Healing rites
Albularyo healing
The visit to a Filipino folk healer, who reads wax or alum in water and prays over an ill person.
Presented by ClearTrust Customs described as customs, free to read.
In the Philippines an albularyo, or herbolario, is a folk healer who is consulted for illnesses of the kind that people say come from the unseen. Examples include usog, believed to follow the greeting or gaze of a stranger on a baby, and pasma, a chill after heat. The healer works through prayer, herbs, massage and ritual, with Catholic prayers and older beliefs about spirits living side by side.
This is an outline of a custom, said as belief and practice. It is not instruction, it does not say that the rite works, and it is not medical advice.
What goes into it
- Alum (tawas)SubstanceRead for shapes in water or flame.
- CandleToolUsed for light and for wax reading.
- Prayers (orasyon)WordSpoken in a low voice by the healer.
- Herbs and leavesPlantUsed in a rubbing, according to local lore.
- Sign of the crossGestureMarked over the person.
- Home or healer's hutSpaceWhere the visit takes place.
- Substance
- Tool
- Word
- Plant
- Gesture
- Space
Each part has an equal wedge. The ring shows what goes into the rite, not how much. Colour is the part's role.
The steps, drawn
Each drawing shows the kind of act in that step. Details differ from place to place, family to family and practitioner to practitioner.
Step 1: Gather The family brings the ill person to the healer. Step 2: Light A candle is lit and alum or wax is prepared. Step 3: Read The shapes are read to name the cause. Step 4: Speak Prayers are said and the sign of the cross is made. Step 5: Close The healer advises on rest and on seeing a doctor.
The consultation
A common method is tawas, in which a lump of alum, or sometimes candle wax, is held over a flame or dropped in water, and the healer reads the shapes it takes to find the cause. Prayers, often in a Latin-sounding form, and the sign of the cross follow, and a herbal rubbing or a massage may be given. The healer is paid in gifts or a small sum, and many say they do not set a price.
Care and context
Albularyo are consulted alongside, or before, a clinic, especially in rural areas where doctors are far away, and health workers urge anyone with a serious illness or a fever in a baby to see a doctor. Some healers are also said to be marked from birth or by a dream. Scholars study the albularyo as part of the Philippine folk-Catholic system of illness explanation.
What it is for
- Seek the cause of an ailment said to come from the unseen
- Comfort a family
Who does it
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Sources and further reading
Original text and drawings by the EveryJaadu desk, written with AI assistance and checked against the sources above. Closed or sacred detail is left out. If we have something wrong, tell us.
Photo credits on this page
The small pictures above come from Wikimedia Commons under free licences. Some are cropped to fit.
- Folk healer: calliopejen, CC BY-SA 2.0, source
- Philippine mythology: The original uploader was Rodsan18 at English Wikipedia . ( Original t, CC BY 2.5, source