sarawak, known as the land of head hunters...
similar to what happened in the Cordillera, head hunting as a culture and way of life ceased when the christian missionaries came in. head hunting was replaced by the prevailing military and legal system , which in my view is just a more bureaucratic form of headhunting. i would not say that peace was the agenda for the end of head hunting. perhaps, this is one reason why civilization as we know it, is failing to "save" this world from man-made destructive activities.
back to my friend, the man is in his traditional wear, in a traditional hut, inside the sarawak cultural village that brings together displays of sarawak's rich and diverse culture. he was selling a powder antidote for snake bite and twigs that emit aroma that drives away evil spirits. just sad that i was not able to find him in his spot the next day to buy some of his stuff.
healing....
in the Voice of our People workshop, one from the audience asked if our songs and voices (indian, filipino, caribbean, portuguese) had something to do with healing... that was a thoughtful question.
all of us agreed and said yes, but more for the soul than medicinal or physical healing (we are not online sound healers who do marketing by the dollars, and we profess not to be tribal shamans who work wonders).
i also answered yes, it can be for the soul and the body... but strange that the dominant thought in me then at that time was that voice can be both for healing and destruction, in the same way that your parents can comfort you and scold or scar you depending on the words, timbre, pitch and overall "feel" of what comes out of their throats.
and sometimes, we have to be "destroyed" to heal within. death and resurrection of the self not only in the framework of christian salvation, but of improving one's self after a mistake or a defeat or shaming event in life. to scar and stumble, and get up again. on this note, healing and harm are not opposites that do not meet.
one singer said that to heal, you must first be able to heal yourself. that is true with him. but in my reality, i am sure we can still help others heal still even if the self is wounded, we can build even if depleted. we can always try, even if there is no glimmer of hope. i do sing and read the bible to my sick husband and so far, he is still alive even doctors are amazed. but of course, the doctors and nurses also do a lot of physical healing to my husband. and my husband does the greatest healing to himself. he is a happy and content human.
and if perfection is a pre-requisite to helping others, no one among us can ever qualify. much like if inner peace is a pre-requisite for world peace, we can consume all the time in the universe and still very few of us could claim to be perfect images of peace.
willingness, not perfection, is my preferred prerequisite to healing and peacemaking.
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