Courtship: Taga-Amo

Taga-Amo means drink and/or potion, and the courtship practice of taga-amo is a courtship practice of charm, panggayuma. The concoction is not always consumable and can often be used as ointment. It is said that if the potion is rubbed on the person of interest's skin, they will become a fool/slave in love.

The practice of Taga-Amo was popularised in the Pangasinan region due it being located on the base of the Cordillera Administrative Region's mountains. The belief in herbal methods relates to one of the pre-colonial religions in the Philippines. Prior, ancient Filipinos were animistic, believing that there was life and spirit in all things - human and non-human. The spiritual healers (who were often women ) were said to be able to communicate with the spirit world, chosen by a spirit to be a guide in the human realm with certain rituals, practices and unexplained powers.

If this was a common practice today? Would you give it a go?

In our next blog post, we explore another custom in Philippine courtship traditions.

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