Usog
Topic in Filipino psycho-medicine / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Usog or balis[1] is a Filipino superstition whereby an affliction or psychological disorder is attributed to a stranger's greeting or evil eye hex. It is usually attributed to afflictions of infants and toddlers.[2]
In some limited areas, it is said that the condition is also caused by the stranger having an evil eye or masamang mata in Tagalog, lurking around. This may have been influenced by the advent of the Spaniards who long believed in the mal de ojo superstition.
Once affected, the child begins to develop fever, and sometimes convulsions. Supposedly, the child can be cured by placing its clothing in hot water and boiling it. In most other places, to counter the effects of the "usog" the stranger or newcomer is asked to put some of their saliva on the baby's abdomen, shoulder or forehead before leaving the house. The newcomer then leaves while saying: "Pwera usog... pwera usog..." ("Out, usog")[3] The saliva is placed on the finger first, before the finger is rubbed on the baby's abdomen or forehead. The stranger is never to lick the child.[4] The practice is that the stranger or visitor is asked to touch their finger with saliva to the child's body, arm or foot ("lawayan") to prevent the child from getting overpowered ("upang hindi mausog"). Protective charms may also be added to an infant's clothing to ward off usog.[5]