Medicine men or healers are usually called arbularyo, albularyo or hilot in the Philippines. They may prescribe herbs, perform treatments or massages, certain protective prayers for curses, or even employ magic. Highly sophisticated arbularyos would correspond to Filipino shamans or witch doctors. Medicine man is an English term used to describe Native American religious figures; such individuals are analogous to shamans. ... Hilot is an ancient Filipino art of healing. ... The shaman is an intellectual and spiritual figure who is regarded as possessing power and influence on other peoples in the tribe and performs several functions, primarily that of a healer ( medicine man). The shaman provides medical care, and serves other community needs during crisis times, via supernatural means (means... A witch doctor is a troll unit in Warcraft. ...
Arbulario comes from the Spanish word for herbalist. They are experts on folk medicine. Many for example know how to reset dislocated shoulders, sprained ankles etc. Thousands of plants and herbs in the Philippines are undocumented and need to be reasearched for the medical properties. Many arbularios have learned and handed down medical applications of these herbs. Folk medicine is the collection of procedures traditionally used for treatment of illness and injury, aid to childbirth, and maintenance of wellness. ...
Medical doctors are very expensive for indigent folk like farmers and fishermen. Arbularyos are a very cheap alternative and many times the only option for many indigent folk. They are typically found in barrios or small barangays with people lined up outside. Arbularyos do not necessarily ascribe to or believe in magic. But they are the poor man's alternative for medical relief in deeper rural areas. Diagnosis and treatments are made not only on the physical level but on an emotional or spiritual level as well. Barrio is a Spanish word meaning neighborhood. ... A barangay is the smallest local government unit in the Philippines and is very similar to a village. ...
In the southern Tagalog areas, the mythological landscape is populated by dwarfs, nunos, lamang lupas, tikbalangs and kapres - creatures that often complicate the conundrum of pathophysiology.
Consequently, many of the albularyo's diagnostic riturals (tawas, luop) and treatment modalities (tapal, lunas, kudlit, pang-kontra, bulong, orasyon) are affected by the belief in these creatures and to the maladies they cause: na-nuno, na-dwende, na-lamang-lupa.
And while the albularyo's 'hilot' practices are aided by a whole bagful of indigenous tools (tawas, bulong, lunas, 'empowered' coconut oil, etc), the 'ordained' hilot's tools are meager: an amulet, an 'empowered' cane, or a nazarene-garb entrusted by the teacher and used during the healing sessions and a few diagnostic rituals.
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