Hello there humans! I just got Madame Hillary’s review on my DAY V.S NIGHT — A MOVIE REVIEW ON BATMAN V.S SUPERMAN: DAWN OF JUSTICE blog and daang! I disappointed myself! I forgot to put tags on my friggin’ blog! *cries in Spanish* I was busy and also lazy for the past 2 weeks and I haven’t really wrote a blog lately since the double reward topics that I wrote (truth be told that movie review was written last April 2016 and I just submitted it last week. *teehee!*); so here I am again annoying you people with this blog (and future blogs) because that 3 star blog really pulled my trigger! (It hurts! It really does!) Oh! Well, lesson learned. Never ever forget to put tags on your blog! *cries in the corner* So guys, this explains why my blog and future blogs are super effort to the Nth level with all the font color and etc., this is because I’m on beast mode! (HAHA kidding! I’m actually busy this month. I just made time to post this blog. I won’t be able to come online like I always do. And yeah, maybe I won't be able to write blogs anymore. Sad. I hope I am wrong though. We'll see.)So! Enough with my mourning and bitterness, as what I’ve stated in the title of this blog, this blog is part of my HOY! HOY! PSST! PINOY! BLOG SERIES! Actually, this is my second blog that falls under my HOY! HOY! PSST! PINOY! BLOG SERIES! Okay, so here’s a question for you. Are you polytheistic? Do you believe in different gods and goddesses? I mean, do you agree on the idea that there are gods and goddesses aside from the God Almighty?
During the pre-colonial period in the Philippines, ancient Filipinos are polytheistic. They believe in different deities such as environmental gods and soul gods. Yes! Humans! My Filipino ancestors have deities just like ancient Greece and ancient Egypt. Interesting right? I mean for me, it is very interesting to know who these deities that my ancestors believe in are. As you know, Philippines is an archipelago. It is composed of 7,500 islands as of February 2016; Philippines is divided into 3 geographical divisions which is Luzon (ahoy there ate heartluv), Visayas (where Jean-Betran and I am located right now) and Mindanao (TRB’s place). If you look at the whole idea, Filipinos lives in different islands and is located in different regions. Thus, we can say that Filipinos have different dialects and traits because we are not merged into one location. Filipinos also have their own versions of gods and goddesses according to where they are located. Since I am located in Visayas, I’ll be sharing the Visayan version of gods and goddesses in the Philippines.
THE STORY OF THE ANCIENT GODS AND GODDESSES
♛ KAPTAN
Kaptan is the god of all gods meaning, he is supreme. He lived in the sky and has a son named Lihangin.
♛ MAGUAYAN / MAGWAYAN
Magwayan is the goddess of the water and death. When a mortal dies, Magwayan will deliver the soul to the underworld of the dead called Sulad. The soul can either be accepted or rejected in the gates of Sulad. If the soul has a lot of treasure, mainly gold jewelries; he will be then rejected the soul but if the soul doesn’t have enough treasures, the soul will remain in the chamber of hell. Maywayan has a daughter named Lidagat.
♛ LIHANGIN
Lihangin the son of Kaptan. He is the god of wind.
♛ LIDAGAT
Lidagat who is the daughter of Magwayan, is the goddess of sea.
Lihangin and Lidagat married and had 4 children named Likabutan, Liadlaw, Libulan and Lisuga.
♛ LIKABUTAN / LICALIBUTAN
He is the eldest of Lihangin and Lidagat’s children,he has a body made of rock and is later on became the god of the Land.
♛ LIADLAW
He is the 2nd child of Lihangin and Lidagat. Liadlaw is always happy and his skin was covered with gold. Liadlaw later became the god of the sun.
♛ LIBULAN
Libulan is the shy one and the 3rd child of Lihangin and Lidagat. He is made in copper and later on became the god of the moon.
♛ LISUGA
Lisuga is the fourth and only daughter of Lihangin and Lihangin. She has the body of silver which always glisten. She later on became the goddess of the stars.
The family of gods and goddesses were happy until Lihangin and Lidagat died. Because of the greed of Likabutan, he made a surprise attack to his grandfather Kaptan’s territory, the skyworld. Likabutan’s brothers Liadlaw and Libulan joined him because they are too afraid of Likabutan and to back out in his evil plan. The three siblings attacked their grandfather’s gates of the skyworld. When Kaptan heard about this, he was furious enough that he sent three lightning bolts to his grandsons. Likabutan’s hard rock body turned into rocks and fell into the sea which became the earth’s land while Liadlaw and Libulan’s body turned into a ball. Lisuga, the only granddaughter of Kaptan visited her Kaptan not knowing what was happening. When she arrived there, Kaptan who felt betrayed thought that Lisuga is part of the evil plan of Likabutan. Kaptan then stroke a lightning bolt to his granddaughter, Lisuga and she broke into countless pieces. When Kaptan the supreme god and Magwayan, the goddess of the waters and dead met, Kaptan then realized that Lisuga, has nothing to do with Likabutan’s plan and both Liadlaw and Libulan was just too afraid to back out. Later on, Kaptan felt sad about what he did in which he cannot revive them. Kaptan then made his grandchildren the gods and goddesses of which they all turned into. Since Liadlaw became a sun, he became the god of the sun. Libulan turned into a moon so he became the god of the moon, Lisuga became the Goddess of the stars and since it was all Likabutan’s plan, Kaptan left him to remain in the land and became the god of the land which he can help the human race.
OTHER DEITIES ANCIENT FILIPINOS WORSHIP
❊ ALUNSINA
Alunsina is the most powerful female goddess. She is the goddess of the eastern skies; she brings in the light of the sun and cool winds during a very hot day.
❊ Ribung Linti
He is the god of thunder and lightning.
❊ SANTONILYO
He is the god of good grace.
❊ DALIKMATA
Dalikmata is the goddess of health. She is also known to be the goddess of eye ailments. Dalikmata is a sympathetic goddess who cries at night because of the evil deeds and misfortunes mortal does on that day. It is said that Dalikmata’s tears are the morning dew that we see at dawn.
❊ YNAGUIGUINID
She is the goddess of war.
❊ LALAHON
She is the goddess of fire and volcanoes; she is also the goddess of harvests and goddess against natural disasters brought by erupting volcanoes, earthquakes and wildfires.
❊ BURIGADANG PADA SINAKLANG BULAWAN
Burigadang pada sinaklang bulawan which means coveted Gold, Desired/Precious Gold is the goddess of greed. She usually avenges those who are greedy, mostly the thieves.
❊ PAIBURONG
He is the god of the middle world. He also loves to shape shift into a crocodile which is a sacred animal before.
❊ BARANGAW
Barangaw is the god of the rainbow.
❊ DIAN MAGAYON
Dian Magayon is the goddess of all flying creatures. She shape shift into an eagle and has the power to command flying creatures.
...and the list goes on and on. There are still a lot of Visayan deities that I haven’t mentioned. You can check out this link for the list of different Visayan gods and goddesses in the Philippines.
❤ ❤ ❤ ❤
During the colonial period of the Spaniards here in the Philippines, the Spaniards introduced Christianity and slowly erased the beliefs of our ancestors. Don’t get me wrong, but Catholicism is a little bit the same with the gods and goddesses during ancient times. Like for example, in Visayas, we call God Almighty as Kaptan. Also, Sto. Niño is the Spanish version of Santonilyo. Luckily, since the country is an archipelago, not everyone during the colonial period were brainwashed by the Spaniards. Though most Filipino now a days are Christians, there are still part of the Filipino culture who are are polytheistic who still believe that there are gods and goddesses. Most of these polytheistic Filipinos are part of the Tribes that still exists today. I’m proud that these Filipinos who belonged to a tribe today still exists and that they still believe in the gods and goddesses of the heavens, Earth and the underworld. These Filipinos are the real Filipinos of our country. I am not saying that I don't believe in these gods and goddesses because I also do. I know, it contradicts my religion but it's not like I worship these gods. I just believe that these gods exists. Filipinos are very superstitious. I am Filipino. I have superstitious beliefs. So, will you guys answer my question now? Are you guys polytheistic? Feel free to comment down below. (hehe)
I actually made this blog so that you guys can understand my next blog. Trust me, if you read this blog, you’ll surely enjoy my future blog! (God knows when will I submit my next blogs. haha!)
Well, this is it for now humans.
Until my next blog!
Mabuhay!
-WANDERFULSOUL-
COPYRIGHT © 2016 ODETTE BALUYUT. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
