BARANG

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What is barang, I can hear people ask. Well even I myself have obscured thoughts on what it really is. But as many define it "Barang is a type of magick, much closer to shamanism than Kulam, and is quite diverse and High"

One might look at what I wrote and try to figure out why I said High. Well for one thing, barang is really powerful. A witch has no power over a mambabarang. I witch can only harm you if he or she knows you. But a mambabarang can harm you or anyone,  just by merely touching his things.

Now what types of magick can a Mambabarang perform? Well as I said earlier, he has the power to place objects within his personal object and in peoples bodies. And that is really powerful!

In one type of Barang, a mambabarang uses a Pamaham (the name is actually different from tradition to tradition, from other dialects and from family to family so one can only guess what the real name is), a small bottle or bamboo joint, inside it is a spider, a centipede and a roach. Actually the insects are not really insects but small malevolent spirits which the mambabarang caught.

Before he uses the Pamaham, he needs to feed the insects first. Then he uses it in magick. There is quite a diversity on how he uses the pamaham. One method is to use a doll, in which he had placed a personal belonging of his enemy and has recited chants all over it. He will then place the doll inside the Pamaham and control the insects to devour on the doll. But the doll is not merely a doll anymore, it is the Mambabarangs enemy himself. The insects will go deep inside the doll, thus will they also go deep inside the victims body. The victim will then become completely shocked. His skins will flourish with big boils and when they pop, unless treated by a Powerful Mangagamot or another Mambabarang, insects will come out.

Another method is to take one insect and tie a white thread in one of it's feet. The Mambabarang will then release it. It will then go to the victims house. If it comes back with the thread turned red, it means it has successfully caried out it's plans. But if it be a black thread, mission failed!

Now after reading those that are written above, may come to the conclusion that barang is bad or baneful. Well, most of the practices incorporated in barang is bad and is used against defense. You see, before they used it against the Spaniards, The Oppressors. But as time passed, people began to abuse this power. Not only do they use it against their brothers, they ask for money when one wants to have a revenge. In other words, they are paid to kill. Which is of course bad.

There are also good types of magick that barang offers. A mambabarang can break the spells of witches and other mambabarangs, banish demons and heal the sick, because of the tremendous power that lies within them. They can cause field to ripe (and unfortunate to barren), cause thunder to come and cease and other magickal things to happen.

The Mambabarang 

The Mambabarang is the Filipino version of a sorcerer; the witch is a Mamalarang. The the name is derived from the word barang. Other synonymous terms include the Hiligaynon word manog hiwit, which is also synonymous to kulam. The verb barangon or hiwitan means "to place a hex"; a curse in Filipino is a sumpa.
The mambabarang keeps his beetles in a bottle or a section of bamboo, carefully feeding them ginger root. When the practitioner decides to employ his dark art, he performs a prayer ritual wherein he whispers instructions and identifies the victim to the beetles. The insects are then set free and to seek out the victim and gain entry into the body via any bodily orifice: the nose, mouth, ears, anus or dermal breaks such as open wounds. The victim will then feel the effects of the invasion through manifestations depending on the area of entry; hemorrhoids if through the anus, ear ache if through the ears and other similar cases. The resulting illness is resistant to conventional medical treatment and only reveals its true nature when the victim succumbs and flying insects issue forth from bodily cavities.
Superstitious folks still attribute certain illnesses or diseases to barang. This most often happens in the provinces, where an herbal doctor, albularyo or a faith healer, a mananambal or sorhuana (female) / sorhuano (male) treats such diseases. In some rural provincial areas, people completely rely on the albularyo and mananambal for treatment.

Barang (Cebuano term)

 Barang is a Cebuano term taken to mean all forms of malign magic or sorcery. In Tagalog, the word is used to refer to small insects and beetles, especially the fungus beetle. At least one source identifies the specific species of this beetle as Alphitobius laevigatus. These beetles, the size of a common house fly, or other similar insects are said to be employed by Filipino shamans to perform sorcery or witchcraft in order to inflict pain or disease upon a victim.

Source: http://www.angelfire.com/realm2/mdf/barang.htm
            http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barang_%28Philippine_mythology%29
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