Setting intentions and naming sources
March 8, 2021
Mama Sita spirit is a pantry staple, especially to those of us whose dining tables are altars and offerings are homecooked meals. Stir clockwise to manifest, counter-clockwise to release.
I hope that the spaces I create and communities I integrate with in this next era of my life will excavate philippine narratives from the depths of buried footnotes and out into sites of scene and seen. As I prepare my grad school application materials, I've been connecting with spirit to learn from elders currently living and working throughout the philippine archipelago. My subconscious and consciousness are dancing now, and it's MAGNETIC. Inspiration can serve as ignition. I am so thankful to be ignited by the following elder pinays whose bodies of work are charging me to design an intentional life. I'm learning so much from their historical + cultural work, much of which is available online. Naming them as sources here in hopes to spark more folks of my generation with the same curiosity.
Felice Prudente Sta. Maria -- philippine food historian with special focus from 1515 CE onwards
Atching Lillian Borromeo -- kapampangan food heritage preservationist and heirloom chef
Dr. Ame Garong -- archaeologist and museum researcher, author of Ancient Filipino Diet: Reconstructing Diet from Human Remains Excavated in the Philippines
They are true gifts from the arkipelago to those of us in the diaspora. These women have dedicated decades of work to bear knowledge that preserve our lifeways + histories. Remember that intentional reading is a modality of Ancestor Work and Rootwork, too. I hope to trek the trails they've blazed because they (and Solange) teach me to be weary of the ways of the viral networks that commodify sacred for capitalist gain. Don't get stuck in doom scrolling, y'all. We're more than our traumas. WE ARE MORE THAN OUR TRAUMAS.
I've also been reading materials from the colonizers, too. Primary sources from Pigafetta and secondary sources of Magellan (seriously, much of these are available for free on Project Gutenberg). Why? Because Suga Free taught me that if I stay ready, I ain't got to get ready. Tread carefully with discernment when relating with these texts.
God(dess), I love being Filipina. I love waking up in the morning and the first thoughts I have are in my native tongue. I love that I lull children to sleep singing the same song tattooed on my body that sent me to Tala dreams when I was a child. I love that my language is now my prayer.