Have you ever stood at a place where you felt different—like you had been transported to another place that was peaceful, serene and absolutely quiet? Or where you felt energized and invigorated?

There are many places like this in the Philippines and all over the world. They are called sacred sites and power spots.

Sacred sites are often connected to religious beliefs or rites. They strengthen such beliefs and remind visitors where they come from. For Christians, for example, the most sacred site is the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem, where Jesus is believed to have been born. For Buddhists, it is the Maha Bodhi Temple in India, where Prince Siddhartha received his enlightenment while sitting for hours under a bodhi tree and became the great religious teacher, the Buddha.

Power spots need not be connected to any religious belief, practice or ritual.

They are called power spots because of the strong energy that seems to emanate from them.

I have personally been to at least two of the most well-known power spots in the world, the Great Pyramid at the Giza Plateau in Egypt and Stonehenge in Wiltshire, England. These mysterious giant stone monuments were constructed in precise alignments with the magnetic grid of the Earth and oriented toward some star system in our galaxy. Who built them, when, why and how are still largely unknown, although there are many theories regarding them.

Not everybody appreciates the importance or significance of such power spots. I remember when I was in London in the mid-1980s, and I asked the concierge at the hotel I was staying in how to get to Stonehenge. The concierge exclaimed in astonishment, “Why do you want to go there? It is nothing but a bunch of stones!”

To me, visiting both Stonehenge and the Great Pyramid was a dream come true—an awesome, unforgettable experience!

Falling into a trance

In the Philippines, among the most well-known sacred sites and power spots are Mt. Banahaw in Dolores, Quezon, the Lipa Church in Batangas, Siquijor Island in Central Visayas and Mt. Apo in Davao. But there are many more lesser-known power spots and sacred places in the country, such as Ciudad Verdadero, a private hilly place in Lukban, Quezon. In these places, mysterious forces and spirits are at work, giving them a special aura and effect on people.

Because of my sensitivity to subtle energy and vibrations, I have discovered quite by accident some power spots. Many times I would fall into a trance in such power spots and sometimes receive or channel messages from the spirit guardians of the place.

For example, I stood on a particular spot in The Farm in Lipa, Batangas, many years ago and went into a trance. Cory Quirino and her friends had to drag me away from that spot for me to awaken. Sometimes, during such trance states, I receive meaningful messages from the spirit world intended for those around me.

Such spontaneous trances happened not only in the Philippines, but also in foreign countries where there’s strong energy or presence of spirits. This happened to me in Sao Paolo, inside the clinic of a Brazilian spiritual healer, while he was performing psychic surgery. It also happened at Joshua Tree National Park in Los Angeles, California, at the entrance of the Great Pyramid in Egypt, and even in the house of parapsychologist Dr. Alfred Stelter in Dortmund, Germany, while staring at a picture of a young German girl being trained as a medium. Her picture was surrounded by faces of spirits, probably her spirit guides.

How do certain places become sacred sites or power spots? According to an American adventurer and photographer who has photographed 1,000 sacred sites and power spots in more than 100 countries, the following are the factors or reasons: 1) visionary revelations, 2) miraculous apparitions and 3) communication with elemental forces.

In other words, there is something in those places, an energy that invites or brings sensitive individuals to higher levels of consciousness. Visiting such places can be a life-changing experience. INQ

For comments, questions, consultancy or past-life hypnotic regression, email: [email protected].