Part 2 - Rediscovering Indigenous Beliefs and Practices – Key to Good Life .
What is “The Good Life” Really?
Dr Abe V Rotor
Observe the leaf galls of santol (Sandoricum koetjape), dita (Alstonia scholaris), ikmo (Piper icmo), and lately, dapdap (Erythrina variegata var orientalis) PHOTO.
They have something in common – tumor growth arising from the nether side of the leaf. Inside these conical tumors live minute parasites. Here they grow and reproduce. Their progeny make new galls on new leaves and also the stems. Galls often coalesce into ugly tumors as colonies grow. The tree soon loses its leaves, and without leaves it starves and dies. Such is the case of the demise of dapdap trees in many parts of the country.
Plant galls are also useful. It is a source of dye in the case of galls produced by Homopterans on certain cactus species. But in most cases it is destructive as it causes decline in the productivity, if it does not kill the plant. Fortunately, contrary to some beliefs, plant galls are harmless to humans and animals.
12. Old folks tell us of many unusual things about pigs. It is uncouth to call a person a pig, and these are the reasons why.
· Pigs, by their physical built, can’t look up in the sky. It always looks downtrodden.
· Pigs are the only animals that will drink hard liquor voluntarily – and you know what happens next.
· Pigs are carriers of diseases and parasites transmitted to human, such as tapeworm and hookworm. Pork is high in cholesterol and uric acid that cause many ailments.
· They are voracious (sarabusab Ilk) and omnivorous, eating on almost anything, including spoiled food and wastes of other animals.
· They have a very poor digestive system, the smell of their sty is almost unbearable.
· Their barrel shape bodies are a perfect model of obesity.
On the brighter side of these obnoxious habits, and other disagreeable characteristics that we may attribute to the pig, it is surprising to know – and we should be thankful - that the pig’s heart, being compatible with ours, has been used in heart tissue transplants. Thousands of heart patients owe their lives to the lowly pig.
13. If the father or mother leaves the house, place the clothes he or she last worn beside the sleeping child so that he goes into deep sleep.
This is pheromones in action. Pheromones are chemical signals for bonding in the animal world, and among humans. Like the queen bee that keeps its colony intact through pheromones, so we are attracted by a similar odor, although of a less specific one. People are compatible through smell. Pheromones are left in clothes and other belongings, so that a baby may remain fast asleep as if he were in his mother’s or father’s arms.
14. Swarms of bees, locusts (PHOTO), gnats fill the imagination with awe and fear.
Biologically swarming is essentially a social act enabling members of a colony to share genes with others belonging to the same species but different colonies. Nature has so timed swarming to occur simultaneously in order to enhance gene sharing which is vital to the survival of the species, otherwise in-breeding within the colony is perpetuated like brothers, sisters, marrying each other.
A kind of swarming is also observed among coelenterates (corals). At a given precise time, eggs and sperms are released into the water in countless numbers, and there fertilization takes place, the resulting zygotes becoming minute hydras that will soon attach themselves to become new corals. In certain islands in the Pacific ghost crabs crowd the shorelines and beaches during a particular period of the year at a certain phase of the moon, and there mating takes place in a kind of orgy. The gravid females then shake off their eggs in the water where they will soon hatch and initially become zooplanktons. Very few of these survive to maturity.
Swarming among winged termites (simut-simut Ilk.) is perhaps the most romantic, in fact it is called nuptial flight because in the sweltering night air lovers meet, and then they descend and seal their vows. The couple seeks a suitable place where they will establish a colony.
Swarms of gamu-gamu (gnats and midges) become nuisance to communities in sheer number, swarms of locust destroy fields of standing crops overnight, swarms of bees, especially the African bees, may send a whole community to abandon homes and belongings. In the bible King Solomon halted his troop to let an army of ants pass by. This could be the kind of ants we know that invade homes and schools, and there are killer ants that destroy everything on their path.
Old folks attribute swarming to several reasons which science has tried to explain scientifically:
· Swarming is a seasonal occurrence dictated by a biological clock, and therefore timed with the life cycle of the species. (e.g. termites and ants). This kind of swarming occurs regularly to a particular species.
· Certain organisms such as locusts (Locusta migratoria manilensis) are driven by necessity to gather into a swarm. Small groups first congregate where food is available and then coalesce into huge numbers, mating and reproducing along the way, before turning into migratory swarms. This kind of swarming though unpredictable has historical records in a place. It often jibes with the occurrence of widespread drought or with the El Niño phenomenon.
· Ecological imbalance may lead to swarming such as the case of gamu-gamu swarming on Laguna Bay in the sixties. Overfishing in the lake triggered a population explosion of gnats which constitute the main food of fish. Thus swarming is an indicator of the conditions happening in an ecosystem.
Much of what we know about the subject can’t sufficiently explain pathological conditions where bacteria suddenly burst in numbers, or how fungi all of a sudden grow over an entire forest floor. Why do people move to cities? Is urbanization a kind of swarming? Why did the Israelites turn to the golden calf, a symbol of fertility, after their deliverance from Egypt? Do we harbor the genes for swarming called orgy?
Try your luck again if you can’t find a real clover leaf representing the logo of the Boy Scout. Steal a leaf of makahiya, one that does not droop, and your wish – any wish – will be granted.
B. Indigenous Practices
1. Some religious practices that are environment-friendly, and are not.
· Fasting is cleansing, it helps the body stop the accumulation of unwanted substances such as cholesterol, and allows the body to eliminate toxic materials.
· Retreat and reflection is therapy, helps the mind and body release tension and do away with the effects of stress.
· Abstinence conserves animal population especially during the lean months, conserving breeding stocks - like seeds (binhi) – in order to multiply in the next season.
· To some religions pork is banned. Pork is a carrier of known parasites such as tapeworm, hookworm, and ascaris.
· On Palm Sunday trees are stripped off of their buds, leaves and stems. This is detrimental to the environment especially in summer when plants face tight water regime.
· Ancient religions regard certain places and trees sacred, thus enhancing their conservation. Such worship was replaced by later religions, thus losing their protection.
· The washing of feet is not only ritual, it is also sanitation, getting rid of germs and preventing them to spread.
There are a lot of religious rituals and practices in various religions that fall under either of the categories – to help or destroy our environment. This is a good exercise in schools and workshops. It is time to review them in the light of the environmental crisis.
2. Writing on the ground with stick – it’s blackboard of sort, and more.
Without map and you are in the field, the best thing you can do is get a stick and draw on the ground. That’s how village folks plan out irrigation schedules, show the location of a remote sitio (purok), design a makeshift hut – or simply to while away time in thoughts and ideas. Christ did write on the ground, and on one occasion made two curves facing each other to look like fish - one end its tail, the other its mouth. It is the simplest yet most symbolic drawing I’ve ever seen. Before he uttered these famous words, “He who has no sin cast the first stone,” He wrote something on the ground which we can only assume to be a mark of godly meditation.
Writing hones the senses into deeper thinking and analysis, catalyzes understanding and comprehension, and keeps memory longer. Scientists say that we learn but a measly one-fourth of the lesson by just listening to it alone, but with the use of pen and paper, learning can be enhanced twice, if not thrice.
“Put it in writing,” goes a saying. Yes, even only on the ground as our old folks have always done.
By the way, who has not experienced “writing love letters on the sand?” Listen to balladeer, Pat Boone, sing the song of the same title, and you know what I mean.
3. Sterilize handkerchief with hot iron in the absence of cotton gauze and bandage.
In an emergency case, or for simple treatment, this is what you can do. Get a clean handkerchief and iron it repeatedly at high temperature for a duration of five minutes to seven minutes. To save on energy, you may prepare two or three handkerchiefs for the purpose.
4. Close windows at night because breathing the night air outside is bad to your health.
This is particularly true when the night air is damp, meaning Relative Humidity (RH) is high. Notice that people who sleep outdoors wake up with a colds. Old folks attribute this to the condensing humid air (linna-aw Ilk) particularly towards morning.
5. Old folks conquer fatigue and pain by drinking wine.
Alcohol is immediately absorbed and burned by our body. It is an instant fuel. It warms us up. It soothes tired muscles and nerves, quiets the mind, and even lulls us to sleep – that is, if taken moderately.
Not when we take a bottle too many. Alcohol - or to be more precise, ethanol or ethyl alcohol, which the only edible form of alcohol - is not transformed and stored into glycogen, unlike food. Alcohol is absorbed by the body once it reaches the stomach and is carried through the bloodstream. On the other hand, food undergoes a series of digestion, before it is absorbed in the small intestine.
Because of the false feeling of being full, habitual drinkers often miss meals, thus they become malnourished. As a consequence they suffer of various ailments which include tuberculosis.
· Certain organisms such as locusts (Locusta migratoria manilensis) are driven by necessity to gather into a swarm. Small groups first congregate where food is available and then coalesce into huge numbers, mating and reproducing along the way, before turning into migratory swarms. This kind of swarming though unpredictable has historical records in a place. It often jibes with the occurrence of widespread drought or with the El Niño phenomenon.
· Ecological imbalance may lead to swarming such as the case of gamu-gamu swarming on Laguna Bay in the sixties. Overfishing in the lake triggered a population explosion of gnats which constitute the main food of fish. Thus swarming is an indicator of the conditions happening in an ecosystem.
Much of what we know about the subject can’t sufficiently explain pathological conditions where bacteria suddenly burst in numbers, or how fungi all of a sudden grow over an entire forest floor. Why do people move to cities? Is urbanization a kind of swarming? Why did the Israelites turn to the golden calf, a symbol of fertility, after their deliverance from Egypt? Do we harbor the genes for swarming called orgy?
16. It’s lucky to find a four-leaf clover. (PHOTO)
There are freaks in nature all around us. Some are common, others occur only in a million chances. It is the latter that people who find them feel they are favored by some kind of luck.
But we also fancy on common ones like an elephant shaped papaya fruit, twin bunches of banana, ginseng root forked like beautiful legs, squash fruit with a face, and the like. These are deviations that appear suddenly and unexpectedly. Nature after all is not perfect. It also commits errors, and these errors may occur only temporarily in the organism concerned, or it is passed on to its offspring – which is the key to speciation, a progressive deviation of traits that ultimately leads to the making of a new species.
B. Indigenous Practices
1. Some religious practices that are environment-friendly, and are not.
· Fasting is cleansing, it helps the body stop the accumulation of unwanted substances such as cholesterol, and allows the body to eliminate toxic materials.
· Retreat and reflection is therapy, helps the mind and body release tension and do away with the effects of stress.
· Abstinence conserves animal population especially during the lean months, conserving breeding stocks - like seeds (binhi) – in order to multiply in the next season.
· To some religions pork is banned. Pork is a carrier of known parasites such as tapeworm, hookworm, and ascaris.
· On Palm Sunday trees are stripped off of their buds, leaves and stems. This is detrimental to the environment especially in summer when plants face tight water regime.
· Ancient religions regard certain places and trees sacred, thus enhancing their conservation. Such worship was replaced by later religions, thus losing their protection.
· The washing of feet is not only ritual, it is also sanitation, getting rid of germs and preventing them to spread.
There are a lot of religious rituals and practices in various religions that fall under either of the categories – to help or destroy our environment. This is a good exercise in schools and workshops. It is time to review them in the light of the environmental crisis.
2. Writing on the ground with stick – it’s blackboard of sort, and more.
Without map and you are in the field, the best thing you can do is get a stick and draw on the ground. That’s how village folks plan out irrigation schedules, show the location of a remote sitio (purok), design a makeshift hut – or simply to while away time in thoughts and ideas. Christ did write on the ground, and on one occasion made two curves facing each other to look like fish - one end its tail, the other its mouth. It is the simplest yet most symbolic drawing I’ve ever seen. Before he uttered these famous words, “He who has no sin cast the first stone,” He wrote something on the ground which we can only assume to be a mark of godly meditation.
Writing hones the senses into deeper thinking and analysis, catalyzes understanding and comprehension, and keeps memory longer. Scientists say that we learn but a measly one-fourth of the lesson by just listening to it alone, but with the use of pen and paper, learning can be enhanced twice, if not thrice.
“Put it in writing,” goes a saying. Yes, even only on the ground as our old folks have always done.
By the way, who has not experienced “writing love letters on the sand?” Listen to balladeer, Pat Boone, sing the song of the same title, and you know what I mean.
3. Sterilize handkerchief with hot iron in the absence of cotton gauze and bandage.
In an emergency case, or for simple treatment, this is what you can do. Get a clean handkerchief and iron it repeatedly at high temperature for a duration of five minutes to seven minutes. To save on energy, you may prepare two or three handkerchiefs for the purpose.
4. Close windows at night because breathing the night air outside is bad to your health.
This is particularly true when the night air is damp, meaning Relative Humidity (RH) is high. Notice that people who sleep outdoors wake up with a colds. Old folks attribute this to the condensing humid air (linna-aw Ilk) particularly towards morning.
5. Old folks conquer fatigue and pain by drinking wine.
Alcohol is immediately absorbed and burned by our body. It is an instant fuel. It warms us up. It soothes tired muscles and nerves, quiets the mind, and even lulls us to sleep – that is, if taken moderately.
Not when we take a bottle too many. Alcohol - or to be more precise, ethanol or ethyl alcohol, which the only edible form of alcohol - is not transformed and stored into glycogen, unlike food. Alcohol is absorbed by the body once it reaches the stomach and is carried through the bloodstream. On the other hand, food undergoes a series of digestion, before it is absorbed in the small intestine.
Because of the false feeling of being full, habitual drinkers often miss meals, thus they become malnourished. As a consequence they suffer of various ailments which include tuberculosis.
……………………………………
“Among the many failures of colonial education - both Hispanic and American -[and fortunately so] was its failure to achieve a wholesale national cultural amnesia. This was in part due to the quality of education and the drop-out rate of those days, as well as the very low accessibility of modern health, medical, and other life and social services thus leaving the overwhelming part of the population to depend on traditional wisdom, science, and technology. In this way, tradition survived and survives to this day. This book is the evidence of that survival, and to our great benefit there are scholars like Professor Rotor whose profound and integral respect for every authentic facet and expression of life and culture has inspired him to re-encounter the living traditions of the country and put them on record. And he has done so with the clarity of both the scientist and the humanist, recording the "folk wisdom" and building the bridge between the traditional and the current by providing his professional scientific explanation of why folk wisdom, is often right. In so doing he has enhanced the scientific value of folk knowledge and the popular usefulness of scientific explanation.”
Florentino H. Hornedo, Ph.D.
Professor of Philosophy, University of Santo Tomas
Philippine Cultural History Commissioner,
UNESCO National Commission of the Philippines
………………………………
(Continued)
No comments:
Post a Comment