“Apprenticeship? First stage? I thought that I have already become a babaylan, lolo. What is with this stage and apprenticeship now?” complained Lumawig.

“Did I not tell you that you have started on your journey into becoming a babaylan? What, did you believe that it was that easy to become one? To be a babaylan is a process that takes months to several years, and it takes a lifetime of learning as well.” Reprimanded lolo Gani.

“I thought that to have an abyan is the start of me becoming a real babaylan, but it only makes me an apprentice? So, the five days that you have told me is for me not becoming a full pledged babaylan, but an apprentice?” At this point, Lumawig was already feeling down. At first, despite the gruesome death of his tiya Elsie, he was in high spirits thinking that he was already a babaylan. However, he was just informed that it was a long and tedious process.

“So, what are the stages of being a babaylan apprentice lolo?” Lumawig asked.

“There are a total of seven stages in your journey of becoming a babaylan, apò. The first stage is called Baratakan, it is the stage that an apprentice would receive his abyan. This is where you are now. The second level is called Sanguban, it is the stage where I will have you familiarize in plants and their medicinal effects. Diagnosis of illnesses is also part of this stage, so I will have to teach you how to read symptoms as well as create potions that can heal people. We will be doing this today, I would have had to teach you this after five days or after you have completed the first stage, however, this situation is special, so you will have to bear with me. The third stage is Hangdugan, at this stage you will have to conduct your very first ritual alone to further strengthen your connection with your abyan. This is only possible after you have passed the second stage. The Tagbungan is the next stage, wherein you have to familiarize with different rituals, ceremonies, and dances. After that is the Hagbayan, followed by Turupadan, and lastly the Banawangon. I will tell more about the different stages later.” Patiently explained lolo Gani, although they have gone off topic, the old man still explained it to his apò as he knew that he has to answer this question or his apò will not be able to focus on the task at hand.

“I understand, lolo.” Confirmed Lumawig.

“Not let us begin concocting. First, we will be making a simplified version of my hintura oil. Since the original version is quite complicated to make and would need a lot of time, we will be making a simpler version which will require some more materials, but less time.”

“Put some lana oil in this bottle,” lolo Gani then started to guide Lumawig in making a simpler version of hintura oil and handed his apò a small transparent bottle that could at most hold two hundred and fifty milliliters of liquid.

“But only until about half.” The old man continued “Then, chop up some garlic so that it will fit in the bottle’s mouth, after that chop a few pieces from this pasyawan vine and also put it inside the bottle, chop it up so that it will also fit in the bottle’s mouth. The ratio must be like this, for every four pieces of garlic you put in the bottle, you must put three pieces of the pasyawan vine you have chopped in there. Make sure that you follow this distribution until it raises the lana oil’s level to three-fourths of the bottle. Hand it to me when you are done.”

Lumawig then did as he was told, carefully following his lolo’s instructions to the letter making sure not to make mistakes. However, as it was still his first time doing it, he would mess up the ratio, and his lolo would remind him. As time went by however, he was able to maintain the right ratio, and in no time handed his lolo the first correctly filled-up bottle for their hintura oil. The whole process took him around two hours for his first try, considering that he had to redo all the steps from the start whenever he messed up, his lolo was still impressed at how fast his apò was learning. However, Lumawig, being a fast learner is of no surprise, after all he attends a science high school.

Lolo Gani received the bottle from Lumawig and instructed him to create two more. This time, with ample experience, Lumawig was able to create two more bottles of the concoction in about an hour. With the three hintura potions created, lolo Gani then proceeded to tell Lumawig the next step.

“Next, we have to recite a chant so we can complete this potion. This is important for all the potions and medicines you will concoct from now on, it will not be completed until you recite the appropriate chant on them. For this potion, I will teach it to you, pay attention. The sooner you learn the chant, the faster we can complete this potion.”

Lolo Gani then taught Lumawig the chant to complete the simplified version of the hintura oil. The chant was not long so Lumawig only needed to hear it three or four times before he was able to memorize it.

“Lo, will I be able to create my own simplified hintura oil if I use this?” curious, Lumawig asked his lolo, a hint of anticipation in his eyes.

“No. This will only work since you are assisting me. As I have said, you are only at the first stage of your apprenticeship as a babaylan. You will have to learn many things first before you can concoct this kind of potion by yourself. However, this experience will help you to be more familiar with the process.” Explained the old man.

Hearing his lolo’s explanation, Lumawig’s excitement dies down, but he was not disheartened. He knew that if he wants to learn the crafts that his lolo knows, he will have to learn them step by step. Lumawig have not yet noticed it, but his curiosity and willingness to become a babaylan has become stronger. Even though a large part of him still feels conflicted on fully accepting his destiny, a small fire of desire in learning the ways of the babaylan has been lit in his heart and this fire will only grow stronger in the very near future.

“Now, hold your agimat with one hand, and hold one bottle of hintura oil on the other. Bring it close to your mouth and whisper the chant I just taught you. I will do it first so you can follow my lead.” Added lolo Gani.

The old man then proceeded to hold his oval shaped agimat with his right hand – holding it by the string and while holding the bottle of hintura oil with his left hand, he brought it close to his mouth and closed his eyes. He then proceeded to whisper unto the bottle, while repeatedly whispering the chant for five times, before stopping. While all this was happening, Lumawig was closely watching his lolo without missing any of the details. As he was watching him, he saw that the agimat his lolo was holding had a faint green glow, and he also noticed that he felt a presence coming out from his lolo going into the bottle and mixing with the materials inside of it. As he was trying to figure out what is happening, he heard his lolo say:

“It is your turn to try it now. Keep in mind that you must utter the chant in a constant tempo so that your potion will achieve its maximum effect. For now, try to only repeat the chant three times.”

Lumawig then followed lolo Gani’s instructions and tried to do what the old man did, after the first chant he felt that something like a hot air came out of him, and he could feel it going into the bottle. However, as soon as he started to feel this, he suddenly felt weakness wash over him and he immediately lost track of his tempo and the hot air he felt going out of him stopped immediately. A feeling of dizziness overcame his mind, and he almost let go of the bottle. Lolo Gani, seeing the failure of his apò, only nodded his head. He was not angry for the failure, in fact, he had expected that Lumawig would fail on his first try. His only concern was if his apò was fine.

“Are you okay apò?” asked the old man, concerned that the experience might have done a bit more “harm” than he intended.

“I’m okay lo, just a little bit dizzy.” answered the young man.

“Rest for a while. Let me make you a cup of salabat (ginger tea).” The old man then proceeded to prepare a cup of hot salabat for Lumawig. While preparing the hot beverage, Lumawig asked

“Lo, I noticed earlier that after I finished the chant the first time, a hot air came out from every pore of my body and went into the bottle. Was it just my imagination?”

“That “hot air” you sensed is your dungan.” Answered the old man as he gave the cup of salabat to his apò.

“The reason why you felt dizzy after you stopped your chanting is because your dungan has yet to become strong enough to do this task, hence your body becomes instantly fatigued to compensate for the lack of strength of your dungan. The chant that you have learned to nurture your abyan, also increases the strength of your dungan. However, it does not strengthen your body. You will have to train your body in order to cope. Your body must be of similar strength with your dungan so that you will not suffer great harm if ever your body needs to support your dungan. This is also why you need to complete the first stage – Baratakan before you can start the second stage of your babaylan apprenticeship.” The old man patiently explained.