Our role as Manghihilot is to help an Individual to live a Quality of Life by maintaining their Soul attached to their Physical Body as we recognize that it’s separation may lead to an illness and worst in to death. As Traditional Filipino Healer, we also recognize the powers of the unseen such as the souls of the Dead, Nature and Elemental Spirits and Deities may also have an influence to affect us in living our lives. We also believe that when a person die, the souls of the individual will leave the body and become an Anito which can be either an Abyan ( Spirit Guide) or Busaw ( a malevolent Spirit) depending on the kind of Death they have experienced.
Death may come in many form such as in illness or old age, and when it comes at least healthy and living family members could prepare for it and may send off the soul peacefully. But when a person faces an unexpected Death such as Accident, Crime of Murder, Suicide and Battle or Warfare, we could expect that their souls will also become a bothersome and has a tendency to become a Busaw. Specially, those people who die at warfare. And with that our Grand Parents and ancestors have a ritual in preventing it to happen. Each Tribes in the Philippines have different methods of doing it, but the modern people of Today, it is common to place live Chicks on the Coffin of the deceased in order to prevent the soul in transforming into a malevolent spirits that may also cause illnesses to the living. In this recent event of Terrorism in the Middle East, many people have died and all of them are in terror, so what will happen to their soul? This video explains what will happen to them.
Grieving is a form of Cure to an individual who died a peaceful death, as it open up portal to the other world that the souls of the departed may cross over into it. Because Grief contains emotions that will become a vehicle to the departed soul to travel and help them crossover to the other world. But the Grief Ceremony conducted by people as a form of protest to those who died in a warfare will not help them to cross over to the other life, but only transform them to become a bound spirit that may haunt people between time and space.
Is it Good for the Souls to become a Bound Spirits?
Becoming a bound spirit seems to be nice as you may be able to stay on the Physical Plane of Existence for ever. But as you stay, all the pain and suffering you experience will also remain. As those pain of the griever will also heighten the pain you have while dying and may transform you into a malevolent Spirt. As a Malevolent Spirit, you also have this ability to harm the living by giving them illness and bad luck. As a Spirit you will be indestructible, but your form will be always corrupted and may be seen scary for people who are gifted with 3rd eye. But the Good News for us who are living, these bound malevolent spirits could be transformed through our prayers and ritual offerings.
As Hilot Binabaylan, we have responsibility to help in rehabilitating these souls that become a Malevolent Spirit by conducting Healing Rituals as a Spirit, just like an energy that can not be destroyed, but we can change form. So our caring as manghihilot does not limit only to the person when they are alive, but it extends even up to their death.
If you like to know how a Hilot Binabaylan care for the soul after death, let me know by voting on the poll below so that we could set up a webinar through Google Meet about it.
Hilot Academy of Binabaylan 