A LETTER TO FILIPINOS

I have lived for short periods here, traveled here, and have family and friends here. My own family of origin in the United States is like that of many Americans—not much of a family. Americans do not stay very close to their families, geographically or emotionally, and that is a major mistake. I have long been looking for a home and a family, and the Philippines is the only place I have lived where people honestly seem to understand how important their families are.

What I have seen, that many of you have not seen, is how your family members, the ones who are overseas Filipino workers, do not tell you much about how hard their lives actually are. OFWs are very often mistreated in other countries, at work and in their personal lives. You probably have not heard much about how they do all the work but are severely underpaid, because they know that the money they are earning must be sent home to you, who depend on them. The OFWs are very strong people, perhaps the strongest I have ever seen.


I am American and hard-headed. I am a teacher, but it takes me a long time to learn some things. But I’ve been trying, and your culture has been patient in trying to teach me.


In the countries where I’ve lived and worked, all over the Middle East and Asia, it is Filipinos who do all the work and make everything happen. When I am working in a new company abroad, I seek out the Filipino staff when I need help getting something done, and done right. Your international reputation as employees is that you work hard, don’t complain, and are very capable. If all the Filipinos were to go home from the Middle East, the world would stop. Oil is the lifeblood of the world, but without Filipinos, the oil will not come from the ground, it will not be loaded onto the ships, and the ships will not sail. The offices that make the deals and collect the payments will not even open in the morning. The schools will not have teachers, and, of course, the hospitals will have no staff.


At this point, we will pause for a word (and it will be a Big Word) coming from an invisible, immanent, ineffable sponsor The I Am Presence (God within us).

  After 2012, end of the Mayan Calendar of 26,000 years, an old system of thinking and of doing things ended, and a new system of thinking and doing begins to unfold. Somehow a new image of the Filipino is emerging out of the shadows of shifting realities, and Mr.David H.Harwell, an American journalist- international -correspondent is writing us about what he sees in us. He is seeing us not in the light of a particular cosmic understanding, but through it. Meaning, he now sees the Filipino not as a flat one-dimensional entity acting in the world of external reality as it is presented to him, bad, unjust, abusive, but as a complex being acting in the world of multi- dimensional realities not entirely new to the Pinoy but while retaining some of his pure, etheric, divine essence, has risen to the next, and next levels.



THE NEXT LEVEL

In conveying that knowledge ABOUT THE FILIPINOS now is rather like being a chimpanzee (as Dr. Eben Alexander, a neurosurgeon academic teaching in Harvard Medical School who died and returned to tell it in his recent book ‘Proof of Heaven’), becoming a human for a single day to experience all of the wonders of human knowledge, and then returning to one’s chimp friends trying to tell them what it was like knowing different Romance languages, the calculus, and the immense scale of the universe.  This idea of an NDE (near- death experience) mentor like Dr. Alexander I'd like to apply to our knowledge of being human, as we are divine in spirit and physical in form at the same time. From seeing the Core in heaven, Dr. Alexander goes, “my understanding of what we call “dark energy” and “dark matter” (astrologically, we call it Lilith, the Black Moon which works to afflict us with problems, karmically) seemed to have clear explanations, as did far more advanced components of the makeup of our universe that won’t be addressed for ages."

 For instance, the elderly Prince consort Philip Mountbatten of England, perhaps wonders about this perplexing, changing makeup of our universe at this time of the Shift, and he comments: it looks like half of the Philippine population is here in Britain, most of them, nurses. Immigrant workers may be of great use to a host country, but they also deprive their own people of jobs or tend to create cultural problems (positive and negative electric currents co-exist to be of use).  And as David Harwell in his letter would claim: If all Filipinos would leave the Middle East, the world would stop. 

Astro-mystic or not, today’s Filipinos may have to respond to Mr. Harwell’s highly intuitive assessment of our national work history and culture by means of the Philippine Independence chart of June 12, 1898, which can very well explain the mystery raised by him regarding the people’s enduring strength and stamina in the kind of work they are engaged in, many times severely underpaid and overworked, to keep, primarily, the oil-rich middle east countries’ industrial and medical operations from shutting down.


THE FILIPINO AND THE WORLD

Sinner or saint, the Filipino is a great subject for an astrological investigation. Here, one can get a closer and profound insight into the cosmic mysticism of the June 12 Gemini Sun with Sagittarius Ascendant. To begin with we’ll start with the Sun and Moon, the Lights. The Gemini Sun is flanked by two powerful major octaves Neptune and Pluto, in 7th house of partners, afflicting the Midheaven, the point of honor, rendering partnerships dubious in terms of moral and natural laws, usually involving some government wheeling- and- dealing proclivities or seemingly indirectly stating, “what’s mine is mine, what’s yours is negotiable.” That’s on a more general level in politics, but it also works in a more personal level. It would appear then, why Pinoys would be driven to seek their fortune overseas; similarly, as other peoples of planet earth would be subjected to alleged corruption of their leaders, and leave to work elsewhere.

Just as Prince Philip of England on tour would speak to his fellow- Englishmen in China: if you stay longer here, your eyes would get chinky too. Beside the point, isn’t becoming chinky-eyed, a blessing these days? This may be so, at this time of the great Shift when the West starts shedding off its customary luxuriant way of life in order for them to pay attention to the needs of their soul, like in comprehending the universal truths of the East, the Kabbala and Astrology upon entering the Age of Aquarius, the sign of brother/sisterhood of men in terms of astro-dynamics that has been found lately to be compatible with quantum physics.

Einsten in the West, completed the overthrowing of the concept of the mechanical Universe by perceiving time in an entirely new way so that common sense or sensual logic was no longer valid. All this together with the rediscovery of our planets magnetosphere and ecological system made scientific inquiry begin seriously to consider that much more lay beyond the scientifically observable processes. Moreover, as ancient and occult teaching stated (from: ‘Anatomy of Fate’ by Z’ev Ben Shimon Halevi) perhaps even subtler forces existed beyond the Earth and deep within human beings, as we shall see in this astroanalysis of the Filipino psyche.

Experiments that would have been considered professionally damaging at the beginning of the 20th century have now in the 21st become respectable and the general interest in the paranormal has increased demanding many intelligent people to investigate and speculate in a responsible manner much of the phenomena regarded for three centuries as superstitious. 

 My own approach to astrology, like the Jewish Halevi, is upon a Kabbalistic base. Kabbala is the ancient inner teaching system of Judaism which is western. I had to travel to Europe to find out that the Notre Dame de Chartres ten miles outside of Paris built in 12th century A.D, was a center of learning in that part of medieval civilization and had astrological markings on its walls to prove that the church liturgy was combined with astrological principles during the Middle Ages of Burning Faith. Christianity flourished and great gothic  cathedrals with spiraling pinnacles have been celebrated by mankind ever since.

European economy today may collapse at the height of their atheistic materialism but their magnificent gothic shrines will heal them through their sublime aesthetic sense. Force of spirit inspires humans to create great works of art. Kabbalistic  astrology, however, simply means that it is one particular form of the perennial truth about God, the Universe and Man.


THE FILIPINO AND THE LAWS OF HIS BEING

I have formulated my own simple definition of Astrology which is to say: Between heaven and earth there’s nothing but energy. Energy carries the law and the law regulates energy. Now the next question: What is the law (or laws) governing each planet and its energy field which is called a zodiac sign? Now, we go into specific details of the Philippine independence chart of June 12, 1898, Kawit, Cavite, at 5:01 PM which carries the laws of the Filipino character and destiny (Asc. on 2 degrees Sagittarius)

Having the Sun aligned with Neptune and Pluto, higher cosmic energies in Gemini, the Twins, with its characteristic ambivalence, the Filipino or Pinoy is on one side virtuous -- psychically keen, prophetic and urgent: signifying a time for breakthroughs, and the other side – with Sun conjunct Pluto in Gemini, he is dark, inscrutable, sinister, obviously a double-tongued trickster, at worst, a criminal genius with the matchless skill of a logician, depending on the degree or level of his mental and spiritual development. The high-risk potency of Sun-Pluto conjunction in Gemini, 7th house of partners, in opposition to Retrograde Saturn in Sagittarius, sign of foreign travel, foreign cultures does not seem to scare the Filipinos especially the women.

There is a strong likelihood based on the destiny pattern that the Filipino woman is apt to land the man she wishes to marry, indicating serious karmic attraction in the case of inter-racial marriages. The Pinay appears to be coy and modest to a degree while laying the tender trap, clever enough not to put the cart before the horse as the metaphor goes, in order to win her man. Retrograde Saturn in Sagittarius trine Moon in Aries, in 4th house of roots and foundation, the Filipino is easily converted to new enthusiasms, overtly conforming to convention but subconsciously longing to strike out on his own, even if it means paddling a flimsy boat through dangerous waters without assistance. However, the Pinoy with care and consideration (Saturn) he can channel his high spirits (Uranus) into real spiritual power, realizing his conquest.

Because he is also Sun conjunct Neptune, he is less dark, and sinister, more virtuous, kind in a dreamy, psychic way, more unstable emotionally, but with Uranus higher octave of Mercury planet of the mind, conjunct Saturn planet of karma, duty and discipline both Retrograde in Sagittarius in harmonious flowing trines to Aries Moon in 4th house. The Pinoy is more fiery, idealistic, open-minded, rather fearless in fixity of obtaining his goals as well as warmly family-oriented with lasting affections, but psychically urgent in making breakthroughs during times of crisis.

Freedom is a priceless treasure (Uranus), as so much exciting beauty lies ahead, leaving the country of birth to seek their own destiny (Saturn) overseas in more advanced countries (Sagittarius) to fulfill a mission with a degree of awareness having Saturn and Uranus in Retrograde motion. Retrograding planets take the Filipinos back to their past lifetimes when they were the earliest explorers of Lemuria.  Most fascinating aspect of Retrogrades occur on the unconscious level. The Pinoy for instance, projects the energies of his Retro Saturn (divine wisdom, karma, duty, responsibility) and Uranus (divine intellect for change) onto everyone he/she communicates with, but does this telepathically by subtly slipping into the identity of the person he is relating to. In instances where the Retrograde Pinoy has very positive or elevated Karma in his Retrogrades she/he can actually transfer the awareness she has reached to other people through the process of thought projection. Thus she can be quite a mystical teacher on very subliminal levels. Note: more emphasis is now set on the Divine Feminine at work.

On two levels: 1) Consciously, the Pinoy is open to self- sacrifice for the sake of his family by leaving it, to work in more economically advanced countries at a risk, facing the unknown as it were on a razors’ edge, to seek better wages or remuneration to send home so his family can live in better conditions, children can go to better schools. 2) Subconsciously, his greatest concern is that he develops an inner truth which remains unchanged under the pressures of the world or his personal fortunes. Principled to a degree, he remains loyal in his marriage, while subjected to numerous temptations abroad, and his family remains closely-knit, despite rambling reports to the contrary, he sticks to fervent prayers for safe passage in his job, also for mental health of  his family left behind, bahala na ang Diyos. As reported, empty churches overseas like in Europe, in Asia, example HongKong, are often filled up by Pinoys. They may even rent a church or buy to own one, as in Viena, Austria. With Saturn Retrograde in 12th House of karmic retribution, he builds a foundation within himself drawn from an inner knowledge accumulated in past incarnations, and remains, so it seems younger as he ages.

 All in one take: Neptune is the higher octave of Venus planet of love, harmony and money, the Pinoy, especially the woman is capable of emanating nearly purified energies. Filipinos are long-suffering, miserably underpaid under hideous circumstances, particularly in the unprotected domestic area of work (professional nurses are much better off in the medical field along with the doctors, engineers, accountants, IT experts, technicians, construction workers, also singers, dancers, etc.) where they are serving the very young, the very ill and the very handicapped and aged. They are mostly servants, care-givers, yayas, or taken as companions in sedate, affluent societies in Europe.


With Pluto the higher octave of Mars, a powerful but subtle, nay secretive energy that is driven, dark, inscrutable, the kind, self-sacrificing, uncomplaining Pinay is capable of making unconsciously an avataric effect on employers, perceived to be miraculously life-changing for them. Stories go around about Pinays overseas, whose well-taken cared young wards have influenced their wayward parents to go back to church, hear Sunday Mass again, and reunite with alienated spouses. All together, they would serve to demolish the people they serve in their addictions to certain profligate habits, to redeem their souls or change for the better though that was not deliberated upon and may not be aware of it. Fortunately, for us and the world, the highly charged, insightful yet subtle, unobtrusive Neptunian and Plutonian Filipino workers overseas have only earned praise for their work.

Mr. Harwell: I often pity those of you who go to America. You see pictures of their houses and cars, but not what it took to get those things. We have nice things, too many things, in America, but we take on an incredible debt to get them, and the debt is lifelong. America’s economy is based on debt. Very rarely is a house, car, nice piece of clothing, electronic appliance, and often even food, paid for. We get them with credit, and this debt will take all of our lifetime to pay. That burden is true for anyone in America—the OFWs, those who are married to Americans, and the Americans themselves.

Again, the same cosmic force and principle of the Uranus and Saturn Retrograde in Sagittarius apply to marriages of Filipinas to Americans and other foreign nationals in Europe. If the Pinoy of both genders is itching for future and distant horizons not yet within reach, as such he has difficulty stabilizing himself, he cannot focus on small things or details for very long, he gets bored. He needs constant stimulation to satisfy the very active thirst for life that keeps driving him on. He must go overseas to excel in his work. But the best thing about travel or residence abroad to work, is coming home (Moon in Aries, well aspected, Fourth house of home).

Thus he is very much a forerunner of the future. As a result, he experiences a great deal of loneliness, but he would never give up his gift of originality for the companionship of others, at the extreme. Maturing, the Pinoys may seem overly cautious and frugal, the Retrograde Saturn in Sagittarius becomes their conscience and guide, blending as a mediator between the perfected higher being and practical, mundane life, thus, he/she needs to carry the extra weight in his soul of a former life so that when the two ultimately combine he will have enough evidence to fully understand his mission.

Saturn is one’s teacher and when it appears Retrograde, the Pinoy has experienced similar teachings before this lifetime. He/she may have been an ancient Lemurian in the past.  With the greatest amount of inner maturity, whatever the outer world asks of him, especially the women (Moon in Aries, in fourth house of inner foundations, well aspected to Saturn and Uranus Retrograde in 12th house of hidden karmic ties) their strongest feeling is the security they feel inwardly by being true to their God. 

The Moon in Aries is like the Sun's rays -- clear or conscious, frank, direct, full of light and heat, masculine. and visible to all.  Though all three Fire signs -- Aries, Leo, Sagittarius are solar in nature, Aries is the most exuberant. It is the sign of a new day (the Sun rising in the morning) and so it happens, by divine order that the Philippine is the Land of the Morning.  Its women are therefore propelled by a solar force when their men are incapacitated, to meet the great challenges of working overseas.


MOTHER EARTH CONCEPT

The ARIES MOON Filipino, particularly the woman, is often very naive about the ways of the world. The Pinay in search of adventure or work abroad for the sake of her children, would seem to judge all existence by the extent of her own conscious mind. The more limited her natural awareness, the more limited her world. But that form of limitation in a mystical sense (union with the Divine) is derived from the exoteric aspect of the Filipino woman, that is form. In her lunar force, which is the inner core of her soul, she is transcendental; she transcends both the limiting material dimensions of time and space known to modern man in his yet limited perception of things so the Filipino woman who is not limited by form, can rise through a trajectory force, lunar, feminine in form (Moon), but very solar in power (Aries), she must perform her dharma or duty to the world (from the book, Georgina and Romeo Solina: 'The Filipino and the World.')

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