A constellation is a group of stars that form imaginary outlines in the sky representing animals or mythological people or gods. Constellation is a word now used when random events begin to take shape and we see a picture. For example, I have noticed myself believing less and less in medicine as traditionally practiced and more and more in something I-don’t-know-what-to-call-it. Some call it alternative. Others call it integrative. But to me neither one of those words does it any justice. It has an element about it that is more wholistic, that appears to be a little magical. Maybe I will call it Healing Witchcraft.
A long time ago my cousin Digo and I were driving somewhere near Angono. He pointed a cave to me and said that it was full of recipes for cures in alibata. Maybe, he speculated, it was the result of a convention of arbolaryos. Once upon a time the Philippines was a place of genius quality arbolaryos. That’s one of the “stars” in my constellation.
Recently a friend took a course that taught him how to heal using substances like silver and gold. Take the class, he recommended. I don’t know why I did not. That’s another “star” in my constellation. Then the little bottles that I took upon the recommendation of my children when their children were going to the Waldorf School also flies in as another “star.”
Finally, the lump in my breast is still there. Once I had it x-rayed. Then the doctors wanted it biopsied. I didn’t want it touched. I just observed it. I noticed it grew bigger every time I ate fat. If I don’t eat fat, it shrinks. Then recently at a party I overheard someone saying Vita Guayabano took care of breast cancer. So what am I drinking now? Vita Guayabano. I don’t know and don’t want to know whether or not I have breast cancer but I’m willing to take the organic substances that will fight it just in case I have it. That’s another “star” in my constellation.
Another star is the plethora of juices that border on cures — mangosteen, acai, goji, pomegranate, noni etc. You know what? I take noni juice no matter how lousy the taste. Furthermore I have another star: I sell StemEnhance, which is made from blue-green algae and spirulina. How organic can one get?
There’s one more star. I have always thought that this millennium would be about hormones and emotions, two things we have plenty of but don’t know how to handle. My intuition tells me that emotions are the source of all cancers because we don’t know how to deal with them. Maybe we feel anger but we don’t know how to express it so we push it to the back of our minds and hearts, where they set off our hormones and the next thing you know we have a mysterious disease that no one can diagnose. Then we are in trouble and soon we die.
This morning my niece, Gina Torres-Evangelista, introduced me her line of living essential oils. She said that when the Three Kings came to the manger to visit the newly-born baby Jesus, they brought gold, frankincense and myrrh. Apparently all these were healing oils to strengthen the baby’s health. The Bible is full of mention on healing oils. They are that old. But today she showed me a small bottle of Frankincense. Inhale it to spiritually refocus, to ground you when you’re meditating, to help you find your purpose. If you mix it with your daily moisturizer it keeps your skin smooth and gives you a healthy glow. Lemon oil you can use for cooking or you can put two drops in a glass of water and drink it to start your day fresh. Peppermint oil gives you better digestion, vitalizes you during exercise, gives you more energy.
It’s like healing witchcraft! I commented as I looked at each oil and realized that together with physical healing powers the oil dealt with emotions. In other words, the oils seem to believe that for a person to be healthy he must be wholly balanced — his body, his moods, and his spirit must be aligned. That’s almost magical and can be misunderstood by the medical profession, the FDA, and the traditionalists who believe that medicine is the cure-all when, in fact, it is not.
There’s my constellation. I call it healing witchcraft. I see a slow but sure cultural change that cancels the chemicals that ruin our bodies and reintroduces us to the natural products that once did such a marvelous job of healing us organically. As far back as the Bible. Like our vanished arbolaryos. Suddenly I feel like buying a kit and learning how to be a healing witch but right now I am too preoccupied moving homes. If you want to beat me at turning into a healing witch call or text my niece, Gina at 0920-921-8308. She will give you all the information you need. Don’t worry. One day I too will be a healing witch!