The albularyo has been here two more times after the first meeting when he checked if na kulam si Edmund. He was supposed to come back today but Edmund canceled their hilot session because masakit na daw ang mukha nya, lamog na sa kahihilot. Rest muna. Next week na lang uli.
The albularyo’s job is made easier by his prognosis that there’s no kulam involved here. Edmund’s sickness was not bestowed upon him by the powers of mangkukulam. Actually medyo worried nga ako na baka kamukha ko yung lumabas sa usok ng kandila. Baka sakalin ako ni Edmund. “Ikaw pala ang mangkukulam!”
The albularyo told us that it would be difficult if there’s kulam. It would be a fight between the good and evil. It would be a test of his powers’ strength and ability to ward off witchcraft.
In Binangonan, when someone dies of some unknown or unfamiliar disease, town folks always say, dapat sa albularyo muna dinala hindi sa ospital agad. Because they believe that when the sick person sees a doctor while under the powers of kulam, the mangkukulam daw would get mad. That’s the reason why the sickness worsens and in some cases, the person dies.
When I was in high school, I witnessed some kulam ritual in Pila-pila, a barrio in Binangonan, Rizal province. My mom visited a sick relative.
It was around 3 o’clock in the afternoon. I remembered seeing several old people, about a dozen of them. They were gathered around a younger male probably in his late 30s. He was barefooted, shirtless, with pants and leather belt. I stood about 4 meters away from the guy. I didn’t really know in the beginning that he was performing some ritual or trying to pretend to be an albularyo.
He was standing in front of the wheelchair-bound cousin of my mom. Then he walked in circles, tapos biglang nanigas. Parang wooden soldier with both arms stiff. He started jumping up and down. Before I knew it he was sprawled on the floor. Nangingisay parang pinukpok na butiki. Itinirik ang mata tapos aangat-angat yung katawan parang tipaklong na tatalon talon. Tapos biglang tumayo and asked for water. Kunwari hingal-na-hingal. He had a lot of practice doing that kind of stunt. That guy must be busiest during the Holy Week. Sigurado ko nasa aplaya yan from Holy Monday till Easter Sunday, kasama sa Senakulo (passion play). Magaling ang acting.
Back to the albularyo, he mentioned that his wife is also a manghihilot.
Edmund —-“Oh gusto mo ikaw din?”
Me———“Sige”.
So on the second and third visits, the wife came along. Edmund and the albularyo had their sessions in the massage room while I stayed in our bedroom with the wife hilot.
Because I told her that I have rayuma, she concentrated on my legs and feet.
She gets distracted by the tv shows. When I switch the channel to CNN, she turns and concentrates on my legs. When I switch to channel 2, she would look at the tv and watch.
She shared with me a lot of inside information. Juicy fruity stories about their love life. Her father in law had 50 chicks daw. Kaya there are countless people on facebook with the same surname as her husband’s.
Her other stories are better kept private.
