LOST in a heap of leaves, herbs, tree barks, roots, santos and medals that flood the premises of Quiapo church is a pile of thin, gray, hard bound booklets that will perhaps keep its low profile for a long, long time.
It is a book called “Aklat ng Panggagamot at Mga Lihim ng Magnetismo Para sa Lunas sa Karamdaman,” written by an anonymous author whose knowledge on natural healing with the use of home-grown plants among others, speaks mellifluously in the pages of the thin collection.
Natural healing, of course, is a euphemism. To plain folks, it means gamut sa tapal or simply gamut ng albularyo.
There is nothing wrong with that, Lola in the province will tell you. Even to this day when doctors, nurses and especially midwives are already being produced in the most rural of barrios, the Filipino folks have not completely turned their backs on the lowly herbolaryo, usually an old man pictured in comics and the movies as gray-haired with a folded hankie wrapped around his forehead.
I don’t know if the well-informed author of this thin book is a genuine herbolaryo; but people who swear by their healing power of plants and herbs will easily claim, oo, albularyo nga.
In 86 pages, the author discusses and prescribes medicinal herbs to some 95 common and not so common Filipino ailments and complaints. The small, diary size collection, written in picturesque Tagalog covers a whole gamut of complaints from itchy-itsy to altapresyon.
Here, take a quick look at some of them.
Pangpaalis ng tagyawat, dungis at iba pa – paghaluing ilaga ang domero at tsa. Gawin itong panghilamos sa mukha bago matulog sa gabi. Pagkatapos maghilamos ay pahiran ng suka ang mukha at mercolized wax. Tagubilin: uminom ng pangpalinis ng dugo, tulad ng limonida pugante o agua cabania. Huwag kumain ng malalansa.
Matang namumula – bulaklak ng sampaguita ibababad sa tubig magdamag. Pagkagising ng umaga, ilubog ang mga mata sa palanggana ng tubig na nakadilat ang mata.
* * *
Almoranas – niyog. Gatain ito. Ibabad ang isang basahan sa gata ng niyog. Pagkatapos ay itapal ang basahan sa puwit.
Sa hindi mapaihi – kumuha ng buto ng mustaza. Ang butong inalabok ay ihalo sa tubig. Inumin.
More in next issues.
* * *
TRIVIA PA MORE: In the US, staged wrestling is called “pro wrestling” while real wrestling is called “amateur wrestling.”
* * *
Since 1900, there have been averages of 18 major earthquakes and one great earthquake per year.
* * *
Although autism is generally assumed to be lifelong, there’s evidence that between 3% and 25% of affected people eventually recover, a 2008 study found.
* * *
Send your questions on anything and everything to Kuya Kim through my Twitter account @kuyakim_atienza using #AlaminKayKuyaKim.
Ating tuklasin ang mga bagay-bagay na di n’yo pa alam. Walang ’di susuungin, lahat aalamin. Ito po si Kuya Kim, Matanglawin, only here in Tempo. (KIM ATIENZA)