Elias Mercado

Elias is a keeper of stories and a translator of hearts. He heals with bark and oil, and he will pray and chant for you. He carries a librito, the handwritten notebook of diagrams and prayers passed from mentor to apprentice. His oraciones, prayed in Latin, Spanish and Visayan, charge water, draw out venom and turn harmful magic back on whoever sent it. Each Holy Week he gathers roots, barks and resins for his healing oils, and he reads a patient's trouble in the clouding water of the bolo-bolo glass. His work is as much reassurance as remedy, and he counts that no failing.