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Pag-anito (also called mag-anito or anitohan) is a séance, ritual where people communicate with the spirits of the dead or their ancestors. It is often done with the help of a shaman —called a babaylan in Visayan or a katalonan in Tagalog —who acts as a medium to connect with these spirits.
Anito is a collective name for the pre-Hispanic belief system in the Philippines. It is also used to refer to spirits, including the household deities, deceased ancestors, nature-spirits, nymphs and diwatas (minor gods and demi-gods). Ancient Filipinos kept statues to represent these spirits, ask guidance and protection.
Taotao carvings sold in a souvenir shop in Siquijor Island. Anito, also spelled anitu, refers to ancestor spirits, nature spirits, and deities 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.
The Tagalog word “olak” according to Ferdinand Blumentritt is a term for the trembling of the whole body of the catalona, when she becomes possessed by the devil (anito). As spirit mediums, they conducted séances during which they spoke with the voice of spirits (anito), assisted by an "alagar" ("alagad", meaning personal attendant) to ...
Pre-Hispanic Filipinos honored these spirits with rituals and feast days because these supernatural beings were considered able to preside over the whole gamut of life, including birth, sickness, death, courtship, marriage, planting, harvesting, and death. Some of these spirits were considered friendly; others were viewed as tyrannical enemies. [1]
Diwata may originate from the Sanskrit word devata (deity), anito may have derived from the proto-Malayo-Polynesian word qanitu and the proto-Austronesian qanicu, both meaning ancestral spirits. Both diwata and anito are gender-neutral terms. They translate into deities, ancestral spirits, and/or guardians, depending on the ethnic group.
Balaua, the largest spirit house for anito among the Itneg people (1922, Philippines) In maritime Southeast Asia, spirit houses are connected to the various traditional animistic rituals involving spirits. In the Philippines, spirit houses are dedicated to ceremonies or offerings involving the anito spirits. They are also referred to as shrines.
A nuno sa punso ("old man of the mound"), or simply nuno ("old man" or "grandparent" "ancestor"), is a dwarf-like nature spirit in Philippine mythology. It is believed to live in an anthill or termite mound, hence its name, literally 'Ancestor/Grandparent living in the anthill'.