Healing & Wellness Tour: Siquijor's Spiritual Side

Siquijor has been known as “The Healing Island” for centuries, long before the term “wellness tourism” existed. Traditional healers, herbal remedies, and spiritual practices form an authentic cultural heritage that today attracts visitors seeking something beyond typical beach vacations.

Understanding Siquijor’s Healing Tradition

The Mananambal

At the heart of Siquijor’s healing reputation are the mananambal—traditional healers who practice folk medicine passed down through generations.

What They Practice:

• Herbal medicine (hilot, lunas)
• Massage and manipulation
• Bolo-bolo (diagnostic ritual using stones in water)
• Prayer and incantation healing
• Protective amulet creation
• Spiritual consultation

Who They Are:

• Community members, not isolated mystics
• Often farmers or fishers by day
• Respected elders and knowledge keepers
• Both men and women serve as healers
• Practices vary by family lineage

The Healing Festival

During Holy Week, particularly on Black Saturday, traditional healers gather at sacred locations (especially around Mt. Bandilaan) to prepare their most potent medicines.

Why Black Saturday? The timing correlates with when Catholic church bells fall silent—a liminal moment when the boundary between spiritual and physical worlds is considered thinnest. This syncretism of Catholic and pre-colonial beliefs is distinctly Siquijodnon.

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Experiencing Traditional Healing

How to Arrange a Visit

Don’t:

• Show up at healers’ homes unannounced
• Treat the experience as tourism novelty
• Take photos without explicit permission
• Bargain aggressively over compensation

Do:

• Arrange through reputable guides or accommodations
• Approach with genuine respect
• Ask questions politely
• Compensate fairly (PHP 500-2,000 is typical)
• Keep an open mind

What to Expect

Initial Consultation: The healer may ask about your concerns, examine you visually, or use divination methods to identify issues.

Bolo-Bolo Ritual: A stone is placed in a glass of water. Through prayer and incantation, the healer interprets what appears in the water—colors, substances, or changes that indicate spiritual or physical ailments.

Treatment: Depending on diagnosis, treatment might include:

• Herbal medicines (to drink or apply)
• Massage (hilot)
• Prayers and blessings
• Protective items (anting-anting)
• Lifestyle or behavioral advice

Duration: Sessions typically last 30 minutes to 1 hour.

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Modern Wellness Options

Beyond traditional healing, Siquijor offers contemporary wellness experiences that draw on the island’s peaceful energy.

Yoga & Meditation

Several venues offer yoga classes and meditation sessions:

What’s Available:

• Drop-in yoga classes
• Multi-day yoga retreats
• Sunrise beach meditation
• Private sessions

Venues:

• Select resorts (ask at booking)
• Dedicated wellness centers
• Freelance instructors

Costs:

• Drop-in class: PHP 400-600
• Private session: PHP 1,500-2,500
• Retreat packages: PHP 5,000+ per day

Spa & Massage

Resort Spas: Coco Grove and other upscale resorts offer professional spa services including:

• Traditional Filipino hilot massage
• Swedish and Thai massage
• Facial treatments
• Body scrubs and wraps

Local Massage: More affordable options exist outside resorts:

• Beach massage: PHP 300-500
• Local massage shops: PHP 200-400
• Hilot practitioners: PHP 300-600

Nature Therapy

Siquijor’s natural environment itself offers healing:

• Forest bathing in Mt. Bandilaan’s woods
• Beach meditation at sunrise or sunset
• Waterfall therapy at Cambugahay’s cool pools
• Digital detox in areas with limited connectivity

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Healing Tour Itineraries

Half-Day Traditional Experience

Time	Activity
8:00 AM	Depart accommodation
9:00 AM	Visit traditional healer (arranged in advance)
10:30 AM	Mt. Bandilaan Butterfly Sanctuary (nature therapy)
11:30 AM	Quiet time at viewpoint
12:30 PM	Vegetarian lunch
1:30 PM	Return

Focus: Traditional practices + nature Cost: PHP 1,500-3,000

Full-Day Wellness Journey

Time	Activity
5:30 AM	Sunrise meditation (beach)
7:00 AM	Healthy breakfast
9:00 AM	Traditional healer visit
11:00 AM	Mt. Bandilaan forest walk
1:00 PM	Light lunch
2:30 PM	Cambugahay Falls (water therapy)
5:00 PM	Sunset yoga
7:00 PM	Quiet dinner

Focus: Mind, body, spirit integration Cost: PHP 3,000-5,000

Multi-Day Retreat

Several accommodations offer or can arrange multi-day wellness programs:

Typical Inclusions:

• Daily yoga/meditation
• Healthy meals
• Traditional healing session
• Spa treatments
• Nature excursions
• Digital detox support

Duration: 3-7 days Cost: PHP 15,000-50,000 (all-inclusive)

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Sacred Sites

Mt. Bandilaan

The spiritual heart of Siquijor. During Holy Week, this becomes the gathering place for mananambal from across the island.

Healing Significance:

• Traditional gathering point for healers
• Medicinal plants grow on its slopes
• Considered spiritually powerful
• Station of the Cross pilgrimage route

Old Enchanted Balete Tree

This ancient Balete tree is believed to house spirits and supernatural beings.

Healing Significance:

• Wishes and prayers made at the tree
• Considered a dwelling place of engkanto (spirits)
• Fish spa has physical (if not spiritual) benefits
• Photogenic and peaceful atmosphere

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Respectful Engagement

Cultural Sensitivity

Remember:

• These are living traditions, not museum exhibits
• Practitioners are community members, not performers
• Skepticism is fine, but dismissiveness is rude
• Some knowledge is not meant to be shared with outsiders

Photography:

• Always ask permission
• Never photograph rituals without explicit consent
• Don’t photograph sacred objects without permission
• When in doubt, don’t shoot

Compensation:

• Traditional healers deserve fair compensation
• PHP 500-2,000 is typical for a session
• Additional tips appreciated but not expected
• Never haggle over healing services

Managing Expectations

Healing practices:

• Are cultural and spiritual, not medical replacements
• May or may not produce perceivable results
• Work differently for different people
• Require openness to be meaningful

If you’re seeking:

• Medical treatment: See a doctor
• Entertainment: Choose a different activity
• Cultural understanding: Come with open heart
• Spiritual exploration: Be patient and respectful

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Practical Information

Finding Healers

Best Methods:

1. Ask your accommodation for recommendations
2. Hire a local guide familiar with practitioners
3. Contact the Provincial Tourism Office
4. During Holy Week, visit Mt. Bandilaan gatherings

Avoid:

• Random encounters claiming to be “healers”
• Anyone approaching tourists aggressively
• Services that seem overly commercialized

Best Times

Holy Week:

• Most authentic experience
• Healing Festival gatherings
• Crowded island—book ahead
• Deepest cultural immersion

Year-Round:

• Individual healer visits possible
• Wellness retreats available
• Quieter, more personal experience
• Easier to arrange

Costs

Experience	Typical Cost
Healer consultation	PHP 500-2,000
Guided healing tour	PHP 1,500-3,000
Yoga class	PHP 400-600
Spa treatment	PHP 500-2,000
Day wellness program	PHP 3,000-6,000
Multi-day retreat	PHP 15,000-50,000

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The Bigger Picture

Siquijor’s healing tradition exists in a complex space between authentic cultural heritage and tourism commodity. As visitors, we have the power to support preservation or contribute to degradation.

Positive engagement:

• Treating practices with genuine respect
• Fair compensation to practitioners
• Learning without appropriating
• Leaving traditions as you found them

Harmful approaches:

• Treating healing as entertainment
• Excessive photography and social media exploitation
• Disbelieving dismissiveness
• Demanding “authentic” experiences on tourist terms

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Final Thoughts

Whether you believe in traditional healing or approach it as cultural exploration, Siquijor offers something increasingly rare: living traditions maintained by genuine practitioners in their home communities.

The mananambal aren’t actors playing roles for tourists. They’re community members who learned their practices from elders, serve their neighbors, and continue traditions stretching back centuries. When you sit with a healer, you’re participating in something real—however you interpret the experience.

Come with respect. Leave with perspective. And remember: the healing might not be what you expected, but it might be exactly what you needed.

Siquijor has been the Healing Island long before tourists arrived, and will remain so long after we leave. We’re guests in someone else’s sacred space. Act accordingly.