The Infusion of Folk Catholicism to Tambal Binisaya as an Indigenous Healing System in Iligan City

Abstract

For generations, folk medicines have been used to cure various diseases with supernatural and naturalistic causations. With ethnographic descriptive design, mananambals, Tambal Binisaya vendors, and loyal patrons served as key informants in this qualitative study. In obtaining the data, observations, field notes, and interviews were the main instruments used to investigate inculturation, which is the underlying phenomenon behind the folk Catholicism evident in Tambal Binisaya. As such, it was revealed that there are strong pieces of evidence of pre-Christian practices in Tambal Binisaya, such as belief in abyans, balance in natural elements in the body, and even animism, which are somehow divergent from Catholic beliefs that put a premium on God and the total healing of the mind, body, and spirit. Despite these differences, Tambal Binisaya somehow integrated these aspects of the two systems into a hybrid healing practice. The indigenous have indeed been married to Catholicism in Tambal Binisaya.

Keywords

• folk christianity
• folk religion
• folk healing
• indigenous knowledge
• catholicism