Ligaya

So after what seems like forever I have finally gotten the time to sit down and write this for all of you folks interested in learning more about our precolonial beliefs. Whether you are someone who is interested in getting started in becoming a Pilipinx Polytheist and reclaiming our precolonial beliefs and practices or just someone who is interested to know more about it cultural and reference wise. I will be doing a 101 series as a follow up of this post but for starters lets begin on where to actually start.

First and foremost before anything else, you must be willing to read. When I say read, I mean read, read, read, and just read. There is no way I can make that any more clearer, you will have to read in order to learn about what our ancestors practiced and believed in. To get involved in this spiritual path you will have to channel your inner scholar. You will be reading various records from early Spaniards, most who were friars or missionaries and getting past their judging overtones. You will be reading old dictionaries that list terms not used today or were changed to mean something over time. You will be reading scholarly papers and essays done on the research of the precolonial beliefs and of those groups who never gave them up. You will be reading articles on rural practices and beliefs, rituals still done today among farmers, fishermen, hunters, etc.

Basically, you will surround yourself with all these reading material to the point it may be very overwhelming at first, but you must persevere and read. Even then after you read them all you will still be reading, any new material that comes by, any new research or books, you will still be reading and learning new things.

With that settled and I believe I have stressed that importance quite enough, here are a list of recommended reading material from Spanish records and a few books and papers. I suggest having a notebook and pen with you to write down all your notes. Don’t forget to write down where you got your information from for future reference. Use highlighters or colored pens to mark specific words or use a color coding reference between rituals, name of deities, spiritual places, offerings, etc. Trust me it will help you in the long run. 

Spanish Texts & Dictionaries

Relacion de las Yslas Filipinas in 1582 by Miguel de Loarca (scroll down a bit for the English translation)

Sucesos de las Islas Filipinas in 1609 by Antonio de Morga 

Customs of the Tagalogs (two relations). Juan de Plasencia, O.S.F.; Manila, October 21 1589

Relacion de las Islas Filipinas (Part 1) in 1604 by Father Pedro Chirino

Relacion de las Islas Filipinas (Part 2) in 1604 by Father Pedro Chirino

The Muñoz text of Francisco Alcina’s History of the Bisayan Islands (1668), translation by Paul S. Lietz (note: The link only brings you to the page of the 4 volumes. However, only volume 3 is available online. This volume however does contain info on deities and beliefs so it is something to look at in terms of researching our mythologies. I highly suggest reading all 4 volumes of Alcina’s Historia de Las Islas e Indios de Bisayas which you can find the English translation for by the Kobak and Guiterrez editions)

Relation of the Filipinas Islands 1640 by a religious who lived there for eighteen years (Most agree that the person who wrote this account was Father Diego de Bobadilla)

Native races and their customs, from Labor Evangélica, 1663 by Francisco Colin

Historia de la provincia del Sancto Rosario de la Orden de Predicadores by Diego Aduarte, O.P.; Manila, 1640 (the only account I have come across so far that gives details on our ancestors communicating and seeing a deity, this one on the sun and war god, Apo Laki, of the Pangasinans and Sambals)

Vocabulario de la lengua Bisaya by Mateo Sanchez

Diccionario De La Lengua Bisaya, Hiligueina Y Haraya de la isla de Panay by Alonso Mentrida

The English translation of the Boxer Codex Manuscript

Other Resources: Books, Essays, Papers

Diccionario mitologico de Filipinas by Ferdinand Blumentritt

Barangay: Sixteenth-century Philippine Culture and Society by William Henry Scott

Looking for the Prehispanic Filipino by William Henry Scott

Philippines Epics and Ballads Archive by Ateneo (this has some of the actual recordings of the epic chanters but some don’t have the translations in English yet, they are only translated into Tagalog, and even some aren’t translated at all, however there are brief notes on the epics in pdf format. Also you will need to register an account but its free and you don’t need to attend a school in the Philippines to access the archive, just put in your school name in the field that asks)

Agricultural Rituals in a Philippine Barrio by F. Landa Jocano

Notes on Philippine Divinities by F. Landa Jocano

Notes on the Sulod Concept of Death, the Soul, and the Region of the Dead by F. Landa Jocano

Towards a Classification of Bisayan Folk Beliefs and Customs by Francisco Demetrio

Creation Myths Among the Early Filipinos by Francisco Demetrio

Time Keeping: Philippine Style by Victor Badillo

The Adam and Eve of the Ilocanos by Leopoldo Y. Yabes

The APO-DIOS Concept in Northern Luzon by William Henry Scott

On Human Values in Philippine Epics by Francisco Demetrio

Bakunawa and Laho by Dante L. Ambrosio

Balátik and Moropóro Stars of Philippine skies by Dante L. Ambrosio

‘Mamahi:’ Stars of Tawi-tawi by Dante L. Ambrosio

Balatik: Katutubong Bituin ng mga Pilipino by Dante L. Ambrosio

The Art of Puso: Palm Leaf Art in the Visayas in Vocabularios of the 16th to the 19th Centuries by Elmer I. Nocheseda

Filipino Myths of Death and Speciatlon: Content and Structure by J. Patrick Gray

Now that you have some reading material to go through, where do you go from there? How can we apply what we have researched into an actual practice? Well review what you have gathered. Go through those notes and look through all the forms of offerings, of rituals, etc. Start to set up your altar to your ancestors and the diwata (deities). Prepare some basic food and libations from rice, to rice cakes, to native wine, to chicken and pork. Or if you have cooked any traditional dish from the Philippines leave some aside for the ancestors to eat. If you can carve or sculpt a figure of the diwata or anito (spirits), try and do so. Decorate it with flowers, traditional cloth, and anoint it with sesame oil. Get in tune with the moon cycles and give offerings during the full moon when the diwata are out and about as it is their night. Try and commune with the deities, both the more well known ones and lesser known. Get to know them, pray to them, develop a personal connection with them. You don’t have to go through all the deities, but if there is one you specifically want to honor and pay reverence to spiritually commune with them. The gods and goddesses have never left us, they have not forgotten us like we have them, so even if we don’t know them anymore, their stories and legends lost over generations of colonization, they will show themselves to us once again. 

The basic structure of Anito is honoring the ancestors and spirits. They come first before the deities as they are closer to us, often along side us. They manipulate what happens to us, good or bad which is why we give offerings to them not only as respect but to appease them and gain their favor and protection.

Everything is sacred, the moon, the stars, the tree’s, the rivers, the sea, that rock or boulder, everything is sacred and is either a spirit or the home of a spirit. This belief still persists today in particular within the rural areas of the Philippines for example of many people saying “tabi tabi po”, when going to natural places. It basically means excuse me, excuse me, in a respectful manner letting the spirits know that you are coming through and mean no harm. Even today despite Catholicism, the belief in spirits especially in the provinces, is still prevalent today. If you haven’t already try and see the world through our ancestors eyes. See the spiritual essence in everything and respect it.