Puso ng Saging

There are many banana trees in Tagaytay. Even in our subdivision here in Quezon City, they would just sprout, then die. Are these wild banana trees? I wonder how Dole plants them.

My parents were early risers most especially my father. My papa wakes up before sunrise then makes his coffee.
The sala on the second floor was made of wood and a portion of the flooring was made of bamboo slats with half inch gaps and covered with linoleum. When my father stirs his coffee, the sound of the spoon hitting the sides of the sartin could be heard from the second floor called “bahay”. One could also hear their morning conversations, one of which is the story about the puso ng saging.

According to my parents Ka Felicing and Ka Cardo, they knew several men who got their anting-anting or agimat from the puso ng saging. They even gave names of these men who were proven to possess super powers like they were able to lift big rocks with two fingers, carry heavy logs on their shoulders, cure the sick, hindi tinatablan ng bala and para silang si Casper, they could be invisible to others. They could hide from their enemies specifically from the Japanese soldiers.

They got their agimat from the puso ng saging. When it’s full moon, you lay down under the puso ng saging and wait till midnight with your mouth wide-open  so when the anting-anting drops from the banana blossom, you would  be able to catch it and swallow it. But there’s a catch, one must have a pure heart or you must be a really kind and good person or otherwise the anting-anting would not drop.

As a little girl, this was most intriguing and I totally believed my parents’ story.

When I was already married and living in our own house in Quezon City with Edmund and my little kids, there were several banana trees that just grew in our small backyard.
And many times when it’s full moon, I would look out the window and wondered, what if I lay down under those trees and wait for twelve midnight to catch the anting-anting that would fall from the puso ng saging? I am going to have super powers. The only hindrance was Edmund. I was afraid he would look for me and what he would say when he sees me lying down under the banana tree.
“Ano ka, timang?”

(Are you nuts?)