The title seemed odd to you if you grew up living in one of the larger cities in Manila.
I have been thinking of creating a post about “Santigwar” since last month until I finally decided to write an article with a very valid reason for you to believe.
For those living in different provinces I know you can relate to this particular of those communities in remote areas.
So without any further ado, let’s begin with a brief story of where the word was being used.
I grew up in a small town in the province of Albay. Yes, I am a proud albayano who dwells at the foot of the Majestic Mayon Volcano. I need not have to tell you about the beauty of the place, it’s everywhere on the internet.
When I was a kid and would feel sick for no reason, my mother used to bring me to an old woman. The old woman was sort of a doctor but not a real doctor who graduated from some University.
Before the granny would do the healing, he would first perform some ritual which is called “SANTIGWAR”. I learned the word from my mother and I don’t know what it means or where the word originated. The granny would prepare an old coin and a porcelain plate. Then by placing the plate upside down, she would try to balance the coin on top of the plate while murmuring some unknown language she only knows.
The coin was so thin and with round edges that if you are to try balancing it, you can not just do it.
Somehow the granny could make the coin stand and balance it with no difficulty. When the coin stood still, she would now tell me what had happened and why I was sick. She told mother that I have offended unknown entities and that they were punishing me.
Then she would utter some prayer like asking permission to forgive me and sort of offerings to the unknown entities. She would also tell me what to do in order for them to spare me.
It appears that Santigwar is some sort of knowing what had happened in the past and communicating with the unknown.
After the process she would also apply some oil on my body. The oil was made of coconut extract and with some herbal leaves.
It kind of annoys me with those oils on my body but I can’t resist. I was just a kid and I needed to obey or else I would not be healed.
Somehow I feel better before we reach home.
People in our place used to believe this kind of divination, particularly of the less fortunate like us. It’s kind of expensive visiting the doctor for just a simple fever so parents trust these Santigwar as they were proven to be effective for ages.
I was kind of skeptical about this when I was a kid. You know in the provinces when we were kids and told about these unknown entities, we just had to believe even if there was no valid reason to believe.
But sometimes it made me think that these old people who existed before our parents won’t invent stories. They seemed to be good at divination that appears to be true.
I will share with you another real life story about this and it’s up to you if you believe it or not. I was ten when it happened and it was from my own brother.
One day my older brother had a very high fever. My mother rushed him to the hospital instead of bringing to Santigwar. One week had passed and he was not getting any better. When my mother would ask the doctor about my brother's condition he could not answer my mother as he could not determine my brother's illness. I remember I was just outside the hospital. All I knew was that my brother was ill.
Another week had passed but my brother was still ill. Then the doctor would shot several meds to my brother and when my mother would ask the doctor, he said that he was testing what medicines would work. Then said that my brother was suffering from meningitis.
My mother was confused and just added to her worries because the doctor was like experimenting with my brother. They can’t determine the real condition of him.
Three weeks had passed and my brother's condition was getting worse. He was always thirsty and sometimes would tell mother that there were unknown people visiting him in the hospital. He was experiencing delirium and hallucination.
Then my mother decided to pull him out of the hospital because aside from my brother's worsening condition, we don’t have enough money for the hospital bill. She told my father about it and my father then reported the incident to the police.
My father brought the police to the hospital and said to the doctor that he will be getting his son out of the hospital. He said that he will not let my brother die at his hands. The doctor then couldn't provide proof to the police about the real condition of my brother so he just discharged my brother from the hospital with no single cent to pay for the hospital bill.
When we got home, my mother can’t no longer think of what to do so she just decided to call for Santigwar. She went to her brother in the nearby town and looked for the popular old woman who was practicing Santigwar.
The old woman then examined my brother and performed the ritual shortly. This time she used a candle, oil and a porcelain plate for the Santigwar process. After knowing what had caused my brother to be ill, she said he accidentally hit two lady elves with a stick while he was playing near the river. They want to take him to their world as punishment.
After the process she applied an extract of red ginger added with oil to all of his body then massaged his head with the extract.
My brother fell to sleep and my father had accompanied the old woman home because it was getting dark.
I’m not sure if my parents give something to the old woman in return.
The next morning my mother went to the market while my brother was asleep. I then was playing outside until my mother returned.
When mother entered the house upon return, I heard her exclaimed. “What are you doing son?!”
I rushed inside the house and saw my brother combing his hair as if nothing happened. He said, “I was just combing my hair ma, it’s rough what happened. I’m going to take a bath. I don’t smell good.”
Then my mother cried and thanked God.
Thanks for reading. Ciao!
Feel free to check my previous posts:
The Free Unlimited Browsing Technique
━◦○◦━◦○◦━◦○◦━◦○◦━◦○◦━◦○◦━━◦○◦━◦○◦━◦
Special mention to my sponsors:
━◦○◦━◦○◦━◦○◦━◦○◦━◦○◦━◦○◦━━◦○◦━◦○◦━◦
Photos and lead image are mine.
Kaya nung bata ako sobrang maingat ako sa mga nilalakaran pati yung pag-ihi noon kapag napunta sa sementeryo. Yung tabi-tapi po 😁 katakot yung naexperience niyo ng kapatid mo. Lalo sa kapatid mo kasi ang tagal niya sa ospital tapos wala nangyari.