Rituals taken from Filipino Sorcerer

Some facts

#Are they witches? Does that mean they do the same magic?

--- The Mangkukulam may use a doll and pins to cast spells on people, but most use natural magick similar to an "Albularyo" or witch doctor. Though both can be considered witches, the main difference being is that the Albularyo is more of a healer, while a Mangkukulam is more of specializing in tricks, curses and hexes.

---"What are those witchy charms and that subtance they claim to give them powers?

Most of Albularyo holds a Agimat or Anting-Anting which said to hold different kinds of powers, the most common being to remove hexes or curses and takes out malevolent spirits. The others are being Gayuma or love charms to make the wielder of the charm to be more attractive to the opposite sex. In modern Pop culture Agimat is depicted to give the wielder to have superhuman strengths and even elemental abilities. Agimats could be charms like pendants with words inscribe (mostly latin) or edible foods, an example are a liquid from a banana blossom or Puso ng Saging.

-------What Curses and Remedies and how do they do their craft?

The primary methods done by a mangkukulam are candle rituals, scrying, tawas, spells, and potions. (Most popularly Gayuma or Love Potions) A typical belief of mangkukulam is that curses are alleviated by finding the caster and bribing them to lift out the casted spell. Superstitions still attribute certain illnesses to kulam, often happening in rural areas, where an Albularyo resides. They diagnoses a victim using a divination method called pagtatawas and helps the victim cure them. Other forms of remedies for kulam includes of them whipping the kinulam with a Buntot Pagi (Stingray's Tail) until the afflicted is forced to say the witch's name and confronting them. This is done in the belief that the one who is getting hurt is the Mangkukulam and not the kinulam. This way the Albularyo forces to make the mangkukulam to surrender and lift the curse or hex.

------Facts!

Most Pilipino Witches are great herbalist. They are usually very aware that certain plants can cure and affect certain diseases and that some can be used to bring death. A great herbalist will know the virtues of both medicinally and magickally of almost every plant in district he or she lives on. They often keep a notebook or memorized it by mind, where they place everything about herbs, from the diseases they can cure, as well as the ones they can prevent. How does a Witch in the Philippines gain such knowledge of herbs? You may ask, like others before it was trial and error though fortunately at this present age, we can have access to this vast knowledge in a click of a button. Another thing that you should learn is that great Albularyo-s communicate with the earth elementals or Enkanto's particularly the Duwende(elf) and Diwata(faerie). Duwende are creatures living under the earth. They usually give their human friends the gift of knowledge and sometimes protection or abilities. While diwata's which they also bring blessings to those that does good and curses that cause harm to the forests and mountains. One famous diwata is Maria Makiling, guardian of Mount Makiling in Laguna province.

----In our personal views traditional Witchcraft in the Philippines are rich in culture, superstitions and beliefs of our ancestors, though we are mixed with many different beliefs from different cultures all around the world us as witches keep in at our heart, mind and soul. With the beliefs we built up we are able to identify the way witches from the Philippines do their craft traditionally, and that's all folks!

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