"The dominant theme in the religion of our ancestors is the concept of anito and diwata.Anito refers to the spirit embodied in sculptured objects.The diwata is the ancestral spirit which inhabits the sorrounding world.
People perform rituals and give offerings to win the favor of these spirits.They believe that bad luck befall who incur their ire.Religious men who perform the rites are called baylan or katalonan.They are the most favored among living.It is they who communicate with the spirits.
When a person dies,his soul either to langit or to kanaan.In these places,the soul continuoes to live.The passage between the land of the living and the afterlife is throug a wide,deep and winding river.To reach this river,the soul passes a tunnel at which entrance a big man stands guard.If the soul is acceptable,it is made to ride on a banca and is carried to whichever place it is destined in the afterlife.
The spirits of the ancestors maintain close relations with a surviving kin.They act as spirit protectors.Most leaders are believed to possess supernatural powers bestowed on them by the spirits of the ancestors as well as the by other enviromental spirits which take a fancy for for the chosen leaders.
Religion,in othe words,reinforces the political leadership.
Photos:©Tribe
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Good story