We are part of a divine family. — Some time ago, someone educated me on something about spirituality that, at the time, I found to be truly ridiculous. He was a well-read Filipino occultist, acquainted with local folk Christian traditions. He said that if there is a “God the Father” and a “God the Son”, then it follows…

How do you capture an elemental spirit? — Mainstream thought seems to be biased towards a materialist perspective. In other words, many of us are used to thinking that for something to be real, it has to be measurable. But so many things can’t be measured! Functions of consciousness, especially spiritual experiences, are hard to capture. Nevertheless, they…

A reflection on “The Fool” in tarot. — The mythic journey begins with the hero in a familiar place. After going on an adventure, the innocent child returns as a wiser adult. This is what is represented by the tarot card called “The Fool”. In “The Holistic Tarot”, Benebell Wen interprets the upright Fool as someone who has…

Romanticizing home. — The Katipunan Avenue I once knew was only about a kilometers long. At one end is a fast food restaurant and at the other is a commercial building. On the north-bound side of the avenue is a university and across it are restaurants, condominiums, and shops. When I was a…

Messy, messy animals. — We have a problem, Kalas told me. I had just arrived at the place he told me to go: it was an expensive neon bar in a palace filled with pretty young faces. They all looked like rich kids — you could look at any one of them and know…

Loneliness, mental breakdowns, and getting blacked out drunk. — When I was younger, I dreamed of a fast, dizzying lifestyle filled with beauty and fizz. Soon, I was living it. Drinking enhanced my charisma, and I made many friends. Alcohol was laughter, romance and experience. I lived, for months, in perpetual night, dancing with shadows. When the morning came…

Academia as a lifestyle. — The goal of my life is to become an aesthetic. My great work will be posthumous, published when an obsessive scholar collects my literature into a book of essential writings. I want to be romanticized as a philosopher-poet. That being said, I want to be read not because of my…

You really shouldn’t be dating when you’re healing. — Don’t go on dates when you’ve just broken up with someone, Kalas warned me. He took a slow, deliberate sip from his coffee and I just watched him. He has this way of talking that makes you keep listening even when he’s not saying anything. I coped badly when Frances…

I become a tourist in my own mental city. — I enter my dreams through a train. Outside, it is raining. In the distance, like a shimmering illusion, is a city. I am greeted by a cat, who looks at me with an upside-down smile. They lead me by the hand, past sleepy cafes and empty convenience stores. The folks…