Synergy!

In the past three days, I've read (skimmed for character development, imagery, and diction) and taken notes on the work by Castillo, Hagedorn, Bobis, and Starhawk.  And, I have found so much in way of connections! I'm in awe really.  I could not have controlled or orchestrated this kind of synergy.

One of the connections (that I forgot was there all along of course!), was the Pinoy presence in So Far from God.  When La Loca is dying, Dr. Tolentino comes to heal her with psychic surgery.  He is from the foot of the sacred mountain, Mt. Banahaw in Luzon, which is known as the home of babaylan-like healers.  And, he learned his healing skills from his mother!  And, this is what he does, he uses his right hand to connect with the "spirit" and with his left, he reaches "through her flesh" and pulls out blood clogs, fibroids, and even a tumor from her ovaries.  All that's left when he finishes is a red mark on her belly.

 I have read of this psychic surgeries before, particularly when I read Virgil Apostol's Way of the Ancient Healer: Sacred Teachings from the Philippines Ancestral Traditions.  And, when I was in the Philippines, I experienced, not psychic surgery, but healing from the hands of Manghihilots.  I'm a believer for sure.

Yesterday, I began my writing of a Xicana-Filipina-Spanish Mestiza Ritual.   I found myself looking up images from (Pre-King Philip) Indigenous Filipina and Xicana spirituality. 

The Mebuyan I found above is the creation of my friend Ros in Camiguin (http://www.sunstar.com.ph/cagayan-de-oro/lifestyle/2013/08/03/images-women-mebuyan-feminist-underworld-296015).  Mebuyan is a new role model for me.  Earth and creativity goddess from Bagobo mythology, her image is perpetually pregnant with many breasts.  She is the nurturer of all babies, all people. 

I also came across images of Coatlicue, Nahuatl for "the one with the skirts of serpents."  She is the mother of all things connected with fire and creation, death and rebirth, and the bearer of the moon.

 

La Virgen de Guadalupe, they say is the integration of many Indigenous Xicana goddesses, including Coatlicue. 

 

I've run out of time! Off to make mix up some Oaxacan mole I got yesterday from a woman whose family also came from San Luis Potosi (where my great-grandmother Charlie lived with the nuns I think!).