#precolonialphilippines

Happy Father's Day to all fathers!

My Father's Day artwork features a father lifting his daughter, portrayed as pre-colonial Visayans. My father's Father's Day wish was for any piece of art, so I picked a unique piece that blended pre-colonial Visayas with Father's Day.

Because my father is so proud of this artwork, I chose to post it (𝘛𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘣𝘦 𝘥𝘪𝘴𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘺𝘦𝘥 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘮𝘺 𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘬s 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘑𝘶𝘯𝘦). I will post the May and June art series, probably next month.

🌿 Check out this beautiful pre-wedding photoshoot with a precolonial & colonial theme. Inspired by the Bisayans in the 16th Century @infamouskarl_pascual and his wife decided to channel their ancestors in their photoshoot. They have done a good job invoking the vibes and spirit of our ancestors. From their choice in the textiles, to the gold bracelets and necklaces, to the batuk (tattoo) inspiration, and the use of a kampilan. May you guys be blessed and thank you for sharing your photos with us! ➡ If you would like to share your own precolonial themed wedding photoshoots or any cultural performances, artwork, etc. tag us in your photo or send a message to us on Instagram or on Facebook and you might be featured.

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🌿 Prehistoric Philippines by Ambeth R. Ocampo is a very small book, (92 pages in total) but it is still an interesting read. It was just about $3 (P 120.00 at the time) in the National Book Store when I bought it a few years back. In this small book are a few chapters, one on the Boxer Codex, another on the Bolinao skull, there is a chapter on the symbolism of crocodiles, and another on the supposed old ruins of the Pre-Spanish town of Maynila, under what is now Intramuros.

It's interesting as Ocampo writes of the passage in 1570 by Martin de Goiti who was sent by Miguel de Legazpi (who was stationed in Panay at the time) to give a report on Maynila and the native people there. In the document it states:

"The town was situated on the bank of the [Pasig] river, and seemed to be defended by a palisade all along its front. Within it were many warriors, and the shore outside was crowded with people. Pieces of artillery stood at the gates, guarded by bombardiers linstock in hand. A culverin shot from us, and close to the houses of the natives were four Chinese ships.."

Well, hello there, it’s Ligaya. Wow. It’s been quite a while hasn’t it? Two years? I’m still alive and well and I hope all of you have been too. If you are still active here on Tumblr and you see this post you may be wondering why I am making this post after so long. Well, my dear friends, let's just say I’m back!

Over the past few months I’ve been considering reviving the Pinoy-Culture blog. This blog has been a huge part of my life since I started it back in 2012 and even after I stopped in the end of 2016 to early 2017 I never really forgot about it. The blog both on Tumblr and the website have been left up for you guys to still access the information I have posted and written over the years on our precolonial history & culture. Quite frankly, I just miss it. 

So with that said, I am fully back and will be dedicating myself to creating new content for the blog. Now you may be wondering if I will be posting on Tumblr again? The answer is yes, however the main content will be on Pinoy-Culture.com where all written articles will be posted. From there I will be posting those articles onto to Tumblr where you can read a snippet of the article and then be directed to the actual article on Pinoy-Culture.com. 

Nothing much will change from before. The goal of bringing back the Pinoy-Culture blog is the same as always and that is to provide a source to learn about our precolonial history, culture, and mythology. 

As of right now, I am currently revamping the blog a bit as it’s a bit outdated. I will also be writing a few articles this week to get the blog up and running again. One difference I am adding onto the blog is submissions. If you would like to write for Pinoy-Culture.com there will soon be a link where you can send in submissions. These articles, however, must be related to Filipino history, culture, or mythology. 

I’m so happy to come back to this blog and community! Honestly, like said I miss writing and posting on here and I miss you guys! I hope you are excited for the relaunch of the blog as I am. Now let me get off of here for a bit so I can redesign the blogs website, start writing the first article, and get back to you guys. 

In the meantime you can follow me on Instagram at pinoycultureblog.

I will be posting on there again with new posts, stories, and content. If you have any questions about the blog, its revamp, submissions, or even anything about what I have posted before in regards to our history and culture send me a message on Instagram. I am more than happy to answer any of them.

The book that started it all. Reading William Henry Scott's book, Barangay, years back was really what got me into learning more about our precolonial history and cultures. When I finally got my copy on a trip back to the Philippines (as well as several other books) I was excited to finally have it in my personal library. The one thing I love about this book is how organized Scott wrote it. For someone who still didn't know too about the various historical texts from Loarca, Alcina, Pigafetta, the Boxer Codex, etc. this book was the starting point of my personal research and decolonization. Barangay is the book I always recommend people to read first whenever they want to learn more about our precolonial history. If you haven't already read it, try to find it in your local bookstore or online. If you really can't get it though, I do have a PDF copy if you are interested! ➡ Have you read Barangay? What is something you loved learning about? Personally I loved reading about our myths and beliefs.

Does anybody speak fluent Spanish? I have a document on precolonial beliefs and a list of Sambal and Tagalog deities that isn't found in the sources that William Henry Scott has mentioned. Many of these deities are ones I have never heard of until I recently read Ancient Beliefs and Customs of the Tagalogs by Jean-Paul G. POTET.

For example:

Alagaka: protector of hunters Balakbak and Balantay: the 2 guardians of Tanguban, the name of the abode of the spirit of the dead Matanda: god of merchants Dalagang nasa Buwan: the goddess of the moon Ginuong Dalaga: goddess of the crops Kapiso Pabalita: protector of travelers Makapulaw: god of sailors

and there are several more in Jean-Pauls book.

Me being me, I wanted to find out where this author got this list of deities. After digging around on the internet, I found the Spanish document Jean-Paul mentioned in his bibliography by Felipe Pardo, an archbishop in Manila in the late 1600s. In one of his letters, "Carta de Felipe Pardo sobre idolatrías" it discusses the various beliefs and deities of the Tagalog in Laguna as well as the Sambal in Zambales. The document is currently held in the Archivo General de Indias building in Seville, Spain (which also houses many other documents and maps on the Philippines as well as in the Americas).

Luckily for us, many of these documents are available to the public and they have digitized many of them such as this document. There are quite a lot on the Philippines which I would love to go through. It makes me eager to learn Spanish even more so I can read these documents.

But for now if anyone speaks fluent Spanish and wants to help translate this document let me know. Or if you know anyone who can help that would be great too!

It's only been what 2 days since I said I was reviving back the Pinoy Culture blog? The amount of messages I have been receiving from readers welcoming me back, saying how much they missed the blog, how inspiring it was to them, how life changing the blog has been to them over the years in learning their roots, heritage, and history, and helping them along with their decolonization. I never realized how much of an impact a simple blog I created on Tumblr in 2012 as an outlet for my own path of decolonization and knowing where my ancestors came from and who we are as a people, would help so many others over the years. Honestly, I'm just touched by all the support and warm welcome backs I've been getting through these messages. It makes me regret ever leaving the blog at the end of 2016 to early 2017. 

Seriously there are tears in my eyes reading some of these messages and I'm so glad and happy that I have really made an impact into these peoples lives. What is ironic and touching is that when I announced that I was reviving back the blog, it was on March 22, 2019. It was a spur of the moment after reminiscing the blog and missing it so much. I didn't even realize that it would be on the birthday of the blog marking 7 years since it was born on March 22, 2012. It wasn't until yesterday when I was revamping the theme on Tumblr that I remembered the date the blog started. 

Call it fate? Coincidence? The ancestors and spirits telling me it's time go back? I don't know, but when I realized what date it was when I decided to come back and revive the blog and that it was March 22, I cried again. I know my calling and I know where I'm needed. I hear you ancestors. I won't leave again. <3