The Legend of Maria Makiling

Once upon a time, a diwata lived in a mountain of Laguna. She was called Maria Makiling. She has light olive skin, long shining black hair and twinkling eyes. She was breathtakingly beautiful. Maria was always about helping other people. One time, the children of a farmer got sick. When he went to Maria to seek help, he was given a bilao full of ginger. The farmer sadly went home carrying the bilao of ginger. When he reached his hut, he was greatly surprised: the ginger had turned to gold! Because of Maria's kindness, the townsfolk had grown to love her.

Maria was a great beauty. She was sought for and wooed by many suitors. Three of them were very much determined to have her. One is Captain Lara, a Spanish soldier who always brought her gifts from Europe. The other is Joselito, a Spanish mestizo who was studying in Manila . Every time Joselito visits Maria, he had many stories to tell her about foreign countries and the things that he had read in books. He dreamed of going to Spain. He didn't like to live in the Philippines.

Of the three, it was Juan who is the most industrious. He is a common farmer. But he is so hard working, and his fruits and vegetable grew fat and juicy. He also had many pet animals and birds. But if truth be told, it was Juan who Maria secretly admired. As time passed, her suitors became more and more impatient and demanded that Maria tell them who she loves. So the diwata was forced to promise: "By the night of the full moon, I will tell you my answer."
When the night of the full moon arrived, all of her suitors climbed up the mountain to know her decision. All was startled when Maria told them that it was Juan whom she loved. The suitors went away feeling dejected. On the other hand, Joselito and Captain Lara were very much angry with Juan. They thought of a plan against him.

One day, all was surprised when a huge fire devoured the cuartel of the Spanish. Because of the fire, Captain Lara ordered many Filipinos to be captured. Secretly, Joselito helped him. Juan was among those who they imprisoned and tortured.

Many prisoners did not last long from the tortures the Spanish had inflicted upon them. One night, Captain Lara and Joselito secretly spoke with the prisoners. The next day, Juan was blamed for the burning of the Spanish cuartel. "I did not do it!" cried Juan. But the prisoners pointed at him because Captain Lara and Joselito frightened them.

The soldiers brought Juan to the plaza. In front of hundreds of people, Juan was shot as the enemy of the Spaniards. He was killed even though he didn't commit any wrongdoing. But before he died, he managed to shout out loud Maria's name. It was heard by the diwata so she quickly went down her mountain.

But Juan was already dead when Maria arrived. Tears falling down her face, she embraced tightly his lifeless body. Afterwards, she faced the crowd. "Why did you not take care of him?" she shouted. Meanwhile, Captain Lara and Joselito fled to Manila because they were afraid of Maria. When she learned of this, she cursed the two. She also cursed those men who cannot accept failure in love. Soon, the curse took effect. Joselito suddenly became ill. There was no cure for his illness.

Captain Lara, on the other hand, was called back to Laguna when the Filipinos revolted against the abuse that the Spaniards had inflicted upon them. The revolution quickly spread to many parts of the Philippines. The revolutionary Filipinos killed Captain Lara.

From then on, Maria never let herself be seen by the people. Every time somebody got lost on the mountain, they remember the curse of the diwata. They remember the great love of Maria Makiling.

Psychic Philippines

Source: Easy Journal
Philippines has been regarded as one of the Psychic Centers In The World and an emerging Spiritual Center in Asia because of numerous paranormal activities and psychic phenomena.

Filipinos are aware of paranormal manifestations such as ghosts apparitions and hauntings, elementals locally known as “encantos,” ufo sightings and alien contacts. Other individuals are very interested in occult practices such as the power of the mind, spiritual healing, finding amulets, astral projection, witchcraft, and mantic arts for fortune telling.

Although skeptics among Filipinos would always question the veracity of such paranormal abilities and encounters, but these people themselves as doubting Thomases could not deny the reality of strange phenomena.

I’ve been to some paranormal places in the Philippines like Mount Banahaw known as the nation’s most powerful spiritual center, Mount Makiling known for it’s nature spirits and UFO sightings, Mount Pinatubo believed to be an awakened giant and Mystical Cave of Antipolo City.

Holy Week of 2003, I visited a place considered as another Haven of Spirits and Miracles. This is Ciudad Verdadero (The City of Truth) a 24-hectare hilly terrain private property situated between Barrio Piis in Lucban and Barrio Bataan in Sampaloc, Quezon Province with Mount Banahaw looming in the distance.

Mr. Art Cataquiz, humbly preferred to be known himself as the caretaker of the site, said his original plan in 1985 was to develop the place into a coffee plantation but he failed. Coffee trees perished despite the fact that the soil composition in the area is fertile. He was confused and never believed about its strangeness.

He decided to consult some local mediums and psychics, and found out spirits of the area led by an entity named “Impo” wanted to convert ciudad into a spiritual center, wherein those who decided to choose their spiritual journey in life would find the place as a retreat area and for healing.

It was a-three hour drive from Manila when we visited the area last April 18, 2003 – Good Friday. We were a group of 15 mostly clairvoyant/channel members and officials of Inner Mind Association of the Philippines, led by mind development trainer Jaime T. Licauco. My kumpare Nick de Guzman was also invited to join the paranormal mission.

At the entrance of the property, I could sense some unseen strange creatures and I presumed they are the watchers and guardians of the place. I started to marvel at the beauty of nature around me and I could feel its cool breeze caressing my face signifying a silent welcome.

I went up to a hill where a Labyrinth is situated and to my amazement the area is highly energized. While walking along the winding path to the center, I felt like my whole body was in the process of scanning, cleansing and healing itself and my soul was re-energized. Labyrinth is believed to possess a healing power. It symbolizes the journey to the center or the self, the life journey or the path of life, or the spiritual journey – our walk with God.

Another maze is located inside a chapel. We felt varying degrees of sensation. Some felt coldness inside the Labyrinth others could sense a warm energy and I was enjoying myself with another source of energy. We’ve spent the whole day exploring the presence of spirits around ciudad.

Another place considered to have a very strong psychic energy is a big “boulder”. It is located few meters away from a place called “Bukal” a natural spring considered to be sacred with its healing powers. The boulder itself is highly energized and I felt an intense unseen power emitting from it especially when I touched the rock, I drifted and gone into a trance. Beings from beyond started to communicate with people around me stating they came from different places in the Universe to help protect mankind and the Earth from destruction. An entity introduced himself as Leishu stated: "Planet Earth is in crisis. We from the other worlds are helping humans to preserve life in this planet. We come in peace not war. We come to heal not to repel. Human consciousness needs transformation. Detachment from the material world is a key to enlightenment. The right time is now. Stop war. Stop destruction. Sow love not hatred." After the encounter with the strange beings, I could feel a very strong energy within me extending my aura to a longer distance and this compelled me to drink a lot of water. I admit as a channel that was my first time to contact such beings many might call them extra-terrestrials.

Being a channel I am among those individuals who is very receptive to unseen forces or non-physical beings, such as spirits, angels, and others, through entering an altered state of consciousness known as trance.

Electrical Engineer Serafin Orijuela also channeled another entity while touching the boulder. The discarnate introduced itself as a goddess of nature called out for more protection and preservation of Mother Earth. “Plant trees. Stop cutting trees. Everyone in this planet will perish if you failed to preserve nature.”

We spent the rest of the day to other sacred places like bukal where many clairvoyants among the group saw elementals such as winged-fairies, elves and a beautiful lady spirit clad in white luminous dress.

Lito Santos, also a channel went into a trance in bukal. The lady spirit introduced herself as Impo started giving her message, “Unity to everyone. To those who have hatred in their hearts, give them love.”

After hearing these channeled messages, we visited other mysterious sites in Ciudad such as landing area for space beings and meditation tower. Being sensitive to subtle energies, I felt every entity in that place were very happy because their messages have been delivered, intended not only for Filipinos but to all human beings around the planet.

The paranormal mission of communing with nature was very fruitful, meaningful and inspirational not only to people who participated but also to every human being who wanted to see life in a different perspective. Communing with nature especially those unseen beings fascinated Swiss psychologist Carl Jung. Jung believed that man has lost his emotional unconscious identity with natural phenomena…no voices now speak to man from stones, plants and animals, nor does he speak to them believing they can hear.

Many believed that the lost of man’s perception to the unseen reality is an effect of growing scientific understanding where rational thinking is more recognized than the imaginary mind.

Jung also stated: "In this civilizing process, we have increasingly divided our consciousness from the deeper instinctive strata of the human psyche, and even ultimately from the somatic (bodily felt and known) basis of psychic phenomena. Fortunately we have not lost these basic strata; they remain part of the unconscious, even though they may express themselves only in the form of dream images." The mystical experience shared by people involved in our paranormal mission to Ciudad Verdadero strongly validates Jung’s ideas. The Earth will speak to anyone who is willing and able to listen. If we learn to set aside material attachments and open our hearts and mind, then communications with the unseen is a great possibility.

I believe man is now in the process of awakening himself, expanding his awareness to the world of the unseen. Anybody could be a channel and awaken his innate abilities, and every one could commune with the entities in the psychic realm. The gradual shifting of man’s collective consciousness would benefit the world as a whole and heal itself.

Mythical Story of Mayon

Mount Mayon was derived from the legendary Bicolana girl Daragang Magayon, whose name literally means woman beauteous. That was why in the whole region, she was the kabinibinihan (modest) of them all.Mount Mayon has the classic conical shape of a stratovolcano. It is the most active volcano in the Philippines. Since 1616, Mayon has erupted 47 times. The beautifully symmetrical Mayon volcano, which rises to 2,460 meters above the Albay Gulf, is the Philippines' most active volcano. The structurally simple volcano has steep upper slopes that average 35-40 degrees and is capped by a small summit crater. The historical eruptions of this basaltic-andesitic volcano date back to 1616 and range from Strombolian to basaltic Plinian. Eruptions occur predominately from the central conduit and have also produced lava flows that travel far down the flanks. Pyroclastic flows and mudflows have commonly swept down many of the approximately 40 ravines that radiate from the summit and have often devastated populated lowland areas.

The Sacred Mount Banahaw

Banahaw is located 100 kilometers southeast of Manila. It is the highest peak among a series of mountains and is surrounded by the towns of San Pablo, Majayjay, Liliw, Nagcarlan, Tiaong, Candelaria, Sariaya, Lucena, Tayabas and Lucban. Being an active volcano, its last recorded eruption was on 1721. That eruption caused a lake to form on the volcano’s crater which may have caused the crater to burst open during a possible eruption of 1743, though geographer Fr. Huerta mentioned in his Estado Geographica that it happened sometime 1730. The crater today is called ilalim. It also resulted the transfer of the town of Sariaya to its fourth and present site. In the 19th century Banahaw was called Monte de Majayjay or Monte San Cristobal which was then considered the "gateway" in ascending the mountain. It was also called "Vulcan de Agua" because of the numerous springs that flows from the base. The present name Banahaw might have been derived from the word Ban-aw which means a vantage point to a lofty position.