Exploring the Indigenous Healing Ritual for Barkes: A Phenomenological Study

The migrant settlers of Casigayan, Tabuk, Kalinga have upheld the healing ritual for barkes(a skin disease). It is a simple ritual performed by the mangngagas (folk healer) who uses only pan-aw (cogon) leaf and dalikan (clay stove) as instruments of healing. The procedure basically starts from the diagnosis of the affected body area followed by the preparation of the materials, measuringthe barkes, prayer and sharing of post-ritual advice. This phenomenological study reveals that barkes underpins a collective experience among those who consider it as existent phenomenon. The healing ritual is viewed not only as an alternative remedy but also as a show window of intergroup interaction and solidarity. It brings about from the ritual actors a state of mutual focus of attention and shared reality, which creates frontiers of interaction as the participants of the ritual construct meaning to what they are doing. The study also presents that even in this age of modernity and scientific hegemony, folk rituals persist primarily to address the need for healing of those who believe in them and to generate vibrant channels of cultural confluences and intergroup camaraderie.

Keywords: phenomenology, indigenous healing ritual, barkes, mangngagas, nabarkes,