Intertwine

Another day, another duty. Nothing much happened though. Just one run to a fire incident and treated two patients who were having difficulty of breathing. The rest of the day was spent pretty much just sitting around and waiting for the shift to end. What I wasn't expecting was an encounter with another aspect of my life while on duty.

I learned that a colleague of ours (whom I have never met, YET) was brought to a hospital by our team yesterday. He has been suffering from a sickness for the past few months. And this sickness as I have learned, is still unknown. In fact, it was the fourth (if I'm not mistaken) time that they brought him to the hospital. And it seemed he was getting worse with every episode.

Those who were telling me the story went on with the other details: that he was a good man, a guy built bigger than I am, got along with others, the disease started after the rampaging rains of Habagat, how it was peculiar that his tests all came back practically normal, etc.

His story has indeed gotten me puzzled already at this time. But what really got me interested in him was they said that his family had already consulted with a manggagamot (healer) and that she has ruled that he is afflicted with a disease of a supernatural nature caused by an evil spell...

In Filipino, Kulam. 

The cherry on the cake? The spell wasn't from one, or two, but from three individuals.

The rest of the story concluded with the statement that he already got featured on a TV show about supernatural stuff and us looking for a rerun on it on the web. Sure enough, we found it and watched his story.


K (not his real name)'s story on TV was pretty much the same as the details I've heard earlier: nice guy, easy to get along with, active with the cause of helping others, et al. After the several months he spent going back and forth to the hospital with his health deteriorating, they decided to consult a manggagamot. From then came the scene for the tawas, a traditional folk practice of determining a cause of one's affliction, done by the manggagamot usually with the use of a candle and a water basin. The scene was something right out of a horror movie. Cliche, but I guess it's their way of '"setting the mood". Then, the manggagamot went on to say that it was indeed Kulam and it was not from a single person. She even added that there might also be elementals involved - a duwende (gnome) and a kapre (giant earth elemental smoking a tobacco).

The episode went on with him consulting with an actress turned alternative healer on camera. The session went on with the confirmation of another human being involved with his sickness, prompting a question for K, "Do you work with someone, curly?" K then answered that he might know one, but that person was a volunteer. They then proceeded with the scanning and healing, now requested to be done off-cam.

Shift ends. I leave the HQ and get home. I still can't help but think about K's predicament. Primarily because, after that healing and stuff, he's back in the hospital. So, with nagging curiosity, I went on to do a little "investigating" myself.

I started with Tarot, something I would honestly say I am still learning to use. I started with a three card spread having Justice, The Ace of Swords and the Five of Cups in that order. I confirmed my intuition by adding two more cards for a five-card spread. One was the moon, the other, two of swords.  To make it short, my conclusion was this: Someone, was seeking "revenge" on him or was seeking to get even. He doesn't really know the person/s who did this to him. He should not think about the time lost being infirm, but rather recover from it.

I decided to do something else in addition to my card reading: a tawas.

I haven't done tawas on water before. So I decided to use a method I've learned from a good friend and mentor in magick. The use of a pendulum.

I used a diagram found on my mentor's book to confirm the cause of K's illness. Sure enough, it pointed to that of masamang kulam (evil spell). By pendulum movement, it affirmed that it was more than one. It was indeed three. It also told me that he can be cured. But as far as the cure is concerned, I have yet to find out (the pendulum answers in yes or no). Thanking my guides, I ended the session.

Now while I've done the aforementioned session above, I would like to state that my magickal skills aren't exactly top notch.

I could be wrong.. But then again, I could be right.

As the night falls ever deeper closer to midnight, as I sit typing thinking of the next thing to say, I send K a prayer. For I know, right now it is all I can do.

At this moment, a statement from my good friend and mentor's oracle came to mind:

"Is it better to ask for help, or is it better to be asked for help?"