Undesirable Superstitionsâ–ª One should never point to the rainbow; otherwise his index fingers will be cut short ("mapungkol").
â–ª The appearance of a comet is a bad omen. It means that war, pestilence or famine is coming.
â–ª When a woman is on the family way, no one should displease her. She should not talk about the blind, the lame and other persons with similar handicaps or her child will become any of these.
â–ª If the first child is a boy, it is a sign of good luck for the family; if a girl, bad luck ("buwisit") is in prospect.
â–ª In building a house, the owner has to see that the stairs faces north or south, or preferably the east. The stairs must never face the west, otherwise, the family will be sickly.
â–ª While the corpse is still in the house waiting to be buried, and for the period of ten days, the floor must not be swept; otherwise, another member of the family will die.
â–ª If thirteen people eat at a table at one time, one of them will die soon.
â–ª The floor of the house must not be swept at night otherwise, the owner will become poor.
â–ª A pregnant woman must not look at the moon during an eclipse; otherwise the child will be deformed or the mother will suffer from hard labor during the delivery.
â–ª When the person dreams that his teeth have fallen of, a close relative or friend will die soon.
â–ª Belief in witchcraft is common. Some men and women are reputed to have harmful tongues and to posses unusual powers to do harm to any one they dislike. Such dangerous persons are known by several names, such as barangan, sigbinan, ban-okan, ungo or buyagan.
▪ The "santilmo" (St. Elmo’s fire), a flame-like appearance that sometimes alight on boats at sea during stormy nights, strikes fear in the hearts of the common folk. They believe that it is the spirit of someone who either has committed suicide or has been murdered, and is bent on doing harm to those on board, perhaps drowning them. If it appears on land it leads people astray.
â–ª People believe that the soul of the dead comes to visit his or her folks during the forty days following his or her burial.
▪ A "wakwak" is supposed to be a bird that cries out its name at night. In reality, it is believed to be woman who is after people’s blood and liver. Consequently, when a woman is about to deliver, her relatives place a lemon or "biasong" under the floor of the house in order to drive any "wakwak" that is supposed to be attracted by the smell of the fetus born by the pregnant woman. Some people merely place the leaves of the "biasing" and a light under the house, believing that these are also effective in warding off the "wakwak".
▪ The "mamumugno" or "mamarang" is supposed to be a woman who possesses a mysterious oil that she uses to heal herself when wounded. She appears only during the Holy Week, waiting for her victim near a river or brook because it is said that if wounded, she just jumps into the river and the wounds would heal immediately. After that, she continues to fight. The hair of the mamumugno enters the nostrils, the ears and the eyes of the victim who then grows weak and at the mercy of the "mamumugno". This then takes out the victim’s liver. The victim can only be saved in case someone passes by, for although his mind is normal, he cannot shout for help because he is under the power of the "mamumugno".
â–ª In some remote barangays, before cultivating the land, people hold an offering or sacrifice, during which they try to please the spirits or "diwata" so that they will help the farmer get a bountiful harvest. In this offering, a table with cooked rice, chickens, wines, and buyo (betel leaf) is set in the open field after which the spirits are called to come and help themselves to the food.
â–ª When one is about to build a house, he should consult a quack doctor to find out if the place selected as a site is suitable or not. The lot is measured according to the dimensions of the proposed building, then three grains of rice wrapped in black cloth are buried in the middle of the selected lot and left there for three days. If one or two grains are missing after the third day, the project should be abandoned for if continued, there will be sickness in the family that will live in the house.
â–ª Because many people believe that a witch is capable of taking out the entrails and liver of a person and eating them, they close their windows when they go to bed at night. They fear the witches more than they do the thieves and robbers.
â–ª The "sigbin" is said to be an animal that can harm people. It is said to have an appearance of the Australian kangaroo. A man who owns this animal can easily kill anyone secretly by telling the "sigbin" to bite him. There is no way of avoiding it because it cannot be seen by anybody except the owner. It is very useful to the owner because it can transport him at a terrific speed at night.
â–ª Many of the old people of Loon believe that there are two kinds of dwellers, on earth: the ordinary human beings that we see about us and the unseen inhabitants, some of whom live in trees and caves but go about with humans, especially at high noon and at night. One way of keeping children in at noon and at night is to scare them by telling them, if they stayed out, that they might be harmed by the invisible people.
â–ª If one wishes to cultivate a virgin piece of land, one must first appease the unseen owner of the land. He does this by preparing a dish consisting usually of white chicken or white pig and offering it to the unseen owner. This practice is called "baying" or "buhat" and is performed by a "tambalan".
â–ª Similarly, if one wishes to enter a cave to get guano or for some other reason, one must first get the permission of the unseen owner through the "baying".
â–ª Many years ago there was a place haunted by encantos. A man who did not believe stories about the encantos went to the place to cut down a tree to make a fishing boat. He died in the place mysteriously. Another man who went there to make a kaingin was never heard of after that.
â–ª Sometimes a boy gathering firewood for fuel in the thickets or forest gets lost. The people believe that the boy has been misled or "gimino" by an "encanto". The remedy, if he has a presence of mind, is to turn his shirt and pants inside out. Otherwise, he will not be able to find his way home, and his parents will have to organize a searching party using gongs and, if the search is done at night, torches.
▪ "Dwendes" are small people who sometimes inhabit very big houses. They are harmless, but they like to play tricks on people. When offended they retaliate with their pranks such as putting the kitchen utensils up in the ceiling or placing a woman’s skirt around the post of a house. Naturally, the skirt cannot be removed without being torn.
â–ª There is a cave that people say is haunted. At night, during inclement weather, a traveler on horseback or on foot may find a coffin laid across the provincial highway, with burning candles at the four corners. But if one goes back the following morning, the coffin is nowhere to be seen.
â–ª In one of the barangays, a young balete tree stands near the provincial highway where there are no houses nearby. One day a man was walking on the highway all alone. Hearing a band playing a lively march, he stopped and listened. Soon white men in full gala uniform came out of the balete tree and played martial music, marching along the road and mysteriously disappearing in the distance. News of this incident spread among the people in the community. Since then, the balete has been known to be a haunted tree.
▪ There was a girl who was courted by an "encanto". Although he could not be seen, there were times when it appeared that he was visiting her since a conversation seemed to be going on between him and the girl. Besides, there seemed to be a strange odor of perfume in the sala. One day the girl got lost and could not be located for a number of days. When her parents finally found her, she told them she was taken to the encanto’s place through an underground passage.
Linkback:
https://tubagbohol.mikeligalig.com/index.php?topic=30348.0