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The spiritual doom of Mt. Banahaw
Source: Inquirer
Author: None
Date: 2002-03-18
 
“A TRIP to mystic Mt. Banahaw is no longer free,” according to a news item in the March 7 issue of the Inquirer.



A municipal ordinance now requires all visitors to Mt. Banahaw, which is a national park, to pay 5 pesos as conservation fee, 20 pesos as camping fee, 50-100 pesos as campsite fee (for three days and two nights’ stay) and an optional fee of 50 pesos as certificate of conquest, says the news.



During the last decade, Mt. Banahaw, which is considered the most important natural spiritual center of the Philippines, has been changing very much, not only physically, but more importantly, spiritually. The latest development that could spell its spiritual doom is the introduction of electricity several years ago. Electrification has accelerated the commercialization of the holy place.



But this was not unanticipated. Mediums and mystics of the mountain have long ago predicted that “When the noise of the city comes to Mt. Banahaw, it will be the beginning of the end of the mountain.” Where we heard only the chirping of birds and crickets before, one now hears loud western music and soap opera on radio in the mountain. Where once we used to walk quietly to the sacred sites, we now hear the noise of buses, jeepneys and SUVs along the way.



This Lenten season, we can expect the yearly rape of Mt. Banahaw to take place once more. But with this fee requirement, fewer people may trek up there, which is good for the mountain. There was a time in the 1990s when about half a million pilgrims and curiosity seekers trooped to the mystic mountains, leaving tons upon tons of litter and human waste behind.



I used to visit Mt. Banahaw every weekend in the ’80s and even brought quite a number of foreigners there. Now no more. The energy of the mountain has definitely changed. And the spirits guarding the sacred places are mostly gone. I understand there are still highly charged caves and puestos there, but one has to be extra sensitive to feel them.



I have been told that the spirits of the mountain are saddened by the desecration and commercialization of the holy mountain. Most of the people who now visit Mt. Banahaw are mountain climbers and plain curious people, and no longer those seeking spiritual solace and enlightenment, unlike in the olden days.



Onslaught of commercialization



To be sure, there are very courageous and far-sighted individuals in Mt. Banahaw who are heroically trying to save the mystic mountain from becoming just one more tourist spot in the country. But their great efforts pale in comparison to the relentless onslaughts of modernization and commercialization of the place.



The prophets and mystics of this sacred place are again being proven right.



The spirits revealed to me during one of my trance channelings some years ago that they would transfer the sacred places elsewhere.



I believe I have found one of such sacred places in a privately owned mysterious mountain in Lucban, Quezon. This 23-hectare virgin land is owned by a businessman-cum-mystic from Pateros, Rizal. It has a brook where some spirits appear and a powerfully charged boulder inhabited by out-of-this-world spirits. Many UFOs are also seen in the place, mostly during the evening. The place is conducive to meditation and communing with Mother Nature. The owner, Artemio Cataquiz, has built a rest house, a large social and meditation tower in the area. Nobody can go there without permission or invitation and even when he opens it to the public, it will be under controlled conditions in order to preserve the purity and sanctity of the place.



“I will not allow what has happened to Mt. Banahaw to happen to my place,” declared Cataquiz.



Let’s hope so.




[ Mt. Banahaw Wiki ]


 

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