Author: Apu Adman Aghama

I am the Chief Priest and Founder of Luntiang Aghama Natural Divine Arts Shrine of Healing Inc. which is a Formal Correllian Wiccan Shrine in the Philippines. I am a Second Degree Clergy of the Correllian Nativist Tradition of Wicca; a dedicated member of the Correllian Order of Peace Weavers; and A Correllian Shaman Guide who leads the Orange Feather Camp. My Priesthood in Luntiang Aghama have created several ministries under the Shrine which consist of the Sacerdotal Order of Luntiang Aghama, National Community of Filipino Pagans, Philippine Correllian Aghamic Circle, Templong Anituhan ng Luntiang Aghama (TALA), Peace Prayer Interfaith Ministry, Hilot Academy of Binabaylan and Kaduwa Movement Equality through Compassion.

Hilot Abdominal Sequence

Our Abdominal Area is the very center of our being dividing the upper to lower extremities thus it becomes the processor of energy. It houses our digestive system that also help us to process the things that are happening around us and give us idea how to deal with difficult situation.

Doing Hilot Hagod on this area will help us perform well in our life eliminating pain and suffering from illness and even in difficulties of life.

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Want to have a Hilot Experience with us? Book an appointment by calling us at +639952467040 or email at: hilot.binabaylan@gmail.com

Rainy days

Non stop pouring of rain from early morning to evening. Most areas in Caloocan and Quezon City are already flooded. So every one are advised to stay dry and keep warm in the comfort of your Home. Since its raining so hard outside, let us talk about the health issues brought by the rain.

Have you noticed that most of the Filipino are afraid to be wet by rain? Because rain fall will make us sick. But how is that true and why it happen when we get wet by the rain we get sick?

We should expect that when it rains outside we must be protected by either wearing raincoat or umbrella. Naturally if we walk outside when it rains without protective covering we will get wet. Now-a-days if we get wet by the rain, we expect that we will get sick if we dont rinse immediately through warm bath. The reason why people get sick when it rains is because of the pollutants that the raindrops contain. So when it flood, the water will also be contaminated with pollutant such as the urine of animals and rats that will give us illness when we are exposed to the flood.

But in the Old times, when our environment is still fresh and clean there is a belief that when you get wet to the rain, you will get sick. So what is their reason why you will get sick when you get wet by the rain?

The Answer is this, when you walk and do your work your body is warm and when you get wet starting from the head it will break the heat that will make the cold enter your body. So you get sick because of the imbalanced energy of Hot and Cold.

I remember when i was assessing in TESDA, i have assessed a 70 Year Old Man who apply for National Certificate in Hilot and during the Assessment we have talked about the natural ways of taking bath.

So my question to him was this, in taking a bath- which part of the body must get wet first? probably most of you will answer hands or head. But naturally, the first part of our body that need to get wet first is our feet. In the olden time there is no shower or pail and dipper. People go to the river or stream to take a bath and in going there the feet is the first one that get wet.

So from that reasoning, i also observe some old manghihilot in doing their hilot masahe. They start from the feet going upwards. I might disagree on this system but we need to consider their methods and we need to study well about it on why they start from the feet upward.

Mental Disorder and Hilot

I have watched K Brosas which is a Filipina Comedian/Singer/Actress talk about depression on Facebook. I thought i am going to laugh so hard becuase she was a known singer/comedian but instead the laughter that im about to give was replaced by Wow!

I share it here the youtube link that K Brosas Talks about depression. And i agree with her that depressionand anxiety is a mental disorder. She talks about the unreleased childhood anger and fear that she kept inside her for a long time. When she goes to the Hospital all the best doctor can not see any problem when everytime she experience palpitation, tremoring of nerves and emotional down break until she was refered to a Psychiatrist.

There the doctor prescribed her drug to pacify her condition. But what the doctor is treating is just the symptom of the problem and not the main problem it self. As a Traditional Medicine Practitioner, i see that there is no synthetic drug that could bend and heal the mental disorder of a person. The healing must come from the person him/her self and not on drugs. What is in our head is just a physical organ, but our mind comes from outside our physical body.

In Hilot we give importance to the role of Tawas or Spiritual Diagnosis because through this procedure we are touching the persons emotion, mind and spirit that makes the physical body move.

As an individual we react to outside stimulus. And from stimulating our senses i creates bio chemical reaction that affects our being.

In Tawas, we are arranging the persons perception and helping them to have relief and suddenly cure from the situation they have.

Unity in Diversity of Hilot

habi hilot In Promoting Hilot as the Philippine Traditional and Natural Medicine, we must be reminded that our Country is an Archipelago that is composed of 1,107 islands that been inhabited by almost more than 175 ethnolinguistic tribes. From these Tribes, we will find a diverse culture and tradition; at the same time methods of healing that we now call as Hilot. Modern Medicine arrived to our country during the Colonisation of Spain by the 1600’s to 1800’s. Prior to their arrival, the pre-colonial Filipino’s have our own medicine and as per record shows from the 17th to 18th centuries, the state-of-the-art medical and pharmaceutical science was developed by the Spanish Friars based on the system of healthcare provided by the Pre colonial practitioners of Medicine and Health Care which is the Babaylan.

Each tribe has their distinct method of healthcare and ways on curing illness that modern researcher and cultural advocate must preserve. Standardising it into one process will not help preserving it. We must be reminded that what our Country makes unique is that we cant be called Philippines without the existence of the Ethnolinguistic Tribes that are present in our country. The same thing will apply to Hilot, it will not become a National Healing Modality without the others.

We can not omit one healing practices in favour of the other. Filipino Scientific Community must take time in studying each modality to prove its effectiveness in providing a cure. As Hilot provide also the four dimension of Healthcare delivery as well having its own diagnostic procedure in determing the cause of ailment of the patient.

New Cover of Habi

I made a new cover for our Facebook page in Hilot Academy. The cover photo emphasize that Hilot is the Traditional and Natural Medicine of the Philippines.

As i have seen a facebook post with a content of then and now, it is said that Hilot is the former modality and now they are called Massage Therapist. I respectfully object the statement because Hilot is not a Massage.

Still many Filipinos are confused of what really hilot is that is why Hilot Academy is challenged to re introduce Hilot to the Filipino People.

I am making a powerpoint presentation so that we could share the knowledge about hilot with competence.

Saving Lives start with the belief that we can

In the Website of Philippine Medical Tourism which can be found by following the link, they defined Alternative Medicine as follows:

Alternative medicine is therapeutic or preventive health care practices, such as homeopathy, naturopathy, chiropractic, and herbal medicine, that do not follow generally accepted medical methods and may not have a scientific explanation for their effectiveness.

Alternative medicine practices are often based in belief systems not derived from modern science. They may therefore incorporate spiritual, metaphysical, or religious underpinnings, untested practices, pre-modern medical traditions, or newly developed approaches to healing. If an alternative medical approach, initially untested, is subsequently shown to be safe and effective, it may then be adopted by conventional practitioners and no longer considered “alternative”.

Here the organisation have mentioned the healing modalities that do not follow generally accepted medical methods and “may” not have a scientific explanation for their effectiveness. On their statement, the organisation is also uncertain with their statement and have not exerted effort on proving the ineffectiveness of the said modality but have declared that the practices are based on belief systems not derived from modern science. But how would this so called Alternative Medicine be proven if the authority themselves do not put their time and effort on proving the modalities to be effective or not? All modern inventions starts with a belief that everything is possible. Even the cure on cancer or certain chronic disease starts with a firm belief that a cure can be made. Philippine Medical Tourism is junking out the ideas of Alternative Medicine because it is based on belief system.

Well for us, the real Alternative Medicine as they defined are the Modern Allophatic Medicine that replace the Traditional and Natural Medicine practised by mankind. In the Philippines, Hilot is our Traditional and Natural Medicine and modern science must take time to prove its effectiveness. Our Ancestors have proven it economically safe and effective. The Use of herbs which we can just gather along our yard and neighbourhood without monetary expenses. The simple skills of massage incorporating herbs would give relief and eventually cure to any ailments.

For the common people like me, let us value what is cost effective and safe. The food that been prepared to us by our lolo and lola are a good medicine for us to sustain our health. The herbs which we can found in our kitchen such as the garlic, ginger, onion, pepper, chili can be a quintessence of wellness that could save us from expensive medication and drugs.

Traditional Filipino Foot Massage

Preventing Illness

What do we do in order not to get ill? I believe that most of you have your own ways of preventing illness. But let us say that you have a gold fish on an aquarium. What will you do to maintain the life of your gold fish?

First ofcouse is you make that fish stay out of the frying pan. Make sure that fish to stay on water to stay alive and healthy. Make its aquarium clean and safe. Feed it with love and care.

As humans then, what do we need in order to stay alive? We often forget that our basic staying alive skills are easy and making it more complicated. As human instead of staying out of the pan we rather engage our self to hazardous activities to challenge our human potentials.

We breath in to the atmosphere of stress and anxiety all day. We live in a polluted world full of trash either literal garbage or psychological, emotional, social and spiritual pollutants.

If we want to stay alive and be well all the time we must get rid our selves from the source of illness. Even if we have a powerful medicine to cure for our illness but if we do not remove our selves from the source that make us sick, we will still get worst.

As Hilot, we dont just heal the body of our patient but we also heal and make a therapeutic environment where humanity can live a better life.

The pollution level in Metro Manila and Quezon City is getting worst. As Hilot we rely our medicine on the products Nature. Our medicine is in Nature. So let us make Nature be present in our Emvironment. Let us heal our land by making it green again. Plant a healing herbs in your frontor backyard. Have a pot and grow a plant. This will not only benefit you but also our environment.

Health Service Delivery Profile in the Philippines 2012

As i do my research on the value of Traditional and Natural Medicine in the Philippines, i came to the website of Western Pacific Region of the World Health Organization and they got this article on the Health Service Delivery Profile in the Philippines as they compile it on 2012.

Let us take a look on its content as they reported the role of Traditional Medicine in Health Care Delivery Service:

Traditional medicine practice
Traditional medicine and complementary and alternative medicines are widely used in the Philippines. Filipino traditional medicine has been in practice for more than a thousand years. Many forms of complementary and alternative medicine introduced from other countries are also used, such as Chinese traditional medicine, acupuncture, herbal medicines, chiropractic, homeopathy, and Ayurveda. Significantgroups of people depend to varying degrees on different forms of traditional and complementary medicines for their health care. A 2010 WHO WPRO study estimated that 70% of the population uses traditional and complementary medicines. Of those, 89% do so for particular illnesses, symptoms, or cultural needs which biomedicine cannot address, as well for financial reasons. Traditional practitioners’ services are accessible, available and affordable, particularly in remote areas.

The Traditional Medicine unit now the Philippine Institute for Traditional and Alternative Health Care(PITACH), an attached agency of the DOH supports the integration of traditional and complementarymedicine into the national health care system. It is responsible for carrying out the responsibilities stated in the Traditional and Alternative Medicine Act (1997) (currently being updated). There are also three national research institutions covering traditional and complementary medicine: the National Institute for Health, the National Integrated Research Programme on Medicinal Plants, and the Philippine Council for Health Research and Development.

Acupuncture services are covered by PhilHealth, but no other traditional or complementary medicineservices are covered. Acupuncture delivered in hospital is US$0.22-0.44, although private practitioners may charge up to five times more than a physician’s office fee. Traditional birthing attendants charge much lower fees than other birth attendants; PHP755-947 (approx USD15-20), compared to up toPHP3,175 (approx USD60) for a midwife, PHP7,000 (approx USD140) for a nurse, and PHP10,000
(approx USD200) for a physician. Almost uniformly, traditional medicine practitioners do not have setfees, and many accept donations.

Providers of traditional medicine

Traditional and complementary medicine is practiced by private practitioners or healers, and in homesand barangay health stations. They play an important role in primary health care in the Philippines. Traditional birth attendants are used by a significant proportion of birthing women. In 2008 36% of deliveries were assisted by a traditional birth attendant, or Hilot. In 2002 there were 250,000 traditional healers in the Philippines. Compared to medically trained doctors,traditional medicine practitioners are far more accessible. While there is only one doctor for every 80,000 people, there is one traditional healer for every 300 people.

Licensing of practitioners

Traditional medicine and complementary medicine practitioners are recognised in legislation but havedifferent licensing requirements than conventional medicine practitioners/doctors. There are two formal professional self-regulating bodies for traditional and complementary medicine: the National Accreditation Committee for Acupuncture and the Board of Chiropractic both established in 2008. A committee for Homeopathy is in the process of being established. Also in 2008, the Philippine Institute of Traditional and Alternative Health Care issued competency standards for the practice of acupuncture for physicians and non-medical practitioners. In June 2009, a standardized curriculum for acupuncture certification, based on WHO 1999 guidelines, has been delivered to approximately 300 physicians. It is currently under evaluation. There are also plans for the regulation of Chiropractic, Homeopathy and Hilot-Massage. Training and education in traditional and complementary medicine, including at Masters
level, has been supported by several NGOs since 2008.

The Department of Health through the Committee of Examiners for Masseurs conducts bi-annual licensing for massage therapist in the country, consisting of theoretical and practical examinations. Those who pass the exams are given a license to practice massage in the country. The masseur’s license is renewable every 3 years with corresponding medical and continuing education required for it to be renewed.

Traditional Medicines

Herbal medicines can be sold in pharmacies as prescription medicines or as non-prescription medicines,self-medication, or over-the-counter medicines. There are also community produced herbal medicines.
These must stay within the limit of not more than 400 bottles per annum, and are their use is restricted to within the practitioner’s own community.

Quality and safety of traditional medicine

In the Philippines, herbal medicines are regulated in the same way as conventional pharmaceuticals, and can be listed in the Philippine National Drug Formulary. Good Manufacturing Practice requirements for herbal medicines were issued in 1999 and manufacturers of herbal medicines must achieve compliance before they are granted a license to operate. Exclusive safety requirements for herbal medicines were issued in 2004. Reference to safety data in documented scientific research on similar products is
sufficient. A post-market surveillance system for safety of herbal medicines exists.
Of the more than 2,000 herbs identified in the Philippines, only four are currently included in the formulary. Herbal medicines that are sold with any type of health claim will have undergone randomized controlled trials. Such condition does not apply to food supplements which are heavily promoted in the country with little scientific or regulatory control on their claims.

The first edition of the Philippine Pharmacopeia for Herbal Medicine was issued in 2005. Other pharmacopoeia has also been used including those from the United States, Europe, India, China and Japan. The information in these is legally binding.
Guidelines on the Registration of Traditional Herbal Products were issued in 2004, and since then only 50 herbal medicines have been registered. There is a national essential medicines list, and the 2008 version includes five herbal medicines.

To get the full detail of this report, you may click on the link to view it. Health Service Delivery Profile 2012

Each Hilot is Unique

Hilot are cultural worker and steward of the Earth. We are ordained by the Law of Nature and Universal law as care taker of its creation.

Most people see that we work on relieving pain of the People, but our work is not limited on relieving human pain and sufferings but we are bringing back the harmony in their lives by balancing the forces of nature that governs it.

Hilot is a Common People Medicine. It is not formulated and designed by a single individual or group of people, but it was passed down to us by our ancestors from generation to generations. As a Common people medicine, Hilot Techniques and methodology are unique from each tribe. Though different and unique from each other, the law of nature applies that we are all connected as magkakaugnay.

Standardization of techniques might violate the universal law of uniqueness as it will implement the superiority of one tribal technique and the other to be inferior.

All Hilot are equally potent and unique. Each methods are allowable as it will produce cure to the illness of mankind. What makes Hilot similar to each technique is that it works out to obtain common goal of bringing cure and restoring wellness to mankind.

The motivation of Hilot as a Healer is to heal which is to Help Enhance Alleviate Life from pain and suffering.