HIMUGHAT [hi.mug.hat.] : cure-all, elixir, remedy, panacea, nostrum (n.)
With the introduction of Westernized, modernized forms of life, we are easily disconnected from natural environments.
Many folks outside of land-and-sea-based ways of life might believe that ancestral traditions are almost gone & need to be ‘preserved’ (like artifacts in museum boxes). Or worst, irrelevant.
But the traditions, and their keepers, are very much alive! It’s a matter of more of us (urbanized, diaspora) reconnecting to these wisdom keepers and their living artifacts of knowledge.
Not only do the mananambal (folk healers) ritually reconnect with their surrounding ecologies through the pangalap harvest, but they create medicines that invoke both the unique powers of plants and local knowledge of them, which invites our own spiritual re-enchantment to this web of biodiversity.
In this return journey, I feel affirmed in the importance of knowing the native Bisayan language to not only identify but to also understand & build relationships with plant medicine. The Bisayan names indicate the characteristics of the plant and how our ancestors related to its medicine.
Our native languages are key to unlocking ancestral knowledge.
Humbled to begin conversations with healers about hosting in-person immersions next year with interested @bababisaya learners!
Grateful to Nong Noel Torremocha, Manang Juanita “Noynoy” Torremocha of Cantabon, and Junel Tomoray of Lala-o for your hospitality, friendship, generous time & teachings. Looking forward to this Holy Week & more years of learning to come!
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