Mandala and Soul Gifts
We just finished a special tribute to Thor, our friend in Denmark. I made a flower mandala in the garden of the Education for Life,Quezon City. A mandala is an ancient Malay space for meeting people, for organizing a network or community in the pre-colonial Philippine era. In our Philippine archipelago, we need to connect with people across the seas and the mandala is relevant now as it was in the ancient past. The mandala tribute we gave Thor started with singing Children of the Earth ( Klaus Frederiksen’s composition) and entering the mandala circle. Each one of us in the circle shared stories of Thor, how we met him, what we felt in his company,what we learned from him and why we love him. Then we gave him our send-off gifts – fragrant herbs, sea stones, origami cranes and lighted candles for his journey. All these gifts were placed in an urn with Thor’s photo smiling and we sang a lovesong Walang Hanggang Paalam (Never Ending Goodbye). As the smoke rose to the starry night,we prayed and let the candles burn the whole night.
I belong to the community of Filipinos who believe in a life beyond. There are indigenous communities who believe that earthfolks and skyfolks exchange gifts. Please read The Soul Book of Zialcita, Demetrio and Cordero-Fernando (GCF 1991) and you will learn how the precolonial Filipinos perceived souls. The Ilocanos have two souls, the Tagbanuas have six souls and the Bukidnon lumads have seven! The Bagobos also believed that animals have souls,too.
If we believe in having souls, there is a spirituality that can help people whose loved ones are in pain or have crossed beyond to another life. When the grieving is at its most painful state, praying or soul conversations can be a form of loving and healing,especially when it is conducted in a circle of love.
Tags: Babaylan, Spirituality
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