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Diwata
''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. It can also refer to carved humanoid figures, the ''taotao'', made of wood, stone, or ivory, that represent these spirits. ''Anito'' (a term predominantly used in Luzon) is also sometimes known as ''diwata'' in certain ethnic groups (especially among Visayans). ''Pag-anito'' refers to a séance, often accompanied by other rituals or celebrations, in which a shaman (Visayan: ''babaylan'', Tagalog: ''katalonan'') acts as a medium to communicate directly with the spirits. When a nature spirit or deity is specifically involved, the ritual is called ''pagdiwata''. The act of worship or a religious sacrifice to a spirit is also sometimes simply referred to as ''anito''. The belief in ''anito'' are s ...
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History Of The Philippines (900–1521)
Earliest hominin activity in the Philippine archipelago is dated back to at least 709,000 years ago. '' Homo luzonensis'', a species of archaic humans, was present on the island of Luzon at least 67,000 years ago. The earliest known anatomically modern human was from Tabon Caves in Palawan dating about 47,000 years. Negrito groups were the first inhabitants to settle in the prehistoric Philippines. By around 3000 BC, seafaring Austronesians, who form the majority of the current population, migrated southward from Taiwan. Scholars generally believe that these ethnic and social groups eventually developed into various settlements or polities with varying degrees of economic specialization, social stratification, and political organization. Some of these settlements (mostly those located on major river deltas) achieved such a scale of social complexity that some scholars believe they should be considered early states. This includes the predecessors of modern-day population centers ...
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Indigenous Philippine Folk Religions
Indigenous Philippine folk religions are the distinct native religions of various ethnic groups in the Philippines, where most follow belief systems in line with animism. Generally, these indigenous folk religions are referred to as Anito or Anitism or the more modern and less ethnocentric Dayawism.Almocera, Ruel A., (2005) Popular Filipino Spiritual Beliefs with a proposed Theological Response. in Doing Theology in the Philippines. Suk, John., Ed. Mandaluyong: OMF Literature Inc. Pp 78-98Maggay, Melba Padilla (1999). Filipino Religious Consciousness. Quezon City: Institute for Studies in Asian Church and Culture. Around 0.2% of the population of the Philippines were affiliated with the so-called "tribal religions", according to the 2010 national census. The profusion of different terms arises from the fact that these indigenous religions mostly flourished in the pre-colonial period before the Philippines had become a single nation. The various peoples of the Philippines spoke ...
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Polynesian People
Polynesians form an ethnolinguistic group of closely related people who are native to Polynesia (islands in the Polynesian Triangle), an expansive region of Oceania in the Pacific Ocean. They trace their early prehistoric origins to Island Southeast Asia and form part of the larger Austronesian ethnolinguistic group with an Urheimat in Taiwan. They speak the Polynesian languages, a branch of the Oceanic subfamily of the Austronesian language family. there were an estimated 2 million ethnic Polynesians (full and part) worldwide, the vast majority of whom either inhabit independent Polynesian nation-states (Samoa, Niue, Cook Islands, Tonga, and Tuvalu) or form minorities in countries such as Australia, Chile (Easter Island), New Zealand, France (French Polynesia and Wallis and Futuna), and the United States (Hawaii and American Samoa), in addition to the British Overseas Territory of the Pitcairn Islands. New Zealand had the highest population of Polynesians, estimated ...
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Malaysian People
Malaysians are nationals and citizens who are identified with the country of Malaysia. Although citizens make up the majority of Malaysians, non-citizen residents and overseas Malaysians may also claim a Malaysian identity. The country is home to people of various national, ethnic and religious origins. As a result, many Malaysians do not equate their nationality with ethnicity, but with citizenship and allegiance to Malaysia. Majority of the population, however, belong to several clearly defined racial groups within the country with their own distinct cultures and traditions: Malays, Orang Asli (aboriginal population), Malaysian Chinese (primarily Han Chinese), Malaysian Indians (primarily Tamils). The majority of the non-Malay and non-aboriginal population in modern Malaysia is made up of immigrants and their descendants. Following the initial period of Portuguese, Dutch and then significantly longer British colonisation, different waves (or peaks) of immigration and se ...
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Indonesian People
Indonesians (Indonesian: ''orang Indonesia'') are citizens or people originally from Indonesia, regardless of their ethnic or religious background. There are more than 1,300 ethnicities in Indonesia, making it a multicultural archipelagic country with a diversity of languages, culture and religious beliefs. The population of Indonesia according to the 2020 national census was 270.2 million. 56% live on the island of Java, the world's most populous island. Around 95% of Indonesians are Native Indonesians (formerly grouped as "Pribumi"), with 40% Javanese and 15% Sundanese forming the majority, while the other 5% are Indonesians with ancestry from foreign origin, such as Arab Indonesians, Chinese Indonesians, Indian Indonesians, and Indos. Population As of 2020, Indonesians make up 3.4% of world total population and Indonesia is the fourth most populous country after China, India and the United States. Despite a fairly effective family planning program that has been in p ...
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Hantu Demon
Hantu is the Malay and Indonesian word for spirit or ghost, sometimes it is also the Tagalog word for ghost . In modern usage it generally means spirits of the dead but has also come to refer to any legendary invisible being, such as demons. In its traditional context the term also referred to animistic nature spirits or ancestral souls. The word is derived from Proto-Malayo-Polynesian ''*qanitu'' and Proto-Austronesian ''*qaNiCu''. Cognates in other Austronesian languages include the Micronesian ''aniti'', Lio language ''nitu'', Yami ''anito'', Taivoan ''alid'', Seediq and Atayal ''utux'', Bunun '' hanitu'' or ''hanidu'', Polynesian '' aitu'' or ''atua'', and Tsou ''hicu'' among the Formosan languages. In terms of concept and place in traditional folklore, it is most similar to the Filipino anito. Types Aside from generic spirits of the dead, there exist various forms of Hantu including both the benign and malevolent. * Hantu Air: spirit inhabiting the water * Hantu Beru ...
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Nage
The Nage are an indigenous people living on the eastern Indonesian island of Flores and Timor. They descended from the indigenous population of Flores They are largely assimilated by the neighboring people. They speak Nage, one of the major languages in the Austronesian languages group. Agriculture The Nage people mainly engaged in manual slash-and-burn farming (tubers, rice, corn), hunting and gathering. Until the middle of the 20th century, communal land ownership with large families participation were still preserved. They live in cumulus-type settlements, located on the slopes of mountains and surrounded by stone walls. Houses are piled up in rectangular position and connected by an open gallery into a single complex, which is intended for joint residence of several large families. Lifestyle The clothes of the Nage people are loincloth and skirt or ''kain''. Women fasten it over the breast, and men around the waist. The diet is dominated by plant based foods (cooked groa ...
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Aitu
In Polynesian languages the word ''aitu'' refers to ghosts or spirits, often malevolent. The word is common to many languages of Western and Eastern Polynesia. In the mythology of Tonga, for example, ''aitu'' or ''eitu'' are lesser gods, many being patrons of specific villages and families. They often take the form of plants or animals, and are often more cruel than other gods. These trouble-making gods are regarded as having come from Samoa. The Tongan word ''tangi lauaitu'' means to cry from grief, to lament. In Māori mythology, the word ''aitu'' refers to sickness, calamity, or demons; the related word ''aituā'' means misfortune, accident, disaster. In Tahitian, ''aitu'' (syn. atua/raitu) can mean 'god' or 'spirit';Fare vana'a dictionary ('raitu' is also an affectionate word given to a cherished child/ref> in other languages, including Rarotongan, Samoan, Sikaiana, Kapingamarangi, Takuu, Tuamotuan, and Niuean, ''aitu'' are ghosts or spirits. In Cook Islands ''Aitu'' is also t ...
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Atua
Atua are the gods and spirits of the Polynesian peoples such as the Māori or the Hawaiians (see also ); the Polynesian word literally means "power" or "strength" and so the concept is similar to that of ''mana''. Today, it is also used for the monotheistic conception of God. Especially powerful atua included: * '' Rongo-mā-Tāne'' – god of agriculture and peace * ''Tāne Mahuta'' – creator of all living things such as animals, birds and trees * ''Tangaroa'' – god of the sea * ''Tūmatauenga'' – a god of war * ''Whiro'' – god of darkness and evil In Samoa, where means "god" in the Samoan language, traditional tattooing was based on the doctrine of tutelary spirits. There is also a district on the island of Upolu in Samoa called Atua. Atua or gods were also the center of Māori religion. In Māori's belief, there was no such word as "religion" because the natural and supernatural world were one. In other Austronesian cultures, cognates of ''atua'' include the Pol ...
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Austronesian People
The Austronesian peoples, sometimes referred to as Austronesian-speaking peoples, are a large group of peoples in Taiwan, Maritime Southeast Asia, Micronesia, coastal New Guinea, Island Melanesia, Polynesia, and Madagascar that speak Austronesian languages. They also include indigenous ethnic minorities in Vietnam, Cambodia, Myanmar, Thailand, Hainan, the Comoros, and the Torres Strait Islands. The nations and territories predominantly populated by Austronesian-speaking peoples are sometimes known collectively as Austronesia. Based on the current scientific consensus, they originated from a prehistoric seaborne migration, known as the Austronesian expansion, from pre- Han Taiwan, at around 1500 to 1000 BCE. Austronesians reached the northernmost Philippines, specifically the Batanes Islands, by around 2200 BCE. Austronesians used sails some time before 2000 BCE. In conjunction with their use of other maritime technologies (notably catamarans, outrigger boats, lashed ...
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