The National tribune., 1904-01-14
RELIGION IN THE PHILIPPINES.
Some Tribes Have None by Very Pronen
Numerous Deities. = - :
By HYLAND c. KIRK.
COPYRIGHT 1904. BY HYLAND C. KIRK.

no cofored man had ever become white
mans saint. Nothing could convince him
that an exception to the rule might be pos
sible. Could experience have revealed to
him the established fact-the remarkable
anomaly, that the grossest forms of i'm
morality were only to be found in the
trail of the highest order of the white
mans Civilizations"
Sonnichsen says: "The religious belief
of these Igorrotes is Of the vaguest order.
tainted with gross superstitions of seem
ingly Mohametan origin, and all the eff
forts of the friars to convert them have
signally failed. / am told that the monks
who went up into the mountains for this
purpose had a nasty habit of disappearing.
Finally the friars decided to leave them
entirely alone"
PICKUP DEITIEs COMMON.
The earliest type of religion in the Phil
ippines appears to be exhibited in fetch
ism; and quite naturally so, because as
already referred to in the case of the
Negrito, it, involves primary operation
of the human mind in noting the differ
ences in surrounding objects. A striking
and unusual object is observed, and when
he is under the influence of strong emotion.
this is selected by the savage as q thing
to entreat for mercy because of his fear
of its active malevolence; or n thing to
reverence because of it's assumed power
Illustrated by various tribes and in the
wide range of objects .venerated such as
gnarled trees and peculiar rocks, animals,
human bones, volcanoes and the heavenly
bodies
The balete (ficus clusioides. MIDI is a
tree reverenced by nearly all Filipinos. 1t
resembles our swamp elm somewhat, but
is more ma jestic. Branches jut out from
the base of the trunk, and as they curve
upward filaments drop at the bend and
take root, forming new supports for the
wide spreading foliage. The wood is
white, sp0ngy and comparatively worth
less. though a salve for wounds is made
frem the bruised roots. Its thick, leafy
covert forms facile refuge from pursuit
and not only is it used as a temple and
place of sacrifice. but as an object of wOr
ship itself: and its picturesque appearance
undoubtedly developed that attitude of
mind in the first instance. This view is
supported by the fact that the pagan
tribes burn incense under its branches,
and the further fact that very few natives
would dare to cut such tree. The balete
and many other trees, as well as mountain
crags, dark caverns, deep. pools and vol
canoes, have each Tic-balan or in-dwell-
ing spirit. Hardy indeed must be the ma
tive rustic who passes one of these with
out bowling his head and muttering: PAS
ing tabi sa nono!" (By your leave, fore
father9
of Mindanao consider the alligator
sacred animal. which was the case once
with the Taga1os and other Christianized
tribes. Some Tagalo mothers hang croco-
die teeth around their children's necks as
preventive against disease, and there is
a curious rock on the bank of the Pasig,
near Guadalupe. which was for many
years an object of Tagalo worship. being
believed to have been changed intA the
stone from a live crocodile.
DIE AND BECOME EELs.
The Samales, tribe on the Gulf of
Dayan.- formerly worshiped the serpent
and regard it with no little reverence still;
and the IgorrOtes of Cabuglan. in Lepant0
Province, will not harm cells. because they
regard them as the embodiment OF their
ancestors. ~
Among the AIandayas and various other
tribes Of Mindanao the limbucun. or tur-
tle-d0ye, is a sacred creature never to be
molested. Rice and fruit are placed in
trees and on raised platforms for its ex-
clusivef use. Tagalos and others formerly
worshiped a bluebird. the tigmamanuquin,
and also the maylupa or crow; the former
wassl0rds Of the heavens and the latter
of the1earth. 4.
s That "a malignant deity dwelis in each
yolca1Q.s very generally believed, and
extinct crater lakes are looked upon as
haffnY supernatural connections and there
IOEestA&4e uNpRleu. ddSOf gives All dccDuut
of visiting such sheet. of water, Lake
Jafu!fi1an, in Leyte, which, because of the
proximity ,ef sulphur, beds. had SO inspired
the natives with. ,superstitious fear that
its, waters had not been profaned by
mariner. fisher or swimmer, and yet they
We're fnl-Dfa.fsh. So
.yESERATE FIRE AND THE sun.
There is probably significance in the
fact that the word for God among the
IgorrOtes- OF Benguet is Apo, which is
also the name of the loftiest mountain and
volcano in the Islands, though it is To-
Gated in Mindanao.
Nearly all the Igorrotes of Central Ben
guet have a sun tatOyed i'm blue on the
back Of the hand, which is to signify that
the orb of day is among the highest OBJ
jects of their veneration. The faith of
the M0ros includes the belief that the sun,
moon and stars are Gods light to rule the
world. There are no other worlds, they as
sert; but both air and earth are inhabited
by spirits who die the same as ourselves.
From the alteration of tree trunks knot
ted or curiously bent to artifcially carved
figures is a natural stage; and We have
the anito. or image, worship which pre-
walls with many tribes, and which also
mingles naturally with ancestral worship.
Reverence for ancestors leads to the pre-