TOUR DE EUROPA: My Agimats (23) Galore

 Agimat is a Filipino word for "amulet" or "charm".  It is also referred to as "anting anting."

In the Philippine occult tradition, there is usually a corresponding agimat to deal with in a particular area in a person's life.  The most frequent type of agimat are used for removing hexes and exorcism of evil spirits.  An agimat also called a gayuma serves as a love charm which makes the owner more attractive to the opposite sex.  Although stereotyped as a cross, a flat, round or triangular golden pendant accompanying a necklace, it is also depicted as an enchanted stone that came from the sky or a fang left by a lightning strike (pangil ng kidlat) or even a drop of liquid from the heart of a banana tree at midnight.  

An array of agimats for sale in Quaipo. 

But this is not the type of Agimat we are going to talk about in this blog article. 

The focus of this Bicolano Penguin article is the Agimat that runners received when they finished a particular race in the Virtual Takbo series of Pinoy Runners Global.   These are the "My Agimats" which are virtual badges that served as an inducement for the runners to finish the races. 

And for the Tour de Europa races which showcased the beautiful cities in that part of the world, there was an abundance of "My Agimats" to be had.  23 in all. 

With the thought of getting "stronger" with each agimat, the Bicolano Penguin persevered this month of April to bag all 23. 

In finishing all runs in the 4 Laps of Tour de Europa, the Bicolano Penguin bagged 23 My Agimats.  The 4 Laps covered a total of 204 kms.    

And feeling blessed to receive Certificates for all 4 Laps of Tour de Europa:

For these Agumats and Certificates, I am thankful to the  team of volunteers from the various Pinoy Runners Global barangays in Europe, most especially the hard working duo of  Jane Rafanan (Pinoy Runners Barcelona) and Nelda Abellera (Pinoy UltraRunners Italy).  Nelda is the creative talent that designed the Team de Europa Agimats,  banners and certificates while Jane inputed the names and prepared the certificates.  Inter-barangay cooperation across international borders. 

Nelda Abellera of Brgy Pinoy UltraRunners Italy (PURI)

Jane Rafanan of Brgy Barcelona

Wilson Jessette Hernando of Brgy Barcelona

Inquired as to what is the inspiration behind the this huge virtual takbo, this the reply of  Kap Wilson Jessette Hernando:

"In line with the inauguration of Pinoy Runners Europe, the idea of Tour de Europa virtual takbo series was conceived.  It is a one month Virtual Takbo (VT) to cover all the regions of Europe and to highlight the cities where there are Pinoy Runners.  All the barangay Captains were involved in the conceptualization of the VT because we want everyone in EU to own the event. To promote the camaraderie, to rebuld the European force that was weaken due to the Pandemic."

Indeed a  great job by all the barangays of  Pinoy Runners Europe:  Brgy Paris; Brgy Milan; Brgy Nederland; Brgy Athens;  Brgy Barcelona;  Brgy EPIC, Eire;  Brgy Ireland;  Brgy London;  Brgy Portugal;  Brgy PURI, Italy; and Brgy Rome.    

A beautiful continent that Europe is.  But where did the name Europe come from?  What is its etymology?  Encyclopedia Britannica  has this to say:

"There are a number of theories.  Taking a linguistic approach, some scholars believe Europe's name is descriptive in origin.  Those who look to the ancient Greek  language to parse its roots combine eurys, meaning "wide," and ops, meaning "face" or "eye," to arrive at "wide-gazing" as an appropriate description of Europe's broad shoreline as seen from the shipboard perspective of the maritime Greeks.

Other scholars have argued that the origin for the name Europe is to be found in the Semitic Akkadian language that was spoken in ancient Mesopotamia.  They point to the Akkadian word erebu, meaning "sunset," and reason that, from the Mesopotamian perspective, the western-setting sun descended  on Europe. As a corollary, they cite the Akkadian word for sunrise, asu, from which they believe the name Asia is derived.  From a Mesopotamian ground zero, the eastern-rising sun would have ascended from Asia.     

A competing theory locates the eponym for Europe in mythology,  specifically in the many versions of stories about the goddess Europa, some of which date back millenia. In the best-known version of the myth, Europa - the daughter of Agenor, King of Phoneicia - was abducted by Zeus, who had disguised himself as a white bull.  Zeus spirited her away from Phoenicia to Crete, where she bore him three sons: Minos, Rhadamanthys and Sarpedon." 

Smitten by the beautiful Phoenician Europa, Zeus transform into a bull with the aim of abducting the girl

Zeus must have been infatuated by the striking beauty and grace of Europa.  And just like its namesake, the continent of Europe amazes its many visitors with its varied array of most beautiful cities. Think of Paris, the City of Light. And there is Rome, the Eternal City.  Dont forget Moscow, the Third Rome. Or Copenhagen, the City of Spires. And so on and so forth. 

Needless to say, running in these beautiful places must simply be divine in a perspiring kind of way. And it is this running in the beautiful cities of Europe that the Tour de Europa looked to inspire, albeit  virtually for most of the Pinoy Runners Global afficionados.    

On the part of the Bicolano Penguin, thus far, there is only one city in Europe that I had the pleasure of running.  It is the City of Geneva in the country  of Switzerland right smack in the alpine heart of the continent. 

I had that pleasure back in the early spring of 2019, when there was no covid pandemic yet.  My trip to the second most populous city in Swtzerland was not of the tourism travel type but as a visit upon the invitation of  the Geneva Summit for Human Rights and Democracy. But after the official function was accomplished, I took the precious time available to do a running tour of one of the greenest cities in Europe.  Here are photos from that memorable running experience:

Starting my run near the Pont du Mont-Blanc with the Geneva Water Fountain (Jet d'Eau) in the background. 500 litres of water per second are jetted to an altitude of 140 metres above Lake Geneva.    

Running on the pebble paths of the Geneva Botanical Garden. 

Dwarfed by the Neo Classical facade of the St. Pierre Cathedral.  The Catheral has a significant place in the Protestant Reformation history as it is the home church of John Calvin, a leading Protestant reformer.    

Gazing at this classic looking water faucet  in the Ile Rosseau park,  I was thinking this could be one of the oldest hydration station I will be using.   

Running on a footpath along the River Rhone.  

Enjoying my brief run in Geneva a couple years ago, it would have been more enjoyable if I would have been able to do it in the company of fellow Pinoy runners.  I imagine there could be a sizeable running Filipino community given the presence of many Pinoy expats in the various UN agencies and international  organizations headquartered in Geneva. 

Who knows, there might be a Pinoy Runners Geneva coming up soon.  The growth of the running communities of  Pinoy Runners Global will continue to prosper.