Sanctity of Stillness
by Aimee Amparo
Ceremony is always preceded by waiting. There is sacredness in the exploration of that stillness. When you’ve been anticipating a ritual like Ipat for months and its day finally arrives, the stillness is a vital practice. We finally departed from our hotel, eager for departure since time spent getting ready to go would diminish time spent in ceremony. We were fully covered in long sleeved shirts and scarves we’d use to wrap and cover our hair. The jeepney drive to the house where the ritual would take place was long and curved around the bend of a river as we left the city and ventured into the more wild and overgrown barrios. I leaned my head out of the window to feel the cool air. The sky casted a soft orange hue and the sun began to set set as we arrived.
We came to the waiting community; children and adults gathered around the front and towards the entrance of the house near the kulintang ensemble. We began to shuffle into a tiny room structured by exposed gray concrete slabs and sat close together like puzzle pieces in the room. We were given sweet rice treats wrapped in banana leaf and were tasked with fastening the two ends of the banana leaves with smaller strands of leaf. “This will be for the offering” they told us. Despite the sweltering heat of being fully covered head to toe and so tightly packed within that room, our fingers moved with nimbleness and excitement as we quietly conversed in the hot air, fastening the banana leaves eager and uncertain of what would come next.
Before the ritual, there is always coffee. There is also merienda; some variety of sweet bread to snack on. As the late afternoon moved closer to night, preparation continued and we were told we could rest outside of the room and wait on thick padded cushions laid just outside the room. We were encouraged to nap, relax, eat, and take the moment with ease.
Joyful and sometimes silly we sat and laughed and drank our coffee knowing something tremendous was at hand. I felt nervous, then impatient, then euphoric all the while satiated on merienda and buzzed on caffeine. There is elation, and a sense of belonging that comes with this anticipation. We are instructed to be in the moment and besides the small preparatory tasks for the ritual, that is all that is asked of you. I came to find the significance of this time to be a meaningful part of the ritual. The world of the spirit moves at its own pace.
As the ceremony draws near, we are almost delirious with joy. I praise my own fortuity to have gathered myself to this moment. The impact of what will come will be momentous and I know the ritual might be hard, long, or uncomfortable. But that’s not my concern now. In this moment of levity and silence, I revel in making the journey. The quiet allows space between the travel from one world to the next. We are told to shuffle back into the room and all is abuzz. The ritual will begin. A deep breath in and then the sweet familiar earthy smell of the incense floats into our heads as the gongs begin to sound, charged rhythms beckoning the spirits.