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Wooden images of ancestral spirits in a museum in Bontoc, PhilippinesIndigenous Philippine folk religions, which older references classified as animist in orientation, were the primary form of religious belief practiced in the prehistoric and early historic Philippines before the arrival of foreign influences.
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. [3]
The cultural achievements of pre-colonial Philippines include those covered by the prehistory and the early history (900–1521) of the Philippine archipelago's inhabitants, the pre-colonial forebears of today's Filipino people. Among the cultural achievements of the native people's belief systems, and culture in general, that are notable in ...
Ancient Filipinos and Filipinos who continue to adhere to the indigenous Philippine folk religions generally do not have so-called "temples" of worship under the context known to foreign cultures. [ 2 ] [ 3 ] [ 4 ] However, they do have sacred shrines , which are also called as spirit houses . [ 2 ]
Taotao carvings sold in a souvenir shop in Siquijor Island. Anito, also spelled anitu, refers to ancestor spirits, evil spirits, [1] [2] [3] nature spirits, and deities called diwata in the Indigenous Philippine folk religions from the precolonial age to the present, although the term itself may have other meanings and associations depending on the Filipino ethnic group.
Filipino shamans, commonly known as babaylan (also balian or katalonan, among many other names), were shamans of the various ethnic groups of the pre-colonial Philippine islands. These shamans specialized in communicating, appeasing, or harnessing the spirits of the dead and the spirits of nature . [ 2 ]
Many anthropologists ceased using the term animism, deeming it to be too close to early anthropological theory and religious polemic. [21] However, the term had also been claimed by religious groups—namely, Indigenous communities and nature worshippers —who felt that it aptly described their own beliefs, and who in some cases actively ...
The culture of the Philippines is characterized by great ethnic diversity. [1] Although the multiple ethnic groups of the Philippine archipelago have only recently established a shared Filipino national identity, [2] their cultures were all shaped by the geography and history of the region, [3] [4] and by centuries of interaction with neighboring cultures, and colonial powers.