This chapter was rich with information around the indigenous healers in the Panay Highlands of Western Visayas. Written by trained ethnomusicologist, Maria Christine Muyco, they bring us into a story collected by participant-observation learnings of these Panay Bukidnon (mountain people of Panay). Maria spent 2 years in 2003-2004 in the Panay Highlands specifically inquiring the process of this community’s types of healing rituals, always incorporating the Binanog, a dance practice that draws its inspiration from the local hawk-eagle called banog. The ideological aspects in Panay healing always aimed to achieve SIBOD - a mastery of structures and synchronizations that produces effectiveness, connectedness, and even transcendence. Through the Binanog dance, Maria first encountered the linkage between healing, movement, and spiritual interplay, and drew her attention to the synchronizations between healing and dancing and how each can realize a healer’s intention of bringing harmony to the body-spirit universe, otherwise known as kalibutan.

Through her work, Maria meets and speaks with several traditional healers, serruano, dalungdungan, the maarams, the babaylan. They included learning about how young healer Menchie Diaz-Caspillo stepped into her calling, Noning Lopez of Barangay Cabatangan in Lambunao (Iloilo), Violeta Damas from Barangay Taganhin, and an interview with Alfred Castor who knew a family with 7 adult babaylans. These interactions allowed Maria to discuss what defines a serruano , as they do not choose to be so at will, because powerful spirits or forces select them. Maria provides us with several vocabulary words utilized by the Panay Bukidnon to give insight of their perspectives of life from the origin of creation, to the understandings of various spirit beings that exist and can be seeing during times of the night, how the babaylan moved while she sat in ritual, why and how supplication of the spirits was essential, and overall prosing the theme of indigenous ways for bridging body-and-spiritual constituents that bring about healing for those who are in need.

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1. Grounding Prayer & @ 1:34

2. "90 second DECOLONIZING" Heart Check-in @ 5:16

3. BROWN GIRL CLIFF NOTES / Chapter Overview @ 13:03

4. Vocabulary Words @ 19:33

5. Quotes @ 39:22

6. Closing Prayer @ 1:00:10