Whether they are Filipinos, who are returning home from work overseas or are migrants coming home for much-awaited family reunions and tropical vacations, they continue to look for the healing touch of the Hilot.
And while it is common among many Filipinos to seek the Western mode of medical treatment for ailments, the Hilot, as a remedy, still retains its esteemed and recognized place in the hierarchy of non-invasive, traditional healing methods.
Hilot is a word from the Tagalog dialect meaning massage-rubbing or touch with soothing strokes. Touch is the modality of Hilot. Initially, one might think it is simply a massage, but Hilot is more. It is energy manipulation.
While many popular massages had predetermined sequences of strokes, Hilot manipulates the electrical charges of the body that creates a biochemical reaction where it is needed. It harnesses bio-energies for balance, harmony, health and wellness. When this is done properly, the biochemical reaction brings balance once again to the body.
What is Hilot?
Hilot is the age-old indigenous Filipino healing practice associated with elderly healers. It is relatively complex way of healing methodology complete with philosophy, health concept, healing concept and healing methodologies. The Hilot Master or Manghihilot could identify body illnesses or areas of energy imbalance in the body through many unconventional methods like pulse reading, hot and cold analysis, phrenology, stool/urine/perspiration analysis. It is the oldest and the most secret arts in the Philippines. Due to the secrecy of the art, very rarely do Manghihilot teach this art to the general public. Most Hilot in the Philippines are either learned from relatives, through hands on practice, or inherited from their forefathers, passing the art from one generation to the next.
Backgroud of Hilot
The practice of Hilot is a part of the Filipino way of life. Traditionally, prior to the popularity of modern medical doctors, the Manghihilot was the health care giver of the community. Like all traditions, it has seen its share of being pushed to the background at the arrival of new methods, new medicines and new technology.
Lately, in the worldwide resurgence of alternative forms of medicine and the research and study of the old ways of healing, Hilot is re-established as the Filipino Healing Art based on scientific- universal and natural laws.
Concept of Hilot
Man is considered healthy or “at-ease” if his faculties (mind, emotion and body) are in harmony with the Universal Law. This harmony sets the phase for the balance and precise combination of the Elements of the body (earth, water, fire and air). The unique combination of the four Elements varies according to man's existing patterns and programs that are called genes. Furthermore, the unique combinations are also dependent on man's lifestyle, culture and environment. This combination has its own individual limitations, and once limitations are violated, imbalances happen. The imbalance is called “dis-ease.”
Imbalances of elements of the body could be corrected by the introduction of changes through; biochemical, neuro-electrical, electro-magnetic and bio mechanical means.
Making of a Hilot
The training of Hilot Practitioners or the Manghihilot involves learning the concepts and philosophy of traditional healing, instilling an individual valuing process and its relevance to Hilot Healing and understanding the body functions. The education of the Manghihilot is holistic, - holistic involving the biological, social, behavioural and psychological aspects of life and living.
A good hilot practitioner would know the type of ailment his client is suffering from just by looking at him and sensing his energy. A good healer can tell if the elements in one’s body—fire, water, earth and air—are in harmony. Fire refers to the body’s electric impulses; water, the blood; the earth, bone and flesh; while air corresponds to the air that one breathes.
To correct the imbalance in the patient’s energy that leads to a distorted metabolism, a healer would have to give the patient a massage to create the desired biochemical reactions that helps the body heal itself.
Spotting a fake Hilot should be easy. Anything that did not conform to the natural law would cause pain, so if one felt sore after a Hilot massage then something was not right.
