Throughout all of history, humanity has found ways to explain the world around them - be it through the mystical rituals of the Hindus, the precise experiments of the Greeks, the sober analysis of Oswald Avery, or the drug-addled fever dreams of Sigmund Freud. One age-old method utilised by many to this day is mythology, the study of fabled lands, arcane gods, and other things of the same calibre.
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Image: Center For Paranormal Studies |
How about the complex hierarchies of the anito and diwata? For most, the answer to above question would be a solid “no” - and so one has embarked on a treacherous journey laden with tedious Wikipedia articles, obscure references and other such dangers of the academe, to bring the reader this brief primer on the deities of the pre-colonial Tagalog culture, by far the most prevalent indigenous group in the Philippine archipelago.
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Image: Horatio87179500 |
Along with this, they also had a trinity, much like today’s Christians - although theirs’ wasn’t fixed. The first iteration of the Trinity was formed between Bathala, Supreme God of All-Creation, Ulilang Kaluluwa (“Orphaned Spirit”), a gigantic serpent dwelling in Kaluwalhatian (another word for “heaven”; abode of the gods), and Galang Kaluluwa (“Wandering Spirit”), a winged god who was fond of travelling. The First Trinity was not to last, though, as Ulilang Kaluluwa, blinded by his fear of being usurped, challenged Bathala to a fight in order to see who would rule over the Universe.
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Image: Opera News |
The tree would serve as a valuable resource for the first humans, with the nut serving as food and drink, the wood and leaves as building material, and the fibres as clothes, baskets, and other necessities. The subject of the first humans leads us to the Second Trinity, this one being between Bathala, Aman Sinaya, the patron goddess of fishermen and the oceans, and Amihan (literally “breeze” or “north-east wind), god of the monsoon.
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Image: Aswang Project |
The former rivals then agreed to pause hostilities and, as a sign of their new friendship, Bathala planted a seed on the ocean floor, from which the bamboo reed that bore Malakas (“strong”) and Maganda (“beautiful”) sprung. Armed with this knowledge, the reader may now go on to the almost-complete catalogue of Tagalog deities.
To be Continued...
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About the Author:
An amateur historian with an interest in East Asian and European histories, and a knack for cartography.
Twitter: @Horatio87179500
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