An Archive of One's Own
Revisiting my own archives as I form my sense of self
I started this Sikodiwa project in 2022, initially as a way to find the intersection of occultism and psychology in Philippine culture. These are my fascinations, drawing all the way back to my own childhood, when I would spend lengthy afternoons in Silay, reading about these things in my grandfather’s old books.
Today, the work I do is a result of trial and error—I’ve tried many things that worked, and many more that didn’t. Through this process of creation and curation, I now have deep archives of half-completed projects and standalone attempts. There are essays I never turned into academic articles, book chapters, or zines. There are recordings that I felt didn’t sound enough “like me” to be shared as podcast episodes. There are full lectures that, for some reason or another, were never uploaded or released for a brief time and then archived immediately. There are also songs that I wrote and performed when I had the idea of making a Sikodiwa-inspired album of some kind—including, and I am truly serious about this, an attempt to create my own “theme music.”
I’m happy about the stuff I share in the spaces I currently have—Instagram, Substack, and Patreon.1 But for followers of my work who are curious about these intimate and deeply personal creative attempts, I will be sharing them for all paying subscribers on my Patreon.
Coming Soon
For Member tier only: Upcoming lecture on spiritual madness and transcendence, on May 10, 2025.
“Sikodiwa Review” — A series of essays, to be released bi-monthly, starting May. These are one-page pamphlets in PDF form, each bearing personal reflections on important topics. Most of these have never been shared before, mainly because they are too diary-like.
Audio and video recordings that have never been released publicly, including a lecture on local occult symbolism and Filipino psychology, a ramble about folk spirituality, a song I wrote and performed when I was planning to create a Sikodiwa-themed music album, and more.
I had also learned that some people only follow my free Spotify podcast, and they don’t know that I’ve been uploading my public lectures on YouTube. No problem—I’ll be uploading 5 selected recordings on Spotify soon, one episode every last Friday of the month, starting May 2025. Here is the list:
Ep. 1: Community (20:40) — Release date: May 30, 2025
Ep. 2: Nature (with Celine Murillo) (1:04:25) — Release date: June 27, 2025
Ep. 3: Religion (with Bernz O. Caasi) (1:14:50) — Release date: July 25, 2025
Ep. 4: Wellbeing (22:22) — Release date: August 29, 2025
Ep. 5: Kapwa (27:04) — Release date: September 26, 2025
The last episode is a lecture I recorded in January 2023, which I released for a brief time, and then archived. I’ll be sharing it publicly again after two years.
That’s it for now, ingat lagi!
Subscribe to my Patreon and preorder my new book. 🌞
If you can believe it, I used to have a Facebook page and a TikTok account too. But since I’m the only one working on this project, I had to limit the platforms I’m handling, for my own sanity. 😅