Is it a curse or a calling?
There are two ways one can become a spirit talker.
The first one is through tradition and inheritance. There are many families that have the gift. It may skip a generation or two, but the spirits know where they are welcome, where they are called.
Take the family Nobleza. The patriarch of that clan was a very powerful albularyo. He had many initiates, some from his family, others brought there by fate.
When his time came, he passed on his powers to his grandson who willingly accepted.
It is there that the spirit talker is not a passive spectator, but one that actively commands the spirits.
The second way is to be possessed by the spirits. Here, the spirit talker is not in control of the power they are given; the spirits reign supreme.
There is a tale from the north where an observer noted the possession of a fifteen-year-old girl. She said she had seen seven small men on a fence. She gathered them in her apron and they were absorbed in her body. Thus, she housed the creatures in her physical form, making her well known in the areas of Vigan.
To make their powers known to their community they perform special rituals.
The most well-known are the ones to do with souls.
It is a common belief in the islands that if you are struck with illness, your spirit is lost in the cosmos and it is in the purview of the spirit talker to return the soul. Failure to do so would result in the death of the patient.
Other situations require a deft hand. Spirits are capricious and most are harmless, but a certain class is malignant.
One of these spirits is called the Gab-an.
They are strong enough to possess even the most powerful albularyo.
Newly initiated spirit talkers foolishly think they can handle the spirit, only for them to twist and flail, painfully contorting their limbs and succumbing to an ignoble death.
Truthfully, there are no rituals that can prepare one to do battle with the Gab-an.
It is a fight of willpower and spiritual might.
There is no warning as the Gab-an are incorporeal. By the time the possessed realizes the spirit is inside them, it may be too late.
It is only those that take the calling that stand a chance against it.
They use their oils and oracions and even call for aid from others of their profession.
Once, it took 5 elder spirit talkers to exorcise a Gab-an from one of their number.
There are many albularyo dotted throughout the archipelago. Some a calling, and others a curse.
All have one foot in the spiritual and material worlds.
Know which kind you seek aid from.
It could mean the difference between salvation and damnation.
=———————=
Written by Karl Gaverza
Copyright © Karl Gaverza
Inspired by DICCIONARIO MITOLÓGICO DE FILIPINAS, Ferdinand Blumentritt [1895], translated and republished by The Aswang Project, 2021
Gab-a n Illustration by Angelo Adonis Chavez
Illustration reposted with permission from Rob Martin of Pine Box Entertainment and Secret Garden Games
