Philippine Folk Religion by Mark Xavier F.

Torcuator

May 2011

What are some of the main features of Philippine folk religions and what are the implications for discipleship and theological education? Main Features of Philippine Folk Religion The Philippine archipelago is composed of more than 7,100 islands, divided into three main island regions called Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao. Before the colonization of the Spaniards in the 16th century, the inhabitants of the Philippine islands were Negritos (pygmies) and Malays, people who came from Indochina, South China, Borneo and Java.1 There was also an Indian influence upon the Filipino religious life brought by the Madjapahit Empire. This resulted into the Hindu origin of the many names of deities found in Filipino paganism.2 An example of this is the term for the supreme god of the pagan religion of the Tagalog people, Bathala, which originated from the Sanskrit word, Bhatarra Guru or the highest of the gods.3 Philippine religion was also influenced by the Moors and the coming of Islam around 1380 CE. The rise of the power of the first Muslim sultanate, led by Abu Bakr, in the southern part of the Philippine islands, particularly the island of Sulu, Islamic culture and religion had a deep influence throughout the Southern or Mindanao part of the Philippines. Even after the arrival of the Spaniards in the 16th century and later on by the Americans, the Muslim reign was never totally vanquished.4 So from this short background of the culture and religious history of the Philippines, we can clearly see that there were many different religious concepts and ideologies already present and indigenized into the Philippine culture of today. The religion of the early Philippine society is very highly animistic. Early Filipino societies worship unseen or invisible spiritual beings called anitos. Anitos have a degree of hierarchy or rank. There are the divine anitos, which are the gods of nature, like god of a certain mountain, evil or good anitos, which are spirit beings of lower rank than the divine anitos, and the lowest form of anitos are the souls of the dead human beings. Ancestor worship is also present and a Philippine version of that is what they call, Nono which is a derived from the word ninuno which means ancestors.5 They believed that these Nonos inhabited anthills and whenever they are traversing an area, especially with many vegetations or underbrush, they would say tabi-tabi po Nono which means, Our dear ancestor, please allow us to pass through. If ever a sickness suddenly overcomes a person, they would first ask that person if he or she forgot to say
1

Rodrigo Tano, Theology in the Philippine Setting: A Case Study in the Contextualization of Theology (Quezon City, Philippines: New Day Publishers, 1981),13-14.
2

Rodrigo Tano, Theology in the Philippine Setting: A Case Study in the Contextualization of Theology (Quezon City, Philippines: New Day Publishers, 1981),13-14. 3 Rodrigo Tano, Theology in the Philippine Setting: A Case Study in the Contextualization of Theology (Quezon City, Philippines: New Day Publishers, 1981),13-14. 4 Rodrigo Tano, Theology in the Philippine Setting: A Case Study in the Contextualization of Theology (Quezon City, Philippines: New Day Publishers, 1981),14-15. 5 Rodrigo Tano, Theology in the Philippine Setting: A Case Study in the Contextualization of Theology (Quezon City, Philippines: New Day Publishers, 1981),15.

that phrase when walking to and fro the daily routes. Or maybe if it is a male person, they would inquire of him if he had urinated in the bushes, because he may have accidentally urinated on a nono and angered it, thats why sickness befell him.6 In the northern provinces of the Philippines, there is a certain class of priestesses called babaylans. These are the Filipino version of shamans or religious leaders. Philippines have so many different tribes, the names they call their anitos differ from tribe to tribe but they have somewhat of a similar configuration regarding the classifying of the spirit beings. There are malevolent, neutral and benevolent spirits according to Philippine folk religion. And some form of appeasement is needed whenever a misfortune befell a tribe or a small barrio (county). 7Also before starting a critical undertaking such as planting crops or constructing a house, the natives have what they call, pa-dugo or the shedding of blood of an animal, usually a chicken. They kill the chicken and pour the blood onto the soil where the undertaking is to be done. This is done in order to receive the blessing of the anito and also to protect the people who are involved in the activity from any harm or mishap, especially death. This is still practiced nowadays, especially in the inauguration of the construction of high-rise buildings and condominiums in the highly urbanized areas such as Makati, Ortigas and Manila. This is commonly a part of the ground-breaking ceremonies done in the Philippines. Philippine folk religion is very much present in the many tribes of indigenous people (IP) of the Philippines. Some examples of tribes are the Aytas, who inhabit the province of Zambales, the Dumagats from Nueva Ecija, the Agtas from Quezon and Mangyans from Mindoro.8 Something in common between these tribes is the fact that they are all very close to nature. They see creation as the provider of food, medicine and everything they need.9 They all believe that nature warns them or speaks to them regarding the impending outcome of the agricultural season, incoming disasters such as earthquakes, death, floods and typhoons, or whatever it is that may seem important to their communal life.10 An example of this is, if they see many stars, then they interpret that as a sign that nature will give them a bountiful harvest. Also, the shape of the new moon conveys very important messages. If the crescent is vertical on one side, it means heavy rains will soon come. Certain shapes of the moon foretell impending sicknesses such as colds.11 The thinking of the indigenous people can be called very intuitional. They are not linear in their thinking but somewhat abstract. They see life as communicating with them
6

Based on still existing Filipino folk belief, specially in the rural or provincial areas. Rodrigo Tano, Theology in the Philippine Setting: A Case Study in the Contextualization of Theology (Quezon City, Philippines: New Day Publishers, 1981), 15.
7 8

Leonardo Mercado, Spirituality in Creation: According to Selected Philippine Indigenous Peoples (Manila: Logos Publications, 1998), 7.
9

Leonardo Mercado, Spirituality in Creation: According to Selected Philippine Indigenous Peoples (Manila: Logos Publications, 1998), 8.
10

Leonardo Mercado, Spirituality in Creation: According to Selected Philippine Indigenous Peoples (Manila: Logos Publications, 1998), 8. 11 Leonardo Mercado, Spirituality in Creation: According to Selected Philippine Indigenous Peoples (Manila: Logos Publications, 1998), 8.

through imageries, events and intuition.12 They believe that creation or nature is life itself and when somebody uses a part of creation, such as a tree, that person should replace it by planting another one in behalf of the tree that was cut down. If there is no attempt to replace the tree, then nature will get angry. They interpret floods and typhoons, which bring about destruction of properties, as natures outbursts of anger.13 The different tribes believe that there exists a one superior god among the many powerful spiritual beings present in the invisible part of nature. They have different names for their supreme god. For the Negrito Aytas, the name is Apo Namalyari. For the Agtas and Dumagats, the name is Makidjapata. The Mangyans call their supreme god Mahal Makakaako. They Aytas believe that Apo Namalyari created everything, the sun, moon, starts, mountains and such all for the goodness sake of human beings. That is why they are very much affected by the environmental degradation that is prevalent especially in the mountain regions of the Philippines. The indigenous people believe that God is everywhere that is why they do not have to build a temple or a fixed place of worship for communicating with God. But they have sacred places also like caves and large rocks. Some of them see those from their tribes who have embraced Christianity, whether Roman Catholicism or Protestantism, as being unfaithful to their roots. Faithfulness for them is by remaining in their native beliefs and refusal to adopt Christianity or any other formal or high religion for that matter.14 Their main creed which is passed down orally from generation to generation is to not harm their fellow human being. Do not steal the plants of their neighbors and take care of nature.15 The indigenous tribes believe in different types of spirits. There are the good spirits and there are also bad spirits. They have shamans or doctors, commonly called albularyos which may have been derived from the Spanish word for herbalist which is herbolario. These people know a great deal about the secret of the mountains. They know which plants to use for different situations or illnesses. They also speak with the spirits in order to determine what to do to appease them in cases where humans have desecrated the hallowed places of the spirit beings. Illnesses are commonly seen as punishment from these powerful spirits for destroying the environment or defiling a sacred spot or location.16 The Mangyan term for evil spirit is labang. They call the good spirits as daniw. Daniws help them fight the labang. Labangs causes diseases and illnesses, and when these things happen they come to their local shamans so that a remedy or antidote would be given. They call the good and helpful spirits as Marayaw for the Paitan tribe, Lahid for the Buhid tribe, and Daniw for the Hanunoos. They perform rituals for the Daniws to cause rainshowers during the dry season and also to
12

Leonardo Mercado, Spirituality in Creation: According to Selected Philippine Indigenous Peoples (Manila: Logos Publications, 1998), 9. 13 Leonardo Mercado, Spirituality in Creation: According to Selected Philippine Indigenous Peoples (Manila: Logos Publications, 1998), 9-10. 14 Leonardo Mercado, Spirituality in Creation: According to Selected Philippine Indigenous Peoples (Manila: Logos Publications, 1998), 12. 15 Leonardo Mercado, Spirituality in Creation: According to Selected Philippine Indigenous Peoples (Manila: Logos Publications, 1998), 13. 16 Leonardo Mercado, Spirituality in Creation: According to Selected Philippine Indigenous Peoples (Manila: Logos Publications, 1998), 13.

stop the rain whenever there is too much during the rainy season.17 They believe that the spirits behave in the unseen physical realms much like how humans behave in the seen physical world. The spirits converse with each other, they play musical instruments and dance too. They cook and they eat as well, although in the unseen spiritual realm. If somebody happens to disturb them, that person will get sick. And through dreams, they will communicate to the person and tell that person to offer atonement or else they will bother his or her life. For example, whenever an accident happens, it is believed that the person forgot to offer something to the spirit. So to remain safe, they make it a point to offer something, such as food like rice before crossing the river or offer the first contents of a bottle of wine to the spirits before they drink it themselves. These offerings are called atangs. If a person neglects to do this, they believe that a mishap or accident is waiting for that person.18 Regarding beliefs about the dead and departed, the indigenous people believe that their dead relatives are still much alive and can still interact with the living. They believe that the dead can still give guidance to the living. This happens in events like apparitions of intuitional nature, for example, they would interpret seeing a certain object which they can easily connect and identify with their dead grandfather as some form of a message or warning. They believe that if a person dies, the person just returns to the environment. The person becomes dust and therefore becomes part of nature once again. For them, this makes the environment and nature very sacred.19 Some tribes believe that the dearly departed are still very close to them. They say that they sometimes hear the voices of their dead relatives, or they would interpret various sounds as signs that the departed are communicating with them. Some tribes literally keep their departed ones very near to them. They keep the skeletons in containers like jars or coffins inside their houses. Then they perform sacred rituals during November 1 or 2 which is the celebration of All-souls Day in the Philippines.20 In the Cordillera region, they call their shaman with the term, Mumbaki. The Mumbakis tell their people that they have three souls. Sometimes, the ancestor spirits demand something. If the living relative does not offer what the dead require, then the dead ancestor will take away one part of their three souls. Eventually if they continue to show irreverence, then their three souls will be taken and they will die. So they would always keep animals like pigs or chickens so that they have something to offer to the dead ancestors.21 Regarding signs and symbols, the indigenous people make use of leaves of different plants as a form of communicating with the unseen forces of nature. They communicate with each other as well using leaves. They use a certain plant, like the papaya leaf to ask
17

Leonardo Mercado, Spirituality in Creation: According to Selected Philippine Indigenous Peoples (Manila: Logos Publications, 1998), 13.
18

Leonardo Mercado, Spirituality in Creation: According to Selected Philippine Indigenous Peoples (Manila: Logos Publications, 1998), 14. 19 Leonardo Mercado, Spirituality in Creation: According to Selected Philippine Indigenous Peoples (Manila: Logos Publications, 1998), 15. 20 Leonardo Mercado, Spirituality in Creation: According to Selected Philippine Indigenous Peoples (Manila: Logos Publications, 1998), 16. 21 Leonardo Mercado, Spirituality in Creation: According to Selected Philippine Indigenous Peoples (Manila: Logos Publications, 1998), 16.

for permission, because the native word papayag which sound very similar to papaya, means to agree, give consent or permission. They look at the leaves or blades of grass. If they see three lines, then they interpret that as three strong typhoons would be coming soon. They also look at the sun for signs. If they see red and yellow during the sunset, that means sickness will soon come. So they would prepare for it by wearing protective bracelets made by the local shamans.22 Some examples of signs from nature are as follows. If a person encounters a certain species of snake which the locals call kursing, (English name is unknown)and the snake crosses the path of the person walking, then they interpret that as one of the relatives of that person will soon die or has died already. They are particularly a hunting and gathering society, and when they are gathering wood or fruits and they hear the cry of the bird they call lituho (English name is unknown), they will quickly stop because they interpret that sound as a warning for bad luck. There are also many signs from the environment itself. They interpret loud cries from birds as a warning that a strong flood is about to come. The same will happen if they see plenty of slippery algae in the river. The Aytas believe that the 1991 eruption of Mt. Pinatubo was caused by human interference, disturbing the sacred place which angered Apo Namalyari.23 Indigenous people also have rituals. They offer food to the moon in order to avoid offending it. If they fail to do that, they believe that nature will punish them. During rainy season, the Aytas would make candle from coconut and offer that to Apo Namalyari so that the rain would stop so they can work and gather food and also to have pity on their children who are scared of strong rains. Hunters perform rituals which main goal is to ask permission from the spirit guardians to kill or hunt animals for food. Afterwards, they would also offer the first catch to the spirits. They go to sacred places like caves and put their offerings there for the spirit gods or anitos. The mumbakis or shamans offer chicken and study the bile and interpret signs from it. If the bile seems right, then everything will be okay., but if there seems to be something wrong in the bile, then that is a bad omen and they would have to offer a pig in order to appease the anitos. They also have rituals for burying the dead. They do not put crosses in burial sites instead they put fruits like mango, cashew or any fruit. They believe that this will make the dead relative happy. They also pray to Apo Namalyari to take care of their dead relative. Some indigenous tribe plant a tree at the burial site. This symbolizes that the departed is always with them. And they would make sure that they take care of the tree. Eventually the tree bears fruit and they interpret it as the ancestor helping and providing for them. Also in relation to the burial ritual, once they have started the procession from the house going to the burial site, they will not stop no matter what because stopping for them means waiting for someone else to die also.24

22

Leonardo Mercado, Spirituality in Creation: According to Selected Philippine Indigenous Peoples (Manila: Logos Publications, 1998), 18. 23 Leonardo Mercado, Spirituality in Creation: According to Selected Philippine Indigenous Peoples (Manila: Logos Publications, 1998), 19-21. 24 Leonardo Mercado, Spirituality in Creation: According to Selected Philippine Indigenous Peoples (Manila: Logos Publications, 1998), 23-24.

Regarding Christianity mixed with folk religion, the Philippines, much more commonly found in the Roman Catholic tradition have several syncretistic procedures. Christianity in Roman Catholicism usually represents the Lord Jesus Christ either as the infant born in the manger or the Messiah who was crucified, died and resurrected. Not many people know the in-between of these two events. That is why it is sometimes called as seasonal Christianity. Christmas time, which celebrates the birth of Savior and then a few months into the summer comes the Holy week which celebrates the death and resurrection of the Christ. Many images or statues are displayed in the cathedrals, one which is very popular is the Black Nazarene, which is displayed in the Quiapo Church in Manila. Devotees kiss the feet of the statue and wipe handkerchiefs which they would then apply to their bodies especially the ill part sincerely believing that the handkerchief has curative powers since it made contact with the miraculous statue.25 Also, in my personal experience, going to the Quiapo church, there are many herbalists outside selling various kinds of amulets, talismans and lucky charms, these range from rosaries to pictures of the Mother Mary or Jesus Christ with prayers printed at the back, to the more exotic ones like crocodile teeth, wartime artifacts such as bullets, snake oil (a bottle with a dead snake inside and full of miracle oil, the person has to drink this powerful potion and extraordinary vitality will be obtained. Even miracle concoctions for conditions like menopause are also available. Regarding rituals found in Christianity mixed with folk religion, many Filipinos perform the sign of the cross whenever they pass by a church. They believe that this is a powerful act which protects them from bad luck or accidents. Also there are some people who perform self-flagellation during the Holy Week in order to ask for special favor from Jesus Christ. In exchange for the favor asked, liked healing for a terribly ill son or parent, the devotees would promise to perform an act of devotion, like carrying a cross, hitting their backs with whips with sharp pieces of broken glass, to even getting themselves literally crucified and nailed to a cross every Holy Week for a certain pre-arranged number of years, this is called panata or oath in English. In connection to the Holy Week, many Catholic Christians actually believe that the Lord Jesus Christ is dead during the Holy Week especially on Good Friday. Thats why they during Palm Sunday, they buy palaspas a religious symbol made of coconut leaves, symbolizing the palms that were used to welcome the Lord in the triumphal entry. This palaspas would be sold outside the cathedrals and are said to have been blessed by the local priests. They say that these are very effective in warding off demons and other evil spirits which are rampant during the time period starting in the afternoon of Good Friday up to the dawn of Easter Sunday. Also, what they do is they arm themselves and their houses with loads of garlic and salt to repel demons and other evil entities such as manananggal a half-woman, half-vampire being. The woman becomes a vampire at midnight and the upper part which becomes a vampire separates from the lower part of the body, from the waist down. So the upper half body flies in the dark of the night and lands on the roof of houses, looking for a sleeping pregnant woman with the aim of sucking the life of the baby inside the womb through the navel of the mother through the use of its very long tongue. They
25

Elwood, Douglas and Patricia Magdamo. Christ in Philippine Context (Quezon City, Philippines: New Day Publishers, 1971), 18-19.

believe that the way to kill the manananggal is to find the lower half of the body of the vampire, and then put loads of salt into the lower half of the body which is left behind. In this way, the vampire cannot connect back to the lower part and when the sun comes, the vampire will perish, for it cannot stand the power of the light of the sun. There are also certain rituals offered to specific patron saints especially during fiestas or feasts. Examples of this are: If a couple is having difficulty in getting pregnant or having a baby, they would go to the Obando, Bulacan Catholic Church and offer a dance to get the favor of God to grant them a child. Or if somebody would be hosting an outdoor party in a given day, the person would go to the Sta. Clara Church and make an offering of couple of dozen of eggs which would help ensure of getting the favor of God for a good and sunny weather or at least a rain-less weather on the day of the party. Another would be in case a pregnant woman feels she will encounter difficulty in giving birth, then the place to offer would be the Church where the patron saint is called, Our Lady of Piat.26 There are many selection of patron saints from different Catholic churches all throughout the Philippines, some of the more famous ones are the Our Lady of Perpetual Help in the Baclaran, Manila Church, Our Lady of Manaoag, in Pangasinan Church, St. Jude Thaddeus and San Antonio de Padua. Festivities such as these show the syncretism of the myriads of pagan deities with the numerous saints of local and universal religious history. During Holy Week, in every town throughout the country, there are usually long parades composed of several statues of famous characters in the Crucifixion drama such as Peter, Mary Magdalene, James, Veronica, and many others. People join in this celebration and try to kiss the statues to gain healing, power or good luck. They try to take home some flowers which have been blessed by the priests with holy water, with the belief that those flowers are powerful. Even famous gown-makers and fashion designers show their devotion and affection to the saints by making extravagant dresses for the statues, believing that through these pietistic acts, they would be forgiven of their shortcomings and also they would be given prosperity either by the patron saint or God Himself. Even high ranking politicians and famous celebrities participate in events like these.27 These are the main features of Philippine folk religion. Implications for Discipleship and Theological Education Because of the diverse nature and history of the Philippine country, being a nation with composed of several thousands of islands and several hundred years of occupation of different world powers, the Spanish, the Japanese and the Americans, religion here has been a mixed bag of paganism, animism, fetishism, folklore, in short, the characteristic of Philippine Christianity is a very syncretistic Christianity. Discipleship and theological education needs to be focused on teaching an accurate and clear understanding of both
26

Florentino Homedo, The Favor of the Gods: Essays in Filipino Religious Thought and Behavior (Manila: University of Santo Tomas Pulishing House, 2001), 155-158.
27

Florentino Homedo, The Favor of the Gods: Essays in Filipino Religious Thought and Behavior (Manila: University of Santo Tomas Pulishing House, 2001), 158-162.

the lordship of Jesus and at Jesus as the savior of the whole humankind.28 Clearly from the given examples of the characteristics of folk religion, many Filipinos in general have a hard time distinguishing or understanding who Jesus Christ really is. Animistic behavior has been given a Christian mask. The nature deities or anitos have been given Christian counterparts which are the patron saints of Christendom. Even the passion of the Christ is understood as a way to seek absolution of prior disobedience and desecration and a way to gain the favor of the Supreme Being. This is clearly evidenced through the examples given on how some people try to self-flagellate and make panatas in order to gain the favor of God. Clearly, they do not understand what the death and resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ means. Charms and amulets have been given a Christian mask in the form of rosaries, cross pendants, prayer books and pocket-size pictures with prayers or incantations. They believe that the power lies in the objects. Many Filipinos have their own Bibles inside the house. I strongly suspect that in situations of dire consequences, they would tend to believe that it is the object or the book itself which has the power instead of having a heartfelt understanding of the words written in it. So clearly, the Lordship of Jesus is not properly understood. They see Jesus Christ as a capricious god who just happens to be at the top of the deity corporate ladder. Emphasis should be given in teaching not only accurate truths about the salvation offered by God, but also in making people realize the importance of having the right relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ. Spiritual disciplines such as fasting and abstinence are understood by Filipinos as a manner of making personal atonement for their sins, instead of building up a personal relationship with God.29 It is very clear that what we, as Christians need to do is to make the people understand what the love of God is really about. That Gods love is unchanging and that it is the perfect love of God which takes away our fears, both the fear found in this physical dimension, represented by insecurities concerning material needs, physical health and safety and it also takes away as well our spiritual fears, especially the fear of death and the uncertainty concerning eternal life. We need to make the people understand what the atoning sacrifice of Jesus means and in connection with that, the forgiveness of our sins and our inability to save ourselves or atone for our sins. It is important that the people know about Jesus and the story of His birth, His death and resurrection. But it is equally important that they know as well about how Jesus lived His life and learn about the things that He did and taught. In this manner, we can become instruments of God in making Him properly known and so that the people may come to a proper relationship with Him and make Him the true Lord of their lives. Bibliography Elesterio, Fernando. Essays on Philippine Culture, Manila: De La Salle University Press, 1989. Eliade, Mircea. Shamanism: Archaic Techniques of Ecstasy. Princeton, NJ: Princeton
28

Florentino Homedo, The Favor of the Gods: Essays in Filipino Religious Thought and Behavior (Manila: University of Santo Tomas Pulishing House, 2001), 166. 29 Florentino Homedo, The Favor of the Gods: Essays in Filipino Religious Thought and Behavior (Manila: University of Santo Tomas Pulishing House, 2001), 174.

University Press, 1964. Elwood, Douglas and Patricia Magdamo. Christ in Philippine Context, Quezon City, Philippines: New Day Publishers, 1971. Friesen, Steven, ed. Ancestors in Post-Contact Religion: Roots, Ruptures, and Modernitys Memory, Cambridge, MA: Harvard, 2001. Heinze, Ruth-Inge. Trance and Healing in Southeast Asia, Bangkok: White Lotus Press, 1997. Hornedo, Florentino. The Favor of the Gods: Essays in Filipino Religious Thought and Behavior, Manila: University of Santo Tomas Pulishing House, 2001. Kendall, Laurel. Shamans, Housewives, and Other Restless Spirits, Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 1990. Mercado, Leonardo. Spirituality in Creation: According to Selected Philippine Indigenous Peoples, Manila: Logos Publications, 1998. Stutley, Margaret. Shamanism: An Introduction, London: Routledge, 2003. Tano, Rodrigo. Theology in the Philippine Setting: A Case Study in the Contextualization of Theology, Quezon City, Philippines: New Day Publishers, 1981. Unabia, Carmen Ching. Bukidnon Myths and Rituals, Quezon City, Philippines, C.C. Unabia, 2000.