eclipse energy

A powerful transformation kicked off with the solar eclipse on October 14. With the lunar eclipse and the full hunter's moon this October 28 another phase of the experience unfolds. 

Eclipse season always brings great change that can also be seen in the physical - not just felt in surrounding energies. It brings changes to our energetic system and affects the physical reality of the higher timelines. 

how to guide

misleading misconceptions

The review of a show describes a point of view about a creative or cultural event in order to justify the experience. Whereas critiquing a show's production questions why the show was created and what consequences were produced. 

Reviews are where experience meets ideas. Being at a concert, a movie, an art exhibition, a restaurant - gives us cause to think. Maybe the experience is a catalyst for a brand-new idea - maybe it crystallizes something a long-held thought. It becomes something worth considering. 

basic & simple

Critiquing the production questions why a show was produced. What about the creation of the show do we prefer, dislike, condemn - where do we stand? Maybe something occurred that causes a strong reaction - maybe it compels us to speak up and give voice. It becomes something worth discussing. 

grandmother wisdom

A timely message from the Council of 13 Indigenous Grandmothers:

As you move through these changing times be easy on yourself and be easy on one another. You are at the beginning of something new. You are learning a new way of being. You will find that you are working less in the yang modes that you are used to.

You will stop working so hard at getting from point A to point B the way you have in the past, but instead, will spend more time experiencing yourself in the whole, and your place in it.

Instead of traveling to a goal out there, you will voyage deeper into yourself. Your mother's grandmother knew how to do this. Your ancestors from long ago knew how to do this. They knew the power of the feminine principle... and because you carry their DNA in your body, this wisdom and this way of being is within you.

Call on it. Call it up. Invite your ancestors in. As the yang based habits and the decaying institutions on our planet begin to crumble, look up. A breeze is stirring. Feel the sun on your wings.

mestizo - a hybrid culture

I was born in Negros Island in the Philippine Ocean and migrated to the U.S. Spending time back and forth - half in and out of each country provides more insight and perspective into my family's hybrid culture. 

One day in an art history class, I read an article about migration and identity that discussed the amalgamation of culture. What is created when someone physically crosses a border and occupies new space? 

Sitio Tabucol in Barangay Bacong, Bago City, Negros Occidental

I thought of our parents and the ways my family participates in local and mestizo traditions. It made me dissect what our family’s hybrid culture presents as. Join me in an exploration of these sentiments. 

possibilities & probabilities - perseverance & persistence

Potential does not come to fruition in barren territory - even at the price of blood, sweat and tears. It is what differentiates the quitters from those who eventually succeed.
Every fellow Filipino and freedom fighter accepts this in their core being. All throughout recorded history it has been the rough road our countrymen are tested with every day.
Even the best among us have to cushion ourselves and take succor from the horror and beating meted year in and year out.

multi-generational trauma of the Philippines

A people known for their spirit of warmth and hospitality whose life force slowly leaks away in a country of parasitic politicians of few exceptions.
Much is wasted to expend scarce resources and ill-gotten wealth on keeping the masses fat dumb and happy on short term extravaganzas and fiestas.

heroic fallacy

Today marks National Heroes Day in the Philippines - a stark reminder of our long history of suffering and revolt against the powers that be - whether foreign colonizers or local overlords. 

Since the American colonial period the Philippine Legislature enacted Act No. 3827 on October 28, 1931 - designated every last Sunday of August as National Heroes Day. This date was last revised in 2007 to the last Monday of August as per Republic Act No. 9492. 

celebrating our true heroes - not some made up one

A day to honor and remember all known and unnamed national heroes who fought for the country's independence and freedom. Officially recognized or not Filipinos have long been martyred for countless reasons and causes - then and now. 

We idolize our heroes so much we even have a cemetery dedicated to our fallen heroes. This sacred ground has since been desecrated with the burial of a non-hero - our one and only dictator (to date), Ferdinand Marcos. 

Philippines People Power, 1986

We commemorate all our known and unsung heroes and their exemplary achievements on this day. We celebrate those who continue to inspire us - the fearless visionaries, the tireless advocates, the selfless souls.

Because of them - who stood against, fought bravely, risked their lives for country, justice, liberty - we have our freedom now. Let us remember and honor them always by continuing to fight for our rights. 

on display

Inspired by the resistance storytelling of Arundhati Roy, we cannot help but draw parallels between our countries. 

Prime Minister Modi and India's violently divisive history and politics raise the ghost of Marcos - the father and dictator - who birthed and raised our current baby boy heir and president. 

Roy's rage and frustration is apparent in her passionate love of people and country - vilely manipulated by decades of corruption and greed. 

mantra, prayer, plea - graphics by bhaktiCD.org

In all her heart rending stories her writing includes meditations on language - public as well as private - and the role of fiction and alternative imaginations in current disturbing times. 

The Philippines has always been plagued by leaders obsessed in their divine command. Whether pretended, promoted, or publicized in political, religious or other arenas - these folks prey on our beliefs and biases to gain power and prestige.