A Sexual Symbol at Edsa Shrine?

Was at the shrine of Our Lady of Peace, also known as Edsa Shrine, this morning to visit a friend and former classmate at UST Central Seminary. Fr. Nilo Mangussad, Director of Liturgical Music of the Archdiocese of Manila since 1995, is also current Rector of the shrine. He assumed the title formerly held by Fr. Soc Villegas, now bishop of Bataan, some two years ago.

I consider Edsa Shrine very close to my heart not only because of the role it played in the history of our nation (the song “Bayan ko” never fails to bring tears to my eyes) but also because of the role it played in my vita amoris, aptly described by a word popularized mainly by show business -- lovelife kuno. You see, Edsa Shrine also reminds me of my first love. The sacred place had always been my meeting place with her whenever we would go out for a date. (Our relationship did not succeed, however, the religious dimension we tried to commit unto it notwithstanding. Sigh.) But that is of course a different story.

The Shrine itself has numerous features that interest me: its electronic bells, its controversial murals, its wonderful pipe organ, the almost-subwoofer-provided acoustics, and one of its architectural wonders – its intriguing baptismal font.

Some two years ago, Gabby Lagamayo, a former classmate from Our Lady of Penafrancia Minor Seminary, had his child baptized in said Shrine. Several classmates, I included, stood as godfathers. During the rites, however, the ninongs kept themselves busy with whispered hahaha and hikhikhik which easily filled the place and obviously irritated the minister.

Lemme share with you the reason for such hikhikhik and hahaha.

About two weeks after the baptism, Junie Taclan, a friend, now kumpadre and former classmate both in High School at Our Lady of Penafrancia Minor Seminary and in AB-Classical, Bachelorship in Philosophy, and Licentiate in Philosophy at Central Seminary, UST, posted this photo below at the blog of Batch 86 (Find the blog here).

Junie said: Why would this religious structure evoke in one of the ninongs (Jet Hermida, that is) the image of the female anatomy? Is it true that years after leaving the seminary, we never really lost the "seminarian" in us? Or, do we owe it to our priest-formators? Ha ha ha ha ha.

Jet Hermida, likewise a former classmate, followed suit. He posted this close-up photo of the same font below.

Jetski said: Hehehe, more pix of that interesting baptismal font (?) in EDSA Shrine. So whaddya think?

I am posting herewith the reactions, with a few minor modifications, the photos generated among our classmates (the reactions as they appear in the Batch ’86 blog here)

Anonymous said.: bagan puyit! heheheh (Trans.: It looks like a vagina! Hehehe.)

Kit said: i do not know who designed the baptismal font in edsa shrine but he/she must be aware of the symbology of the blade (ancient symbol for masculinity) and the chalice (ancient symbol for femininity). the blade is represented by the triangle and the chalice is represented by the inverted triangle. together, they actually form a hexagram which we now identify as the star of david. incidentally, the blade also represents the male organ and the chalice represents its female equivalent. quite incidentally also, this is mentioned in dan brown's "the da vinci hoax”, er, “code.”

in this case, i do not know why the baptismal font's architect placed the symbol of the chalice on top of the symbol of the blade. was he perhaps thinking of the wheelbarrow position? the woman on top? or, hmmm... well, fill in the blanks. the flowing waters in the font, the font itself looking more like a jacuzzi - they only serve to conjure more images of, well, ano pa nga ba?

i am sure one of the ninongs immediately "smelled" the "heavenly experience" which the hexagram in the baptismal font symbolized. and i venture that he must have had this old filipino adage at the back of his mind: "ang hindi lumingon sa pinanggalingan ay hindi makararating sa paroroonan."

doon po tayo lahat nanggaling. ahh... sana mamayang gabi, or mas okay kung asap, doon tayo lahat paroroon.

goodluck buddies!

Jetski said: hehehe nice kit! nice :-)

Gojie said: hahahaha. duon po ako patungo mamayang gabi pareng kit. chalice on top of the blade.

Gabby said: you people amaze me.

Anonymous said: mas masiram an paroo't parito, lalo na kun minamadali. Masiram man an blade lalo na kun insasaksak. Duwang klase baga an saksak : 1. Saksak na nakamatay 2. Saksak na nakabuhay. Saraksakan na lang kita! Jack the Rapist (Trans.: 'Here and there' tastes better, especially when rushed. The blade tastes good, too, especially when thrusted unto something/someone. There are two kinds of thrusts: 1. deadly 2. life-giving. Let's thrust the thing unto each other! Jack the Rapist)

Junie said: jet, now i know the reason for the name creativejet.

Gojie said: chapel na chapel inmalisyahan pa niyo. manggirabo man kamo!!!! mangisog c lord! hehehe. (Trans.: That’s a chapel so don’t put malice on it!!! The Lord will get mad! Hehehe.)

Gojie said: but hey, it rili reminds me of last night. hahahahaha.

Kit said: gojie: history will show us that the profane has always been present in the sacred. it is also true that the sacred has always been present in the profane. and this is especially true in the church. basilicas and cathedrals especially in europe are full of "artistic manifestations" and symbolisms that make direct references especially to the female genitalia and to the sexual act. the symbol of the chalice is a good starting point. even theology speaks of the church as the bride of christ who is the groom. now, marriage is supposed to be consummated by the sexual act. know that canon law considers non-consummation as a primary ground for nullity and voidance of marriage ab initio. and where is their bedroom where they "consummate" their love? well, it is in the eucharist. the altar therefore is the bed where the chalice (remember that it is the symbol of the female genitalia) is laid (remember the expression "get laid?"). and the chalice of course is the receptacle wherein the blood of christ the groom is eventually poured into.

relative to the symbolism of the chalice, do you know that an egyptologist has surmised that the pyramids are actually symbols of the male genitalia and that they were built to announce to the aliens out there that "hey, may mga boto tabi didi!!" (Trans.: hey, there are penises here!!)

the next time you go to church, try looking for symbols. you'll have fun i'm sure, as creativejet has had real fun in edsa shrine. hehehe.

Junie said: kit, i am beside myself reading your comment. Nabubuang na kuno ako sabi san mga kaurupod ko sa balay. (Trans.: I have gone mad according to members of my household.)

I think you should really write a book. It would be a great disservice to mankind if you don't share these highly amusing, deeply irreverent "theological treatises."

Thanks, Kit. You made my day!

Jetski said: kit, bilibonon ako san paliwanag mo. hehehe. (Trans.: i am awed by your explanation. hehehe.)

Otats said: kit, i really agree with you "that the profane has always been present in the sacred. it is also true that the sacred has always been present in the profane. and this is especially true in the church"...well, and also very much true with some PRIESTS..hehehehe!

Gabby said: jet, you're really creative. you saw something that i didn't. kit, take heed of junie's suggestion.

Kit said: junie: i am sorry for being “irreverent.” i didn’t mean to sound like i despise the church. believe me, i love the church very much and i must say i learned to love her more (notice that because i consider myself man enough, i address the church as “her”) because of these facts.

the church uses a lot of signs and symbols. our faith is explained through them and theology thrives because of them. sacrament for instance is theologically defined as an outward sign. the problem only starts when we begin to understand and trace the history of these signs and symbols.

take for instance another interesting case which is the case of the rite of renewal of water and light during easter. would you believe that this rite is originally a symbol of the sexual act itself? the water symbolizes life or more particularly, the giver of life. the giver of life of course directly alludes to the female genitalia. the candle on the other hand, symbolizes the male organ. notice that during the rite, the candle is dipped into the water. and it is during this rite when new life is born in the church as symbolized by christ’s resurrection. indeed, it is a fact that the church’s teachings on life and new life almost always use the symbolism of the male and female genitalia and the sexual act. very interesting, is it not?

would love to take your challenge, junie. join me in writing a collaborative work. i am sure we can get a lot of fertile ideas from jet. hehehe.

Anonymous said: mhaleeboogeen kau lahhaten batch eighty - SEX ! you better read my theories first. mga manyakeen, when i was born, i brought sexual symbolisms into this world. Heende kau ang original koondee akoo. Hail Hitler ! SIGMUND FREUD

Junie said: kit, I’ll be the last person to believe that you despise the church.

By irreverent, I didn’t mean, of course, that you despise the church. Just the same, I’m sorry for the unintended connotation.

Allow me to give a little explain, though. Beneath the irreverence, I’m sure, lies a deep respect, love even [as you openly declared], for the church. Irreverence and respect for the same object—the church—would seem to defy logic. But a closer examination would show that these traits can reside in one person without necessarily excluding each other, in much the same way that we can marry the idea of the sacred and that of the profane in religious symbols.

Irreverence aside, I truly get a lot of kick from your theological explanations. And I think I’ll take you up on your offer to do a collaboration if, and only if, we include Dante for the illustrations. Our book-in-the-making will surely need a lot of cave illustrations, given its sacred-profane content. And Dante’s the only one qualified for the job, being the most experienced spelunker in our batch. The only problem is he’s very busy right now, exploring three caves (Is it four, Henri? Or, have we lost count already?) in Albay and Sorsogon.

Kit said: thanks a lot, junie. you just put into words what many of us could only observe and awfully declare as “nasa durho na san dila ko yan!” (Trans.: that's already at the tip of my tongue!) sige po, i hope we can start writing soon. dante, i am sure, will provide the best illustrations to those things that have been keeping our “heads” high (shall I say erect?). with his very rich experience in cave explorations, his fresh-from-the-oven fingers will definitely provide masterful strokes in the terrain and every corner of our hitherto unexplored … hmm … subject.

speaking of caves, i must beg to disagree with mr. sigmund freud’s claim that he pioneered sexual projection of phenomena through symbols and/or the sexual interpretation of symbols. the fact is, sexual symbolism has been with us since the beginning of man’s history. remember that the caveman drew symbols in caves. were the symbols he drew never sexual in any way? then why did he draw raging bulls inside the caves? hehe, i am sure dante knows the reason by heart and, well, by his dick (dear dante: my apologies po). the most that mr. freud has introduced therefore is the “freudian approach” in the understanding of our sexuality.

i must agree, however, with tato’s observation about the symbiotic relation between the sacred and the profane as observed among the members of our clergy. not all priests are completely aware of the symbolisms of the rites they perform or they may not always be conscious of the significance of these symbolisms. but imagine a priest who is really aware of the sexual undertones in the rites. hehe, the people would perhaps start to wonder why their minister would seem to be singing handel’s helleluiah seven octaves higher.

Comments and discussions went on beyond the blog. In one of our mini reunions, we talked and gave out more hikhikhik and hahaha and drank and toasted till dawn to our book-in-the-making. Beyond munching on the special sisig and chicharong bulaklak as pulutan, we feasted on the different concepts relative to the theology of sex as well as more sexual symbolisms in different churches.

And it all started with the baptismal font at Edsa Shrine.