Indigenous religious beliefs of the Philippines

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Slide 1

Various terms have been used to refer to the religious beliefs of the 175 ethnolinguistic groups
of the Philippines, where each had their own form of indigenous government prior to colonization
from Islam and Spain. They are characterized as being animistic, and have been collectively referred
to as Anitism or Bathalism or the more modern and less Tagalog-centric Dayawism.
Slide 2
The profusion of different terms arises from the fact that these indigenous religions mostly flourished
in the pre-colonial period before the Philippines had become a single nation.The various peoples of
the Philippines spoke different languages and thus used different terms to describe their religious
beliefs. While these beliefs can be treated as separate religions, scholars have noted that they follow
a "common structural framework of ideas" which can be studied together.
Slide 3
Some writers have noted that these beliefs have similarities with the Shinto religion of Japan,
although they do not draw a historical linkage between the two belief systems.More historically
linked are the various indigenous religious beliefs the various religions of Oceania and the maritime
Southeast Asia, which draw their roots from Austronesian beliefs as those in the Philippines.
Slide 5
As of 2010, an estimated 2% of the Philippine population identified as practicing indigenous beliefs -
the majority of whom live in isolated areas where Islam, Catholicism, or Protestantism have not
become dominant. Since the entrance of the 21st century, streams of Christian and Muslim Filipinos
are steadily reverting to their indigenous ethnic religions that were once branded as lowly by
Spanish, American, and Arabians colonizers, but have been affirmed by the social sciences as
comprehensive and highly in nature.
Slide 5
On the other hand, many aspects of these traditions have been integrated into the local practice of
Catholicism and Islam, resulting in syncretistic practices called "Folk Catholicism" and "Folk Islam".

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Slide 6
Religious worldview[edit]
Main article: Anito

15th century bulul, an anitorepresentation, with a pamahan(ceremonial bowl) in the Louvre Museum

Historian T. Valentino Sitoy, in his review of documents concerning pre-Spanish religious beliefs,
notes that three core characteristics which shaped the religious worldview of Filipinos throughout the
archipelago before the arrival of Spanish colonizers.
Slide 7
First, Filipinos believed in the existence of parallel spirit world, which was invisible but had an
influence on the visible world.
Slide 8
Second, Filipinos believed that there were spirits (anito) everywhere - ranging from the high creator
gods to minor spirits that lived in the environment such as trees or rocks or creeks.
Slide 9
Third, Filipinos believed that events in the human world were influenced by the actions and
interventions of these spirit beings.
Slide 10
Anito were the ancestor spirits (umalagad), or nature spirits and deities (diwata) in the
indigenous animistic religions of precolonial Philippines. Paganito (also maganito or anitohan) refers
to a séance, often accompanied by other rituals or celebrations, in which a shaman
(Visayan: babaylan, Tagalog: katalonan) acts as a medium to communicate directly with the spirits.
When a nature spirit or deity is specifically involved, the ritual is
called pagdiwata (also magdiwata or diwatahan). Anito can also refer to the act of worship or a
religious sacrifice to a spirit.
Slide 11
When Spanish missionaries arrived in the Philippines, the word "anito" came to be associated with
the physical representations of spirits that featured prominently in paganito rituals. During
the American rule of the Philippines (1898–1946), the meaning of the Spanish word idolo ("a thing
worshiped") has been further conflated with the English word "idol", and thus anitohas come to refer
almost exclusively to the carved figures or statues (taotao) of ancestral and nature spirits.[5][10]
The belief in anito is sometimes referred to as anitism in scholarly literature
(Spanish: anitismo or anitería).

Slide 12
Deities and spirits
Main article: Deities of Philippine mythology
Creator gods in Filipino religions

Many indigenous Filipino cultures assert the existence of a high god, creator god, or sky god. Among the
Tagalogs, the supreme god was known as Bathala, who was additionally described as Maykapal (the all-
powerful) or Lumikha (the creator). Among the Visayan peoples the creator God is referred to as Laon,
meaning "the ancient one." Among the Manuvu, the highest god was called Manama. Among most of the
Cordilleran peoples (with the Apayao region as an exception), the creator and supreme teacher is known as
Kabuniyan.

Slide 13
In most cases, however, these gods were considered such great beings that they were too distant for
ordinary people to approach.People thus tended to pay more attention to "lesser gods" or "assistant deities"
who could more easily approached, and whose wills could more easily be influenced.

Slide 14
"Lower gods" in Filipino religions

Lesser deities in Filipino religions generally fit into three broad categories: nature spirits residing in the
environment, such as a mountain or a tree; guardian spirits in charge of specific aspects of daily life such as
hunting or fishing; and deified ancestors or tribal heroes. These categories frequently overlap, with individual
deities falling into two or more categories, and in some instances, deities evolve from one role to another, as
when a tribal hero known for fishing becomes a guardian spirit associated with hunting.