By TONY PEREZ:
The Calling:
A Transpersonal Adventure
(1996)
New Spells
(1996)
New Tawas
(1997)
A Young Man Cries for Justice:
Beyond His Grave:
Compilations on the Ens. Phillip Azarcon Pestaño Case
Volume I
(1998)
Beings:
Encounters of the Spirit Questors
with Non-human Entities
(1999)
The Departed:
Encounters of the Spirit Questors
with Spirits of the Deceased
(1999)
New Orations
(2000)
New Orations
in Magica Cantada
(2000)
New Rituals
of Wicca:
Featuring the Rituals
of the Lunary Sol Brotherhood
(2000)
By RUEL S. DE VERA:
The Spirit Quest Chronicles 1
(1997)
The Spirit Quest Chronicles 2
(1998)
FILIPINO TRANSPERSONAL PSYCHOLOGY
Cecille Legazpi
Editor
ANVIL
MANILA
New Orations in Magica Cantada
Tony Perez
Copyright © CHITO I. MIRANDA, 2000
All rights reserved,
including the rights of reproduction
and of use in any form or manner
except with written permission
from the copyright owner
and the publisher.
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Book design: ANI V. HABÚLAN
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Printed in the Philippines by
GEBA Printing Co.
An oration is a kind of magica used in giving voice to a prayer or to a request.
There are five levels of vocalization within the whole of magica. Let us learn what these are and the different examples of their respective orations.
Songs and children’s games are our first introduction to the recitation and use of orations, to the performance of ritual, and to the study of magica. Even so, these remain only at the lowest level of vocalization, because the names, words, and phrases used in them possess no real power.
For example, through the phrase, “Pasa puwera balik” | “What is passed on should not return,” a pledge is assigned to another person with the certainty that it will not turn back or return to its source.
Here are some more examples:
The utterance of the phrase “Ang mahuli, kulelat” | “Whoever is caught last is the loser,” ensures not only advantage but also the defeat and ill luck of the “opponent.”
The singing of the syllables “Sa-gidi-sa-gidi-sa-po-po” may be considered the singing of a ritual chant, or canto, of a coven, or association of witches. A canto strengthens and reinforces the force or efficacy of one or more witches in the practice of magica. It may also be called a form of sympathetic magic, or magica based on correspondences, because of the movements and gestures that accompany it.
In the words “Indiyan pana, kakana-kana; Tatlong betlog, kakalug-kalog” | “Indian arrows, ding-a-ling; Three balls(testicles), dangling,” (A nonsensical jeering rhyme) one clearly hears the intention to mock, or to lessen the confidence of, the “opponents.”
Likewise, in the verses:
one hears the intention to lessen the confidence of the man who commits adultery or of the offspring of adultery.
The following example,
may also be called an oration because it contains a request—the condition of being abundant.
1 and 2 Thanks to Elnora L. Conti, resource specialist at the Thomas Jefferson Information Center, Public Affairs Section, Embassy of the U.S.A.
On the second level, there are ordinary utterances of wishes which, although they have no appropriate rituals, may also be considered prayers.
One example is the phrases “Purihin ang Panginoon” | “Praise the Lord” and “Salamat sa Diyos” | “Thanks be to God.”
There are also the phrases “Mag-ingat ka” | “Take care” said to someone who is leaving, “Pagaling ka agad” | “Get well soon” said to someone who is ill, “Madapa ka sana” | “May you stumble” said to someone one dislikes, and “Mamatay ka na sana” | “May you die already” said to someone one hates. Utterances such as these are all directed toward the good or bad welfare of oneself or of another.
As other examples, there is the English phrase “Good luck,” directed toward a person’s success, and the phrase “More power to you,” directed toward a person’s becoming more powerful.
And there is the phrase “Manalo ka sana” | “May you win,” or the phrase “Mando sana ako” | “May I be the one to command / win,” whether in betting or in competition, directed toward another person’s enrichment or one’s own.
Do not forget, either:
There are utterances that pertain to love. Can you remember some of these?
Let us now proceed to the third level of vocalization, which includes orations for amulets and the orations used by native healers.
Have you ever tried buying an amulet—outside the basilica in Quiapo, for example?
When you buy an amulet, one of the things the vendor will ask you is whether you also wish to buy, for an additional amount, a copy of the oration to be used in connection with that amulet.
But not all orations are connected with amulets. There are also orations recited by native healers as part of their healing. However, rather than being called Filipino, or truly our own, these orations cannot be fully understood without an appropriate explanation from someone knowledgeable not only about the language and the meaning of the letters in the oration, but also about the elemental knowledge of low magic, or magica baja.
In addition, because the ancient Filipino mystics wished the secrets of their power not to fall into the hands of the masses, they deliberately hid, concealed, or disguised the form and construction of their orations. Most of these mystics, if not all of them, did not graduate from a university; many did not even attend school, because the education they chose was that which came from nature. Because of this, the original Latin and Spanish languages in the orations handed down to them by foreign magi in earlier times changed form through their use and through the passage of generations. The result was “pidgin Latin,” or pseudo-Latin, and “pidgin Spanish,” or pseudo-Spanish, so that orations of this kind are now considered the “Chavacano of Filipino orations.”
Here are some examples of old Filipino orations. From Book of Healing (no author’s name, no year of publication):
For making the sick person quiet and preventing harm—3
From Misterio Principal: Secreto de Solo Ojo (no author’s name, no year of publication):
3 The sick person in this situation is a person possessed by an evil spirit.
For a storm—4
From Secret Names and Secret Knowledge (Sabino, no year of publication):
Concerning those affected by ancestral spirits, tiyanak, tikbalang, enchantment, or those being toyed with by dwarves, kapre, and others—
And again from Sabino:
Concerning power—
The word “oration” truly came from the word “Orasyon” used in the prayer to the Blessed Virgin, or the “Angelus,” which is recited aloud every six o’clock in the evening. The purpose of praying the Orasyon is to remind the faithful of Christ’s Incarnation, His Death on the Cross, and His Resurrection. Its purpose is also to give understanding and thanks for all the blessings God has granted to humankind at the end of a day of work, whether in a building or in the field.
4 The author did not mention whether this oration is to be recited in order to quiet the storm, to make the storm linger, or to prevent harm from the storm.
However, over time, the meaning of “Orasyon” became equivalent merely to the signal of six o’clock in the evening and to sunset. Gradually, the purposes of praying it also changed: protection and safety from danger because of the approaching darkness; the driving away of evil spirits; and the offering of prayer for the souls of those who had died.
Among all Christians, the best-known oration is the only prayer given by Christ, recorded in the Holy Bible: the Our Father, which, according to metaphysicians and theosophists, is a key to the Tree of Life of the Qabbala.5
Other examples of prayers often recited are the Hail Mary, the Glory Be, the prayers of the Holy Rosary, and various novenas. When these prayers are spoken aloud—not merely read or prayed silently in the mind—they serve as orations. They also possess the elements of intention and prayer, and the names, words, and phrases used in them contain power—the power of the Lord.
The Holy Mass is at the highest level of vocalization—especially the Misa Cantada, where the prayers are chanted and sung.6 Although the prayers in the Misa Cantada are in Latin, like the ancient orations, they are followed and understood by the congregation because they are accustomed to the texts of the Holy Mass in English and in Tagalog. Naturally, the Misa Cantada is not only followed and understood, but fully followed and fully understood, by the priests officiating it.
It is important, therefore, that an oration be followed and understood by anyone who uses it, because it will not take effect if it has no meaning in the mind and no significance to the Self. This is the reason why orations recited in pseudo-Latin, in pseudo-Spanish—
5 The Qabbala is a system of spiritual belief that began among the ancient Hebrews and serves as one of the roots of Christianity. The Tree of Life contains ten Sephira, or Realms in the Universe. Each of these corresponds to a Name of the Lord, a Name of an Archangel, a Hebrew Word, or an Attribute, which serve as orations for it.
6 The Introduction of this book contains an explanation of the difference between “chanting” and “singing.”
Spanish-like, or in the “Chavacano of Filipino orations,” have almost no efficacy. Most people can no longer follow them and, believe it or not, often even young native healers can no longer follow them either.
Therefore, if you are practicing magica and you come to a part that you cannot follow and cannot understand—stop first, ask someone who knows, and make an effort to research.
Never forget this in the use not only of old orations but also of new orations.
The orations in this book are new translations and adaptations by the author from the rituals and ceremonies of magica cantada.7
As you read this book, you will infer that an oration is the use of a powerful name, word, or phrase in order to restrain evil or to draw good nearer to a person, object, or place.
You will also infer that anyone who can write a simple request, however plain a poem, or any message conveyed in a creative way, can compose an oration.
You will further infer that, for you, some of the most effective orations you will use are those authored by your own Self.
This is because we are all children of God. Each one of us was created by Him in His Image and Goodness and was granted the ability to share in His divine Wisdom and Power.
We can illustrate this by means of the following—
7 A kind of magica performed by a group of magi and making use of a circle, altar, implements, and special orations in calling upon and communicating with spirits of high rank.