Faith Healing
Albularyo is a general practioner in faith healing. Albularyo or Herbal doctor. Albularyo is often called to cure a sick person, mostly in the rural areas of the Philippines. In previous years, there were no hospitals or clinic in the remote areas in the Philippines. You may find a small clinic but it is far from the remote community and unable to travel that long. ALbularyo are known to treat illness such as sprains, fractures, a possessed person by an engkanto (evil spirits) or any illness that cannot be cured by modern medicine.
Albularyo are the elders in the provinces who were taught by their ancestors about faith healing using medical herbs or leaves of herbal plant, prayers, ritual, coconut oil, tawas and other. A Faith healing, a calling from the Creator and God-given special power to help and cure people in a religious ways. Every healer has their own way to cure a person. It may differ from region to another but has the same purpose.
Albularyo are able to cure mild sprain, they have techniques and often use a coconut oil to massage the part of the body. They also use leaves to veneer the affected sprain. Talampunay, herba buena, kamangkaw, and other medicinal plants are used to patch the sprain area.
If a person who suffer from illness, which the modern medicine is unable to cure, the patient often go to an Albularyo to seek help using his traditional method of healing. It is also popular to ask help from Faith healer when someone is cursed by a mangkukulam, dwende, nuno sa punso, engkanto and other evil spirits. Albularyo has the knowledge to drive them away, they usually perform a ritual, offerings and prayers. The patient gave all their trust to a faith healer, they believe that he can help to cure them, and by a strong faith and belief he will be healed.
Albularyo accept patient during Tuesdays and Fridays, they believe that this are days were their healing power is stronger and effective to drive away bad spirit that cause ailments.
Albularyo doesn’t accept payment, but patients are voluntarily giving donations after a ritual, in cash or in kind.
#1: Guest #55 (Judith) - at 04:06 on 17 Mar 2014
Patients give donations usually in cash because of the belief too that if they don’t give any amount to pay for the effort , they won’t be healed. Some albularyo put a donation box next to them.
#2: Guest #1123 (Queen) - at 06:04 on 28 May 2020
"Healing prayers for everyone". Hehe just a script from the hero in the famous Mobile Legends mobile game app.
Anyways. I have an experience going to an albularyo when I was a kid. My grandmother brought me there because there was a strange bump on my head. The albularyo then (still very clear in my mind what she did) started to say unfamiliar words while holding an egg, then wiped the egg all over my body, she gets a glass of water with healing oil on it then cracked the egg. Then she starts reading and saying there is a tree at the back of our house where I use to play and saying there are black dwarfs living there in a small mountain of soil beside it. So the albularyo instructed my grandmother to have some offerings to the black dwarfs and gave her the healing oil that I will use to heal my head. The albularyo has never been in our house so I don't know how she knew that there is a tree at the back of our house and there is a small mountain of soil there and that I always play there haha.