American traces history of RP spiritism in new book

SPIRITISM has been practiced by Filipinos since the Spanish

period and probably even before that. Practically all of our

spiritual healers and psychic surgeons are products of spiritist

sects.

Yet very little is known about this group. Their practice is given

very little attention by mainstream media unless something

wrong or sensational happens. Even our academic schools have

paid very little attention to them, which is unfortunate because

their influence over the psyche of the Filipinos is really quite

deep and far reaching.

Almost everybody in the Philippines, regardless of religion,

educational attainment, social status and professional

background, believe in some invisible force or spirit that can

affect or intervene in his life. I find this true even among

so-called skeptics and staid academicians. Several years ago, I

had a chance to talk to a Catholic monk in the South who sees

and talks to elves and nature spirits. He does not find it

incompatible with his religion.

Spiritist groups

The separate spiritist groups in the Philippines formed

themselves into an association called ''Union Espiritista

Christiana de Filipinas'' or the Union of Christian Spiritists of the

Philippines. This is the biggest aggrupation of spiritualists in

the country. And as I mentioned above, most of our faith

healers come from their ranks.

Some of the more well-known Filipinos who have at one time or

another become president of the union are National Artist

Guillermo Tolentino, judge and later justice Onofre Villaluz Jr.

and the late businessman/accountant Joaquin Cunanan. If I'm

not mistaken, even businessman J. Antonio ''Tonypet'' Araneta,

ex-husband of Tourism Secretary Gemma Cruz-Araneta, was at

one time a director or officer of the Union Espiritista.

We Filipinos seldom appreciate what is truly our own. It often

takes foreigners to appreciate what is good or interesting in our

culture.

Spiritism is no exception. An American, Harvey Martin, has

recently published in the US a book titled ''The Secret

Teachings of the Espiritistas--A Hidden History of Spiritual

Healing.'' It is about Philippine spiritism and Filipino faith

healers and yet the book is not even available in this country.

I met Harvey Martin many years ago in the Philippines. He was

intensely interested in the esoteric practices in this country,

especially those of our psychic surgeons. He wrote a book on

the Healing Ministry of Jesus Christ which was influenced by

Harvey's association with the Filipino healers. I wrote the

introduction to that book. Then I lost track of him.

Were it not for my Australian friend, Donald McDowall, a

chiropractor and psychic researcher, I would never have been

able to contact Harvey again.

Best researched study

According to Donald, Harvey's book on the Philippine Spiritist

Movement is the ''best researched study of the union

espiritistas that I have come across. He even translated the

minutes of the meetings from 1909 to 1933. Incredible! The

contents are almost identical to the instructions that Annie (his

Filipino wife) and I received. The book covers his time in the

Philippines between 1983 and 1989.''

I immediately contacted Harvey Martin at his e-mail address:

enigma@sysconn.com and received immediate reply and he said

he had been trying to contact me, too. ''I even asked Dr. James J.

Hurtak (president of the Academy for Future Science), for your

address,'' said Harvey, ''but he was leaving for the US and forgot

to send it to me.''

Harvey said he has been marketing the book through the

Internet among the Filipino community in the US with great

success. He sells the book for US $24.95 plus $10 mailing cost.

Harvey's website is http://www.metamind.net and shows you

how to order the book.

''As you know,'' relates Harvey, ''I devoted a great deal of time

and effort to researching the origins and history of psychic

surgery with Rev. Benjamin Pajarillo while I was in the

Philippines. Rev. Pajarillo procured copies of the Doctrina

Espiritista (the first textbook of the Union Espiritista circa 1909)

and the Amended Constitution of the Union (circa 1950) which I

translated (with great difficulty) while in the Philippines.

I only managed to procure the only existing copy of the

Corporate Minutes of the Union between 1919 to 1933 (from the

Archivist of the Union who now lives here in the US) and had

that translated as well.

''Rev. Pajarillo, who was the head of Eleuterio Terte's Church,

The Christian Spiritists of the Philippines, trained me in the

traditional mediumship training offered by the union in the early

days of spiritism and, in doing so, explained all the subtle

nuances of the terms in the Doctrina and the Minutes.

''With all this information, I was able to reconstruct the complete

history of Christian Spiritism in the Philippines and since

psychic surgery was an outgrowth of Christian Spiritism, I was

able to reconstruct it as well.''

This is something we should be thankful to Harvey Martin for.

No contemporary Philippine historian would have bothered to

write about this subject at all. Spiritism is an integral part of the

Filipino psyche, whether we believe it or not.

''As I slowly reconstructed the history of Filipino Spiritism''

continued Harvey in his letter to me, ''I was amazed and deeply

moved at the awesome contribution that you and your

countrymen have made to the understanding of true spirituality.

An amazing wealth of spiritual knowledge lies beneath the

surface of the average Filipino, waiting to be awakened. If my

book has the same impact in the Philippines that it is having

here, I truly believe it will lead to even greater spiritual

manifestations than have already occurred.''

For those who are interested in knowing more about the hidden

history of Philippine spiritism and the origins of psychic

surgery, this book is a must read.

Contact Harvey in his website or e-mail address and you can

mention you read about him in my column. Let us become more

aware of our deep spiritual heritage that goes much further back

than the Christian era.