The anting-anting, the Philippine amulet, is an essential part of the Filipino folk credo and mythological makeup.

Although it has undergone an evolution of context, commerce and use, the anting-anting still figures heavily in the daily lives of rural folk. Steeped in myth and religion, the anting links to his belief in the soul and his ideas on leadership, power, nationalism and revolution, and contributes a fascinating facet to the complex rural psyche.

Its mythological roots precede Spanish colonization and Catholicism. Worship was ancestral: spirits, anitos and gods, with Bathala reigning supreme. This ancestral spirituality laid the rudiments for the anting's body of beliefs and its variety of powers. Centuries of colonial Catholicism further provided many esoteric and pagan elements, incorporating religious icons and concepts — the Holy Spirit (Ispiritu Santo), Holy Trinity (Santisima Trinidad), Holy Family (Sagrada Familia), Virgin Mother (Virgen Madre), the Eye, and many more —into the credo of anting-anting.

In its revolutions and wars, in the recurrent struggles of the poor and marginalized against the invaders and colonizers, in the conflicts and skirmishes against the rich oppressors, the anting-anting has been the essential part of the Filipino battle gear, fueled by the belief in its spiritual and magical powers that would provide invincibility, protection or the edge that would shift the imbalances of power into parity.

To the millenarians of Mount Banahaw and the other societies, brotherhoods and religious cults, the Infinito Dios, the ancient Tagalog God, is the most powerful. This was the anting used in the fight against the invading American forces.

In the Philippines, anting-anting is all-inclusive. Some places refer to it as agimat, bertud, or galing. Often, it is referred to simply as: "Anting." May anting iyan. . . . Malakas ang anting.

In its most popular and generic form, the anting-anting is an amulet, inscripted or engraved, worn as a neckpiece. But it exists in many other forms. It could be a prayer (orasyon) in short esoteric combinations of colloquial and Latin mumbo-jumbos, written in a piece of paper, folded and walleted, or sewn in a small cloth pouch, worn pinned, exposed or hidden from view. Or, It could be a small stone, a crocodile tooth or a piece of dried fruit, the latter sewn in a pouch.

Of the commercial anting-antings, the most popular is the one used for exorcism of the nakulam or na-engkanto (hexed or bewitched). Then there are those used as gayuma (love charms), one of which is the "soft" anting - "malambot na anting" — to which is attributed the holder's easy ways with women. There are antings for business and good fortune. There are amulets to protect against physical dangers—snakes, fires, accidents,ambushes and bullets; amulets to protect against evil spirits—nuno sa punso, black dwarfs, tikbalangs (half-man half-horse creatures), and other elementals. And there is the macabre and ghoulish anting, the powers obtained and sustained from regular drinking a jigger of lambanog drawn from a large glass container - a bañga - with an alcohol-preserved aborted fetus at the bottom.

Empowerments,Rechargings and Rituals
As with many other facets of the Filipino life, the anting-anting is wrapped in mysticism and superstition, heavily steeped in religiosity, prayers and faith, all redounding to its cultist appeal.

The ritual of amulet empowerment or renewal of the anting-anting's power is preferably done during Holy Week, especially eight o'clock in a cemetery on Good Friday, the singular time for anting-antings to be granted it special powers or to be renewed.

Its powers are activated by the use of magic incantations and prayers, either whispered (bulong) or written (orasyon, oracion).

On Good Fridays, you may find anting-anting holders gathering to test and demonstrate their powers and invincibility. Orasyons (oraciones) figure heavily in these rituals: the kabal at kunat oracion for surviving bloodless bolo hacks and the tagaliwas to cause the bullets to miss from guns fired at point blank range. Awed witnesses are never lacking for these demonstrations of anting-power.

As anting-antings are known to diminish in power, through abuse or misuse, or through the immoral and dastardly behavior of the anting holder, Good Friday is the opportune time for anting-antings to be "recharged" of their powers through recitations of incantations and prayers concocted in the language potpourri of Latin, colloquial and rural patois.

Many healers and albularyos are believed to be in the possession of some form of anting-anting. The possession of such makes it more likely that the healer's use of prayers, either as bulongs or orasyons, common in many indigenous healing modalities, will be more effective in helping to bring about a cure.

SUBO
The extreme in anting esoteria is the "subo" — literally, "to take by mouth" and swallow. Some believe this anting-anting to be an empowerment - an essence - that resides within the holder. Although most antings are buried with its owners, the "subo" is transferred from generation-to-generation to blood kin, usually to the eldest of the sons; occasionally it is passed on to a non-relative "chosen-one." The process of transfer from the holder of the subo occurs close to the moment of death. The chosen heir to the anting, aware of this inheritance, stays close to death's bedside. The subo, commonly materializing as a pellet-like mucoid globule, is coughed up into the receiver's hands or picked up and immediately taken and swallowed. A delay or hesitation in its ingestion would cause this 'globule' to just vanish and forever be lost.

Rural mainstream, cultist appeals and urban fringe.
The anting is as an essential component of Filipino folklore and superstition. It is still at the very core of some segments of Philippine life and culture, especially so for the uneducated and marginalized poor. For some, It is a defining influence on the decisions and risks of day-to-day life. The mythology is kept alive and grows with every story that tells of an anting holder escaping from the throes of certain death, surviving an accident, a death defying act or a hail of assassin's bullets. Inevitably, it is whispered in awe: Ang lakas ng dalang anting.

It is a common accessory of the rural folk, a chic accouterment to some of the urban-burgis, hidden or in view, with the hope fervent for its protective powers against illness, physical harm, evil spirits and witchcraft.

A Friday visit to that part of the Quiapo market that collars the church will find a profusion of stalls selling herb and potions, all colors of witchcraft candles, rosaries, statues and icons, and of course, generic and "commercial-grade" anting-antings in a dizzying array of shapes and sizes, cabalistic inscriptions and icon engravings, for whatever protective need you can imagine.

But beware, don't try it with bolo hacks.

Additional Sources and Suggested Readings
(1)
Anting-Anting (O kung bakit nagtago sa loob ng bato si Bathala) by Tita Pambid, PhD
(2)
Philippine Folklore Stories, by John Maurice Miller, [1904], at <sacred-texts.com>