The Philippine Islands, 1493-1898, Volume 43, 1670-1700: Explorations by early navigators, descriptions of the islands and their peoples, their history and records of the Catholic missions, as related in contemporaneous books and manuscripts, showing the political, economic, commercial and religious conditions of those islands from their earliest relations with European nations to the close of the nineteenth century
History
The Philippine Islands, 1493-1898, Volume 43, 1670-1700: Explorations by early navigators, descriptions of the islands and their peoples, their history and records of the Catholic missions, as related in contemporaneous books and manuscripts, showing the political, economic, commercial and religious conditions of those islands from their earliest relations with European nations to the close of the nineteenth century
Demarcation line of Alexander VI; Missions -- Philippines; Philippines -- Discovery and exploration; Philippines -- History -- Sources
When the mangkukulam plans to do any harm to any person whomever, he
goes to the quarter of his house where he always keeps his abubut,
and takes out the doll and a pin. Then he sticks the latter in
whatever part of the body of the doll that he wishes. By that means,
accompanied by the desire of producing or causing evil to the person
at whom he has been angered, that person will be found to be stricken
with some sort of sickness in the part of the body where the doll has
been pricked. And since in general, no success is had in applying
the appropriate remedy for the sickness suffered by those who are
made ill by the means and influence of the mangkukulam, the family
decide to call a physician.
But the physician in those cases, is not the real physician who has
been for a long time singeing his eyebrows and devouring countless
text books in the universities, and who has not few years of experience
in the hospitals. Neither is he the mediquillo, [162] who is, in many
cases, a simple practitioner with some notions of medical science in
his head. Neither is he the poor herbalist, who knows and is acquainted
with the curative virtues of some plants, aided by the famous book
of Father Santa Maria. [163] No, not one of these serves for the
case. The physician whose services are needed, is he who expressly
devotes himself to the cure of those bewitched by the mangkukulam.
These physicians of the kulam, after looking at the patient
attentively, who equally with the mangkukulam cannot resist the glance
of any other person in the moments when he is attacked by the sickness;
and after hearing what things the sick one says, approaches any member
of the family to tell him that the sick one is really possessed by
the mangkukulam; and at the same time to ask whether the family cares
to have him cured.
If the reply is in the affirmative, preparations are made and the
sick man is submitted to the following practices.
All the toes of his feet, and the fingers of his hands are tied up
in anona bark. If the sick one continues to cry out and to utter all
the things that he has been accustomed to say, adding thereto the
petition for pardon with the promise of not doing it again, it is
a sign that the mangkukulam has not had time to escape or leave the
body of the patient. Then the physician takes a well-dried ray's tail,
such as is often used as a cane, and prescribes for the sick person a
good stiff caning [paliza de padre y señor mio] from his head to his
feet. This operation is repeated for three or four consecutive days,
longer, if contrary to what the mangkukulam promises by word of mouth,
he again takes up his lodging in the body of the sick person. Lastly,
it is decided whether or not to go on with the operation completely
to the end. That consists in bathing the sick person in boiling water,
and in the result thereof the patient finds a true remedy for his ills,
for when the bath is finished, he ceases to suffer forever.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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