◦ Babaylan – a woman who had been possessed by a spirit, or a woman who had

encountered life-altering experiences, or a woman who has inherited the role to become a
“mystical woman” from an elder babaylan.
◦ Albularyo (the “herbalist”) – the primary dispenser of healthcare in the hierarchy of
traditional folk doctors in the Philippines. He or she is knowledgeable in the use of
medicinal herbs.

The common folk diagnosis of albularyos is that patuents become sick due to supernatural
“illness-causers” such as a duwende (dwarf), a nuno, lamanglupa (a “creature from the
earth or underground or under the soil”) a tikbalang (a half-man and half-horse creature)
or a kapre.

Albularyos may also practice rituals to drive away evil spirits, such as the performance of
the kanyaw (cutting and bleeding chickens, then draining their blood on particular
perimeters of the house), or the slaughter of pigs to search for the right type of liver that
would reveal the cause of an illness
◦ Mangtatawas (literally “user of tawas”) – determines the cause and nature of
illnesses through the use of potassium alum, locally known in the Philippines as
tawas.
◦ Manghihilot – (“folk massage therapist”) – uses massaging techniques to treat
sprains, fractures, and other similar conditions that affect the musculoskeletal
system

Buho, a piece of bamboo, is traditionally used in some barrios to cut the umbilical
cord of a newborn baby.
Philippine Folklore
◦ Superstitious Beliefs/Folk Beliefs (Pamahiin)

Folk beliefs form part of a people’s value system and culture. They
reflect the customs, traditions, and mores of a group, which may
be based on religious beliefs opinions, old or popular practices.
They also tell of how people view the unknown and the means to
appease the gods that control the future.
Philippine Folklore
Love, Courtship, & Marriage

❑ If you want to know what your lifetime partner will look like, wake up
in the middle of the night and take a look at yourself in the mirror while
holding a lightened candle. At first, the image in the mirror will appear to
be a skeleton. After five minutes, you will see a full view of the person
you will marry.

❑ Engaged couples should not exchange pointed or sharp objects as gifts

or this would lead to a broken engagement
Philippine Folklore
Love, Courtship, & Marriage

❑ The bride should not try on her wedding dress before the wedding. If she
does, the wedding will not push through.

❑ The groom who sits down ahead of his bride during the wedding ceremony
will be a henpecked husband (“under the saya”)

❑ It is bad luck for two siblings to be married within the same year. In order to
remedy the situation, the sibling who marries later in the year should pass
through the backstairs of the church on the day of the wedding.
Philippine Folklore
Love, Courtship, & Marriage

❑ A person who habitually sits at the head of the table during meals will
never marry.

❑ Women who have moles under their eyes, right where their tears fall,
will be widowed.

❑ Removing plates from the table while an unmarried woman is still

eating will keep her single all her life.
Philippine Folklore
Love, Courtship, & Marriage

❑ If the husband leaves the house soon after a quarrel, the wife should get his
shirt, hang it over the stove, and whip it several times. The husband is certain
to come back.

❑ Upon entering their new home, the couple should go up the stairs alongside
each other so that neither one will dominate the other.

❑ Throwing rice at the newly-wed couple will bring them prosperity in life
Conception, Childbirth, and Childhood

❑ when a woman is about to give birth, place a lighted candle

under her bed so that any witches passing by may be seen.

❑ after the baby is delivered, the umbilical cord must be rubbed

on the newborn’s cheeks to produce dimples.

❑ if a child’s milk tooth falls out, throw it up to onto the roof of

the house so that the rats will find it. When the new tooth grows,
it will be as strong and as powerful as a rat’s tooth
Conception, Childbirth, and Childhood

❑ if a pregnant woman’s abdomen is pointed, her baby will be a boy; if it

round, the baby will be a girl.

❑ if a pregnant woman wants to avoid the unpleasant symptoms of

pregnancy, she should step over her husband while he is sleeping and all
of her symptoms will be transferred to him.

❑ a pregnant woman who eats “twin” bananas will give birth to twins. To
prevent this, she must split the twin bananas behind her back.
Conception, Childbirth, and Childhood

❑ A child that cries during his baptism is a sign of prosperity. The

harder the child cries, the richer he will be.

❑ Children should not be allowed to play late in the afternoon

when the horizon is yellow-orange in color, because evil spirits
roam around at the time.

❑ Stepping over a child while he is asleep will slow down his

growth
Money and Fortune

❑ A person who breaks an egg and finds two yolks inside will
be rich.
❑ A house frequented by black ants means that its owner will
be rich
❑ Never sweep the floor at night, or you will lose all your
wealth
❑ If your palms itches, it means you will receive a lot of
money
Money and Fortune

❑ Do not put your purse or handbag down on the floor, or

you will not prosper

❑ If you find a coin on the road, put it in your purse or

pocket. If you never use it, you will never be short of money.
Money and Fortune

❑ Always keep a coin or money bill inside your bag or

suitcase. If you don’t spend it, it means you will have money
for the whole year

❑ Give a generous discount to the day’s first customer, so that

your sales for the day will increase (Buena mano)
Food and Eating

❑ If a spoon falls during a meal, you will be visited by a woman.

If it is a fork, a man will be visiting, while if it is a teaspoon, it
will be a child.

❑ A woman who switches seats many times during a meal will

have many suitors

❑ Do not put money on the dining table while eating

Food and Eating

❑ If a fish bone gets stuck in your throat, don’t tell a soul; turn
your plate around three times and the bone will disappear

❑ When a stranger or distant relative arrives in your home, serve

him water first so that he brings you only good news

❑ Don’t stack dirty dishes one on top of the other or it may lead
to adultery
Food and Eating

❑ If you have to leave the table before finishing your meal in

order to go on a trip, turn around the plates on the table so
that your trip will be safe.

❑ When cooking, leave a few grains of rice in the sack and

then tie it tightly. This way, your guests will not consume all
the food at once.
House, Home, and Family

❑ If you wish to rid your home of unwanted visitors, secretly

sprinkle salt around the house and they will soon depart.

❑ A guest should not leave the house while the family is eating
because opening the doors will let out all the family’s good
fortune.

❑ All windows in a house should be opened on New Year’s Day

to let God’s grace in.
Illness and Death

❑ Going to bed with wet hair leads to blindness and insanity

❑ Before passing over a small hill, you must first ask permission from the
engkantos so that you will not get sick

❑ Be careful that your tears font fall on the dead or on the coffin. If they
do, the dead person will have a difficult journey to the next world.

❑ Digging a hole larger than the coffin will cause an immediate relative to
join the deceased in the grave
Illness and Death

❑ A wound inflicted on Good Friday will take a long time to heal

❑ If you dream that one of your teeth is being pulled out, this means that a
family member will die.

❑ A widow who caresses her dead husband's face will surely marry again.

❑ Always carry the coffin out of the house, church, or funeral parlor head
first. This prevents the soul of the dead from coming back
Illness and Death

❑ A wound inflicted on Good Friday will take a long time to heal

❑ If you dream that one of your teeth is being pulled out, this means that a
family member will die.

❑ A widow who caresses her dead husband's face will surely marry again.

❑ Always carry the coffin out of the house, church, or funeral parlor head
first. This prevents the soul of the dead from coming back
Mythical creatures

❖ Aswang – also called shape-shifters, they are human-like by day but transform into different
monstrous forms to harass and eat awake humans at night, especially pregnant women who are about
to give birth

❖ Tiyanak – usually takes the form of a newborn baby and cries like one in the jungle to attract
unwary travelers. Once it is picked up by the victim, it reverts to its true form and attacks the victim

❖ Tikbalang - has a horse’s head, the body of a human but with the feet of the horse. It travels at
night to rape female mortals

❖ Manananggal – usually an attractive woman by day. At night, especially when there is a full moon,
her upper body detaches from her lower body; it utters a demonic prayer and applies some kind of oil
on all of its body parts before the ‘detachment’. Bat-like wings sprout out from its back, and it uses its
long tongue to feed on human blood and flesh (usually that of unborn babies)
Mythical creatures

❖ Mangkukulam – recites spells and mixes potions, uses dolls to afflict pain and illness on people.
Superstitious folks still attribute certain illnesses or diseases to kulam (bewitchment).

❖ Mambabarang – are ordinary human beings with black magic who torture and later kill their victims by
infesting their bodies with insects

❖ Kapre – often described as giant-like and hairy wearing loincloths (or bahag) and smoking tobaccos
inhabiting trees particularly the balete and old acacia or mango trees.

❖ Sigbin – a creature that resembles a hornless goat; is said to come out at night to suck the blood of
victims form their shadows or look for children that it will kill for the heart

❖ Duwende – little creatures who can provide good fortune or bad fate to humans, depending on how
homeowners treat them.
Courtship, Marriage and Baptism
Courtship may start at any time under a variety of circumstances (e.g. social gatherings).

❖ Harana – serenading at night

❖ Pamanhikan – (a.k.a. pagpresentar) – a formal meeting between the two families,
during which the man, accompanied by his parents and other relatives, visits the
bride’s home. There he formally asks for the hand of the woman. While those present
are eating the food which the man’s group brought with them, they dowry and details
of the wedding are also discussed.
❖ Paninilbihan – the suitor performs some daunting chores for the bride’s family to
show his worth, fortitude and responsibility. It traditionally involved tasks like
pagsibak ng kahoy (firewood chopping) or pag-igib ng tubig (water fetching).
❖ Despedida de soltera (literally, goodbye to spinsterhood) – a sendoff held close to
the wedding date in honor of the bride-to-be and hosted by her family
Marriage celebrations are usually accomplished with a great deal of
fanfare. For wedding (kasal), two sponsors (technically, witnesses) –
one male and one female – are chosen by the parents and the couple
themselves.
The marriage ceremony results in 2 important sets of fictive
relationships (unrelated by either birth or marriage, who have an
emotionally significant relationship):
1. The sponsors become kumpadre/kumadre of the parents of
the couple, i.e. the sponsors and their spouses become
coparents of the bride and groom
2. The sponsors and their spouses become the tiyo/tata or
tiya/nana (parental surrogates) of the sponsored couple
Baptism (binyag) – the baptismal ceremony starts with the
child being carried to the church, dressed in the best baby
clothes that the parents can afford. At the church, usually a
small entourage of adults (close relatives and friends of the
parents) gather for the ceremony.

The sponsor makes the promises for the infant to renounce

the devil and to be a faithful member of the church. The
sponsor incurs the obligations of a spiritual parent of the
child
Social relationships that develop after the baptismal ceremony:

1. The parents of the child and the sponsor and his spouse
become kumpadres/kumadres.

2. The child will treat his sponsors as surrogates of his parents

and call them by the proper surrogate terminology
(ninong/tata/tiyo or ninang/nana/tiya). The sponsor is
conscious of certain duties to the child, such as remembering
him with gifts on his birthday and Christmas day, or in some
cases provide for part of the child’s educations if he has the
means and the parents do not.
Compadrazgo/Compadre system

(“coparenthood”) – a traditional ritual fictive kinship

system that provides a network of mutually supportive
relationships. The compadre relationships is an
important bond that originates from ritual sponsorship
of Catholic sacraments (baptism, confirmation, and
marriage
Kinship and Family Interaction
In the Philippines, family is understood as the nuclear or immediate family, or
usually the extended family. This unit (the mag-anak) is reunited and revitalized
on major occasions during the annual religious cycle: the town fiesta, Christmas
day, undas and Holy Week.
❖ Respect for parents and all adult kin is constantly emphasized. Obedience is
stressed; answering back when reprimanded and passing in front of people
talking without asking permission are not tolerated. A child should keep silent
when adults are conversing.
❖ “Mano” gesture – the person giving the greeting bows towards the offered
hand of the elder and presses his or her forehead on the elder’s hand; sign of
respect to the elders
❖ Discipline – frightening the crying child with the aswang (“keep silent or the
aswang will come to take you”); slapping with the hands; beating with a piece of
stick; pinching the unheeding child; threats to castration (“stop crying or I will
cut off your testicles. Do you want to be castrated?”)
Cuisine, Food-sharing, and Eating Habits
A typical Pinoy diet consists at most of six meals a day;
breakfast, snacks, lunch, snacks, dinner and again a midnight
snack before going to sleep.
❖ Rice is a staple in the Filipino diet, and is usually eaten
together with other dishes (viands).
❖ Filipinos regularly use spoons together with forks and knives.
Some also eat with their hands, especially in informal settings,
and when eating seafood.
❖ Eating habits of children are regulated immediately after
weaning. When a child begins to be choosy about foods, he is
punished. To be choosy about food in to incur the wrath of gaba
and the child is taught about this early in life.
Cuisine, Food-sharing, and Eating Habits

❖ Exchanging food is practiced among neighbors. Once

food is accepted form neighbors – even if they are relatives
– it starts a vicious cycle of food exchange locally known as
garalwanay.

❖ Children are taught not to receive foods form strangers.

Parents always warn them that accepting food from people
they don’t know is dangerous – if the stranger happens to be
an aswang, the child will surely be bewitched, known as
yangaw.