The Philippine Islands, 1493-1898 Part 18

THE MANGKUKULAM

Here, as in Europe, and in almost all parts, the people believe in witches.

The mangkukulam [160] is the male or female witch of Filipinas. To that one is attributed a certain power of witchcraft by the common people which makes him full of terror to many. He has the custom of not looking straight at his interlocutors, I do not know whether it is because he fears the open or searching glance of them or not. He always keeps his eyes lowered, and whenever it is necessary to direct his gaze toward the person with whom he is talking, he does it on all occasions by glancing up sideways, and he has never dared to meet directly the gaze of the others.

It is a general belief that the mangkukulam is almost omnipotent in matters pertaining to doing evil to his neighbor. By the mere wish alone, he can produce sickness in any person who has secured his ill-will. In general, the sicknesses that he usually deals out are most intense headaches, or aches in other parts of the body, boils or internal tumors, swellings on the head or in any other place, such ailments being all inexplicable to the immense majority of the crowd, of the ignorant ma.s.ses, who do not give credit, understand, or have faith in the power, capacity, or secrets of science.

He who gains the ill-will or enmity of these witches of Filipinas, can rest a.s.sured that if he goes out for a walk in the street, when he is about to re-enter his house he will perceive himself to be stricken with some sort of ailment, through the means and influence of the angered mangkukulam, who has already taken it upon himself to make him a present of the illness which suits him best--pains in the stomach, swellings in any part of the body, swellings on the head, deformity in the genital parts, etc., etc.

It happens as a rule that when any person is attacked by any of the above ailments, he begins to talk of certain deeds as if he had done them in company with some person there present, at the very moment when he feels himself stricken by the ailment. At the same time he cites names that are unknown, and localities more or less distant. That is an a.s.surance that during such moments, the patient is completely bewitched by the mangkukulam, who has penetrated into his body, and that the latter is the one who causes the patient to talk. It cannot be said that the patient is delirious during those moments, for rarely is he accustomed to have a fever, and in general has none. Besides, every day, and whenever the ailment attacks him, he repeats the words, deeds, and citations that he mentioned the first time--all of this preceded by the exclamation "Oh! oh! now you are here again!" This exclamation forces the members of the family of the one attacked to believe more and more strongly that the sick man has been effectively bewitched by the mangkukulam, that the latter had entered the body of the one attacked at that time, and that physicians and medicines are powerless to cure those evils which are produced by those witches of Filipinas, for the simple reason that the physicians do not believe in the existence of the mangkukulam or in their witchcraft.

In these cases, the herbalists themselves, who are frequently called in to aid all kinds of sickness are useless.

Nothing remains except to mention here certain details which complete the picture of the mangkukulam or give an exact idea of what they are, according to the popular belief.

Every mangkukulam has his abubut. [161] The abubut consists of a small tampipi which does not contain more than a small rag doll similar to those that, are sold in front of the doors of our churches in order to amuse our children with them, and a small cushion stuck full of innumerable pins.

In the abubut lies, according to popular belief, all the power of the mangkukulam. Without it, the mangkukulam is powerless, and even inoffensive, if one wishes.

When the mangkukulam plans to do any harm to any person whomever, he goes to the quarter of his house where he always keeps his abubut, and takes out the doll and a pin. Then he sticks the latter in whatever part of the body of the doll that he wishes. By that means, accompanied by the desire of producing or causing evil to the person at whom he has been angered, that person will be found to be stricken with some sort of sickness in the part of the body where the doll has been p.r.i.c.ked. And since in general, no success is had in applying the appropriate remedy for the sickness suffered by those who are made ill by the means and influence of the mangkukulam, the family decide to call a physician.

But the physician in those cases, is not the real physician who has been for a long time singeing his eyebrows and devouring countless text books in the universities, and who has not few years of experience in the hospitals. Neither is he the mediquillo, [162] who is, in many cases, a simple pract.i.tioner with some notions of medical science in his head. Neither is he the poor herbalist, who knows and is acquainted with the curative virtues of some plants, aided by the famous book of Father Santa Maria. [163] No, not one of these serves for the case. The physician whose services are needed, is he who expressly devotes himself to the cure of those bewitched by the mangkukulam.

These physicians of the kulam, after looking at the patient attentively, who equally with the mangkukulam cannot resist the glance of any other person in the moments when he is attacked by the sickness; and after hearing what things the sick one says, approaches any member of the family to tell him that the sick one is really possessed by the mangkukulam; and at the same time to ask whether the family cares to have him cured.

If the reply is in the affirmative, preparations are made and the sick man is submitted to the following practices.

All the toes of his feet, and the fingers of his hands are tied up in anona bark. If the sick one continues to cry out and to utter all the things that he has been accustomed to say, adding thereto the pet.i.tion for pardon with the promise of not doing it again, it is a sign that the mangkukulam has not had time to escape or leave the body of the patient. Then the physician takes a well-dried ray's tail, such as is often used as a cane, and prescribes for the sick person a good stiff caning [paliza de padre y seor mio] from his head to his feet. This operation is repeated for three or four consecutive days, longer, if contrary to what the mangkukulam promises by word of mouth, he again takes up his lodging in the body of the sick person. Lastly, it is decided whether or not to go on with the operation completely to the end. That consists in bathing the sick person in boiling water, and in the result thereof the patient finds a true remedy for his ills, for when the bath is finished, he ceases to suffer forever.

These practices obey their long-established conviction that it is not the sick person who suffers from the great acts of nonsense committed on him. Many affirm that they have found the mangkukulam who had bewitched the sick person dead on different occasions after such practices had been finished.

Since I have been in the province of Nueva cija, I have had the opportunity to prove one thing; namely, that the mangkukulam fears or flees from anonas. The fact by which I have been able to prove it is as follows.

A poor woman was found some weeks ago suffering from severe pains in the stomach, accompanied by nausea and vomiting. The family which was composed of several brothers, was thoroughly convinced that their sister had been bewitched by a mangkukulam. As they did not know any physicians for the kulam, they summoned me to please visit and treat the sick woman. I held off as much as possible, by saying that inasmuch as I did not believe in any of those superst.i.tions, it was impossible to cure her; aside from the fact that I was not even a physician. My excuses availed nothing. They begged and entreated me so hard that there was no other remedy than to comply with their wishes. When I reached the house of the sick person, she was, as the saying is, throwing up her guts, so great was the violence of the vomiting. As soon as she had fallen sick she had lost her sight so completely that she could see absolutely nothing, as long as she was attacked by the sickness, and very little (indeed, very little), when the attack left her. Consequently, she was told nothing of my arrival until she heard me speak. She asked her brothers who was there, and they told her, adding that they had summoned me to cure her.

As soon as it was understood that I was there for that purpose, the vomiting ceased for a moment, and the woman was quite calm. After a quarter of an hour, and feeling vexed because of the false light in which they were trying to make me appear, I took my leave, saying that since the ailment of the sick woman had pa.s.sed, I had nothing to do there. But scarcely had I crossed the threshold of the street door when the vomiting was repeated and one of the brothers called me again in a low voice, asking me to please have the kindness to return since the sick woman was once more attacked by the mangkukulam. I armed myself with patience, and went back until I again found myself face to face with the sick woman. At a certain moment in which the patient was making great efforts to expel what she had in her stomach, I asked one of those present in a loud voice to please get me some anonas branches. The vomiting of the sick woman ceased suddenly as soon as she heard such a request, and did not return to rack her all that day and until the following day. At that time the same scenes were reproduced as on the preceding day. For three days they continued to call me to the said house, and I perceived that the attack disappeared as soon as I spoke of, or mentioned, the anonas. For the rest, I declare that in spite of these observations, I have not come to believe in, or to be convinced of, the existence of witches in Filipinas. However, such beliefs continue to exist in the popular mind.

There are two kinds of physicians of the kulam. Those belonging to the first cla.s.s are the ones of whom I have just spoken. Those of the second cla.s.s are inoffensive and very worthy, therefore, of being mentioned.

Several persons have informed me of the following fact of which they were eyewitnesses. On a certain occasion a physician of the kulam was summoned to treat a swelling. That physician after having examined the sick person carefully, and proved that there really was a swelling, asked for a bit of wax, of which he made a small figure of human shape. While he was moulding the small figure, he ordered hot water prepared in a carahay, and when it began to boil, he put the figure upright on it. When all the people expected to see it dissolved in the boiling water (tremble, my readers!) they saw the figure begin to jump about on the water without being submerged or being melted. Ten or fifteen minutes after the small figure had been hopping about on the surface of the water, a person came to the door of the house, calling out with vehemence. He was beating his feet quite openly with a handkerchief which he carried in his hand. He could not remain quiet or keep any position for five seconds, so restless was he. He was making so many contortions and grimaces with his face that one could not at all doubt that he was suffering terribly. He appeared to be walking on thorns. When that man reached the inside of the house, he began to beg pardon over and over again, promising never again to do "what he had done. The physician of the kulam took the small wax figure from the water and approached the new arrival, whom he ordered to undo the charm with which he had troubled the patient. The new arrival replied immediately that it was undone. Thereupon the physician told him never again to repeat what he had just done, and threatened him that it be relapsed, he would have to cut off his ears, so that all people might recognize him as such magkukulam. The magkukulam, who was the same man who had just arrived, promised never again to do what he had done, for fear of being exposed to the wrath of the populace.

When this was finished, the physician sent him away, and from that moment, the sick person was completely well.

Besides these, it is said that there is another kind of magkukulam who are known under the name of kusim or palipd hagin. But I believe that it is the same dog with a different collar; for I consider that the kusim or the palipd hagin is nothing else than a variety of the power of witchcraft possessed by these beings.

In the mind of the ma.s.ses, it is held that the ailment or sickness which these latter beings bring about are sent through the air, whence they have taken their name. Those ailments are, moreover, incurable, for they say (walang pasaul) that they do not return to the place whence they have come.

Both these and the first, that is the simple magkukulam dash themselves face downward every Friday in their respective quarters, well wrapped up and uttering doleful exclamations. When this occurs, it is said that they suffer terribly the consequences of their power. That condition of depression is called nagbabat by the ma.s.ses. On the following day these beings are found all sound and well, and hurrying to the witches' sabbath, or unlawful a.s.sembly which is held at a determined spot, where on midnight of Sat.u.r.day meet the asuang, mananangal, and mangkukulam, in order that they may all together enjoy the delicious feast of human flesh.

Jos Nuez

Manila, December 6, 1905.

NOTES

[1] The translation of the t.i.tle-page of the above book is as follows: "History of the province of Santissimo Rosario de Philipinas [i. e., most holy rosary of the Philipinas], China, and Tunking, of the holy order of the Preachers. Third part. In which are treated the events of said province from 1669 to 1700. Composed by the Reverend Father Fray Vicente de Salazar, rector of the college of Santo Thomas of the city of Manila, and chancellor of its university. Dedicated to the sovereign queen of the angels, the most holy Mary, in her miraculous image of the rosary, which is venerated with the universal devotion of the people in the church of Santo Domingo of the said city of Manila. Printed by the press of the said college and university of Santo Tomas of the said city, in the year 1742." The first two parts of this history (those by Aduarte and Santa Cruz) have been given in translation and synopsis in preceding volumes in this series.

Fray Vicente Salazar was born in Ocaa and professed at Valladolid. He became a professor in Spain. Arriving in Manila in 1727, he became a professor in the college of Santo Toms and in 1742 was its rector. Later he became prior of the Manila convent. The last years of his life were spent in the Ituy missions, his death occurring between the years of 1755-1759. See Retana's edition of Ziga's Estadismo, ii, p. 615.

[2] For sketches of the members of this mission, see Resea biogrfica, ii, pp. 101-194.

[3] See Resea biogrfica, ii, pp. 194-230, for sketches of these missionaries.

[4] See the Recollect account of these transactions in VOL. XLI.

[5] Fray Alarcn was a native of Archidona, and professed in the convent at Madrid June 30, 1661. On arriving at the islands (1666), he was a.s.signed to the province of Pangasinan. In 1669 he was appointed master of novitiates in Manila, but resigned the post that same year. In 1673 he went to Formosa intending to enter the Chinese missions, but finding that impossible he returned to Manila in 1674. From 1675-1678 he labored in the missions of the province of Batan, being sent the latter year to the Chinese missions; but finding it necessary to return to Manila shortly after, his subsequent efforts to return again to China were unavailing. He died in Manila September 15, 1685, after a lingering illness. See Resea biogrfica, ii, pp. 59-61.

[6] The Zambals were not Negritos, although they may have been a mixture of Negrito blood. They were probably somewhat the same as the Igorots, and hence a race of Malay extraction.

[7] i.e., in Aduarte's Historia; see VOL. x.x.xII, p. 55.

[8] Fray Jernimo de Ulla was a Galician, who professed at Corua March 13, 1665, at the age of twenty-one. He was a zealous missionary in various Cagayan missions and in the Babuyanes. His death occurred in 1700 or 1701. See Resea biogrfica, ii, pp. 175-179.

[9] Fray Pedro Jimnez took the Dominican habit in 1658, and arrived in the Philippines in 1666. He labored princ.i.p.ally in the province of Cagayan where he was at different times a.s.signed to different missions. He died December 20 without being able to receive the last sacraments. See Resea biogrfica, ii, pp. 61-77.

[10] W. A. Reed says (Negritos of Zambales, pp. 40, 41): "He is repulsively dirty in his home, person, and everything he does. Nothing is ever washed except his hands and face, and those only rarely. He never takes a bath, because he thinks that if he bathes often he is more susceptible to cold, that a covering of dirt serves as clothing, although he frequently gets wet either in the rain or when fishing or crossing streams. This is probably one reason why skin diseases are so common."

[11] See sketches of these missionaries in Resea biogrfica, ii, pp. 230-256.

[12] This is an error, as the Mandayas are a Mindanao tribe. Probably the Apayaos, who live in the district of Ayangan in the comandancia of Quiangn are meant. In Bontoc and other northern provinces of Luzn the word I-fu-gao means "the people;" it is the name which the Bontoc Igorots apply to themselves. The name Apayao, in northern Luzn, is another form of the same word. See Census of Philippines, i, p. 469; Blumentritt's List of Tribes in Philippines (Mason's translation); and Jenks's Bontoc Igorot, p. 33.

[13] Fray Juan Iiguez was a native of Antequera, and made his profession at Sevilla, September 21, 1671. Reaching the Philippines (1671) at the age of twenty-four, he was immediately a.s.signed to the province of Cagayan where he labored until 1720, the year of his death. See Resea biogrfica, ii, pp. 211-215.

[14] These are not a separate tribe as one would be led to suppose by Blumentritt, but a branch of the Igorot people. See Census of Philippines, i, pp. 456-459.

[15] The natives of Malaoeg and Tuao revolted at the end of 1718 under their leaders Magtangaga and Toms Sinaguingan. They were put down by Captain Don Juan Pablo de Ordua, and the rebels were punished. See Montero y Vidal, i, p. 414.

[16] Fray Mateo Gonzlez made his profession September 5, 1667, and arrived at the Philippines in 1671 at the age of twenty-seven. He was a.s.signed to Cagayan, where he labored extensively. He also worked in the Babuyanes and introduced the mission work into the Batanes, his death occurring in the latter islands July 25, 1688. See Resea biogrfica, ii, pp. 155-157.

[17] A correspondent, William Edmonds, princ.i.p.al of schools in the Batanes Islands, says in a letter of April 9, 1906: "I have an idea that either the formation of the land [of the Batanes] is entirely changed (two islands then being one now) or that there is some serious error in Dampier's topography [see VOL. x.x.xIX, pp. 96-115]. The names of many of the islands now are not those given by Dampier." Of the later history of the Batanes Islands Mr. Edmonds says: "In 1791, Governor-general Don Jos Basco sent an expedition with an alcalde, two Dominican missionaries, mechanics, and artificers to establish civil government. In a short time the people were instructed in material arts, constructing tribunals, churches, convents, schools, and houses, all of stone walls, one vara thick, to resist typhoons. Five munic.i.p.alities were established, the islands forming a district of the province of Cagayan. In September, 1897, these pacific islands fell an easy prey to the Revolutionary expedition which sacked the churches and convents, and carried away the priests as prisoners to Cagayan. The Katipunan government ruled until December, 1899, when the American government took possession. In October, 1903, the various towns were united into one munic.i.p.ality of the province of Cagayan." As references concerning these islands, Mr. Edmonds gives El Correo Sino Anamita (Manila, 1866-1892), xxix, p. 483; and Marin's Ensayo (Manila, 1901), ii, pp. 690, 801: both publications of the Dominicans.