It was through the practice of Hilot that makes my faith stronger in our Indigenous Spiritual Beliefs and practices. All I thought before that Hilot is just a mere Folk Medicine Practices of our Ancestors, but when I dig deeper into it, it opened wide the Spiritual Realms of the Ancient Filipino.

Why Hilot becomes a Spiritual Practice instead of Indigenous Traditional Health Care?

Hilot is a Indigenous Traditional Health Care of the Filipino People. Even before our Country was named as the Philippines in 1521 and the coming of medical doctors, it is the Manghihilot who take care of the Health of our people. In terms of Health Care, the Manghihilot works in Diagnostic and prevention, maintaining optimum health and wellness, treatment and restoration not only of Physical Health but also the mental and emotional well being of an individual.

Hilot is an Spiritual Practice of caring for the Physical body because in a living person we can not separate the soul to its body and if the Soul is separated to the Body, the body becomes lifeless cadaver which means dead. And if the Soul of a person leaves the body, it gets weak; it will loss its sensation and feeling so as the ability to think will not also function. And if the soul separated to the body, the physical aspect will decay and will turn to its original form as dust and clay.

Our ancestors, in order to maintain and preserve the soul in our body to have life, they have developed ways of caring and discovered medicines to make soul or life force stay within the body. Of course when the damage is huge and unrepairable, the soul may lost its connection to the body and it die.

The Angono- Binangonan Petroglyph

During 3,000 BC- people who lived in Angono Binangonan Rizal, have developed a Healing Method where they curve on a wall of a cave their petition to affect cure from their Dis Ease. Though this monument is not only significant in terms of indigenous spirituality and health care practices but also significant that it indicates that early humans in our country has writing system for communication. But just like early people in Angono- Binangonan in the Province of Rizal now, making petition is a form of Health that been practiced by early Cebuano which they called as Palakaw. Making petition is well known world wide specially in an organization, when some one is sick, a certain individual will ask Prayer Request petitioning to quick recovery or healing of a person that is sick.

Philippine Institute of Traditional Alternative Health Care (PITAHC) of the Philippine Department of Health have define Hilot as:

The Art and Science of the Ancient Filipino Healing Traditions that are grounded on the concept of Balance among the Physical Elements along with the Mental, Emotional and Spiritual aspects of the person. This practice includes the use of manipulations and massage that help in prevention of disease and restoration and maintenance of ones health and well being. It also make use of plants and bulong/ Orasyon ( whispered or written prayers).

Whispered or Written Prayer have been employed by our ancestors to affect cure. After writing their petition or prayer on a piece of paper, they will add a drop of oil on it and paste it to the body part that is affected with illness. The paper may attached to the skin for a short period of time, but when it fell off, many would say that the illness also fell off. To some, aside from putting written prayer, they will include pounded herbs (ginger or guava, depending on the illness that comes) and wrap it with cotton cloth to affect cure.

When I got stroke last 2022, a fellow Folk Healer visited me and pray for my immediate recovery. I never doubt the potency of Orasyon, as I start my healing Practice with this sacred art and science. When Kuya Pau see me, the first thing he does is check my finger alignment. And he diagnose so many bad intentions and ill wishes towards me that wanted me death. From that, he does his work (and im glad that it does not lead into Combate Spiritual which is a spiritual warfare) and remove those negative energies that been attached to me. ( I am writing this so that I will remember in the future) Every pull of his hand energetically, there is an unpleasant fume that is being release (though I am not farting nor burping as well as him). It’s only me and Kuya Pau have smelled that fume which can be likened to a Dead Rat Carcass. When I ask lakay who witness the Healing Ritual of Kuya Pau to me he said that he does not smell anything at all.

Indeed that illnesses or disease is an energetic disturbance within our body so that our soul may not function well. Kuya Pau, after doing his Ritual on me, makes me an Habak which i should wear. Though the habak that Kuya Pau made for me is from a Garter which he writes Prayer on it. And i wear it on my hips which i wonder why. But I made research on the purpose why habak is worn on hips so that i could restore gravitational balance that may allow me to stand and walk up straight. And also Habak has prayer which is also a Spiritual unseen tread that may bind my soul to my Physical Body.

From Kuya Pau, I appreciate more the practice of our Ancestors in making Medicine which is not only taken orally but it could also be worn as adornment or an assistive device if we talk about medicine.