Albularyo

The albularyo is a folk healer, found mostly in rural areas. The word comes from the Spanish herbolario, which means herbalist. People may visit an albularyo as a first step when they are ill, or as a last step when other help has failed.

Wikipedia lists several methods. The healer prepares drinks and rubs from leaves, bark, roots and coconut oil. Hilot, a kind of massage, is often part of the care. Some healers say short prayers called orasyon, or use saliva and written papers. To find the cause of an illness, an albularyo may drop melted candle wax in water, read an egg, or use tawas, which is alum. This last method is called pagtatawas.

In this belief, some illnesses come from lamang lupa, spirits that a person has upset, knowingly or not. The healer uses rituals and prayers to send them away. Patients often trust the albularyo because they feel the healer has a power that clinics lack. People also say some healers practice curses, but that is a separate belief from healing.