our past

so we may preserve Mother Earth

for ancestors yet to come

we are the land

this is dedicated to our relatives 

 

"All Our Relations" sang by Ulali, lyrics by Pura Fe

Ulali's "All Our Relations" refers to the Garryowen March or Hale as it is known in the US. It was often used by the American military as they marched to massacre the Native Americans.

a good night

Noche Buena. Simbang Gabi. Misa de Gallo. All are cherished Filipino Christmas holiday traditions we hold warmly in our hearts. 

Simbang Gabi is the night mass Filipinos attend mass either late at night or in the early morning hours. It is a series of masses held daily for all nine days before Christmas. The belief holds that attending all nine masses will grant ones wish.

@dokmarkus via Instagram

Simbang Gabi can also have a nine-day novena procession that is a reenactment of the nativity of Christ known as the Panunulúyan.

behavioral reform

There are more parallels between how cults indoctrinate and control their members and how highly dysfunctional families perpetuate their abuse than most are led to believe. 

While there is no universal list of cult basics, one of the two most commonly used resources is that of clinical psychologist and cult expert Dr. Margaret Singer. 

Below are the criteria adapted from her “Conditions for Thought Reform,” 1995. 

1. Keep the person unaware of what is going on and how she or he is being changed a step at a time. Potential new members are led, step by step, through a behavioral-change program without being aware of the final agenda or full content of the group. The goal may be to make them deployable agents for the leadership, to get them to buy more courses, or get them to make a deeper commitment, depending on the leader's aim and desires.

Most abusive, highly dysfunctional families rely on their ability to keep young children within them isolated from the healthier norms of other families and society at large.