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EVENTS /// PROFILES /// PLACES /// FOOD /// GADGETS Manila’s occult peddlers offer unusual cures for the problems of everyday life On a bustling streetside in downtown Manila, Manang Harmin reveals a rather unusual way to capture a woman’s heart. “Just before midnight, pour some oil into this while whispering her name,” she instructs, pointing to a tiny vial containing a gnarled, twisted tree root. “In the morning, you should fi nd a way to put some of this oil on her. She must not know you are doing this, otherwise the spell won’t work.” Harmin owns a stall right beside a massive Spanish-era church, at the heart of the centuries-old district of Quiapo. In her tiny store made of wooden planks, she displays a huge array of objects whose purpose is far from anything we might call ‘normal use’. One of these, a bottle containing a wooden cross, pine leaves and seeds, offers protection from bodily harm. Another curious item is a dried stingray’s tail, believed to be the only effective weapon against a dreaded bloodsucking monster of Philippine folklore, the aswang. Unbelievable as this merchandise might seem to foreigners, Harmin has been in business here for more than 35 years, offering supernatural solutions to the problems of life. She came courtesy of her mother. “Like government recently sent policemen me she was a peddler of ‘special’ to clear out their stalls, many of LEDESMA V. objects, as was her mother and her the cops turned out to be regular LESTER grandmother”, she admits. customers. “As long as people need Sadly, it seems her generation us, we’ll still be around,” affi rms PHOTOS: & will be the last dabbling in this trade Harmin. For how long, though, not is a tindera ng anting-anting — an for this family. Harmin has neither even she can tell. WORDS 022 DISAPPEARING ASIA A CHARMED LIVING occult peddler, one of nine with shops in this sprawling church plaza. In this day and age, her kind stands out as a rather incongruous feature in a seemingly modern city. Although it might be easy to dismiss Harmin as a relic of this country’s pre-colonial pagan past, her expertise is very much in demand by Filipinos. Not surprisingly, many of her regular customers are policemen and soldiers, whose jobs often put them in the company of danger. She imports these items from the neighbouring provinces, but her knowledge of using them BETTER TO BE SAFE Lucky charms have been around for ages — every belief has one. It’s a question of whether you believe it will work for you. Manang Harmin enchants a customer with her products; BELOW: bottled charms husband nor children to pass on her occult arts to, and when she retires, it will be up to her fellow vendors to continue the doling out charmed solutions. Quiapo’s occult peddlers may be endangered, but they won’t die out anytime soon. When the
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