Bikol Animism & Spiritwork Notes
[Image Description: Photo taken by Anito Anum of the Mayon Volcano with lush jungle in the foreground, water marked with rainbow colours, stars, and spirals. The title, on a semi-transparent black rectangle, reads: “BIKOL ANIMISM & SPIRITWORK NOTES”. The bottom caption of the photo in white font reads: “A reconstructionist diasporic anglophone perspective. Compiled by anitoanum.tumblr.com.”]
Note: My sources are listed at the end. I welcome any and all feedback from other Bicol/Bikol people, especially folks from the homeland, regarding their spiritual and healing practices.
asog: ritualist, priest/ess (what Westernized society would now consider a feminine male assigned at birth person)
balyan: ritualist, priest/ess (what Westernized society would now consider a female assigned at birth person)
parabawi: an exorcist, referring to anyone who drives evil spirits out of the body so that good spirits may return
parabulong: anyone who administers medicine
himara/maghimara: to predict the future by observing external movements, such as that of a wheel moving slowly, fast, etc.
hula: prediction; maghula / hulaan to augur, forecast, foresee, foretell, predict
hukloban/hokloban/hodoban: witch doctor, malicious sorcerer who killed men and animals, and demolished houses
matanda: a wise old ruler
nuom: clairvoyant; seeing in mind’s eye/imagining something that comes true
pintakasi: defender, patron, patron saint
sabong: pasabong: an omen, pagpasabong: clairvoyance, ESP, ipasabong: to be clairvoyant
sarawat: masarawat: describing someone who loves plants
sunat: a high priest/ess (gender unknown) responsible for ordaining the asog and the balyan
tagohalim/tagohalin/taguhalin: shapeshifting sorcerer
tuyaw: magtuyaw/tuyawon: to prophesy, paratuyaw: a prophet
kamburagan: paradise/heaven
liwat na pagkamundag: reincarnation, rebirth
pagkamundag uli: reincarnation, rebirth
Palihon/paliyon/polion is the general term for rituals, beliefs, and taboos, and their preservation.
Rituals are done for the anito and/or gugurang, and sometimes for the tawong-lipod.
Anito/diwata are generally ancestor spirits out in nature.
Gugurang are generally ancestor spirits of the household that come along with a person, but in later folklore began to be seen as a single deity inside Mount Mayon.
Batala/bathala are a set of special gods/spirits that watch over a village or clan.
The tawong-lipod are general invisible spirit beings, like giants, elves, dwarves, etc.
To hold a festival or ritual for the anito is called a maganito or anitoan. The anito/diwata are represented by carved wooden statues called ladawan or lagdong. The lagdongan is also the name of the basket that carries the ladawan/lagdong.
Most ritual is presided by a balyan and/or an asog.
The sunat is the head spiritualist who initiates the asog and balyan.
There are also other ritualists, called the parabawi/santiguar, that deal specifically in exorcisms.
The anito have houses/temples called muog/moog that are built in open fields or in the branches of trees.
The gugurang have a temple of bamboo, reeds, and coconut fronds called gulang-gulang or golanggolang.
An altar called a salagnat/salangat is created out of bamboo in which food is offered to the anito/diwata/gugurang.
The food/banquet of the maganito is called the gamit.
If you are sacrificing a chicken, it is called a hanggot.
If you are sacrificing a pig it is called socob/sokob.
Songs called suragi/sorague are done for the anito/diwata/gugurang.
Prayers called adyi and pamibi are done for the anito/diwata/gugurang .
After the balyan/asog says prayers, it is customary to say ahom, in agreement.
A ceremonial dance called a dumago was also performed.
The balyan/asog usually wears a a circlet with a golden nugget or wreath of leaves/flowers called tubaw/tabao. There may also be worn golden balls as ornamentation, called matambacao/matambakaw.
The balyan/asog also use banay, the topmost fronds of the anahaw palm, during ceremony.
The tubas is a washing/bathing ritual.
Gabas is to ask numbers from the spirits.
The atang is a specific ritual where a sacrifice of one-tenth of the harvest is offered as a sign of thanksgiving to the gugurang. This is later eaten by the participants in the ritual.
Blessings and Coming-of-Age:
The yocod/yukod is in honour of the anito to bless a favoured child and protect them from the aswang. Children process around the inside of a dwelling.
The baguet is a coming-of-age ritual where a pig that was raised since the birth of a child is sacrificed and eaten by the child-now-adult as a community, with special alcoholic drinks.
Tagay is a wedding ceremony in which the drinking of liquor forms part of the celebrations. When pronounced differently, tagay is also a ritual in which food is offered to the tawong-lipod to ask for a rich harvest, a full catch, a successful hunt, or the removal of spells placed on an individual by the tawong-lipod itself.
The duol is a ritual where the whole tribe fasts in prayer and sacrifice to the anito to ward off evil or stop a disaster.
The halya is a ritual done during the eclipse to ward off the bakunawa by using balalong, bamboo or hollowed tree trunks, that are beaten with sticks. Halya is also done during the full moon in honour of the gugurang to continue to ward off the bakunawa. There is also chanting during this ritual. At the climax of the halya, roasted water buffalo or boar is eaten, which is called the sumsom. In later folklore, Halya/Haliya became the name of a masked goddess of the moon.
The hidhid is a ritual that can be done to have the aswang stop a storm or a plague using a chewed up betel nut mixture. It was also known as a form of exorcism when there was a public calamity.
The hidhid is in honour of the aswang to counter its influence over a sick person. The balyan chews up a betel nut mixture and touches the person on the head with it.
Olad is a spirit feast/ritual performed for the sick.
Ole is a ritual to heal the sick.
Paypay is to use the banay to fan the sick as part of curing them.
Posao/pusaw is a ritual where lemon/citrus leaves wet with water are squeezed in the eyes of the sick.
Tigay are chants and songs of the balyan to help cure the sick.
Sacom/sakom is when you call the soul of the sick person back to their body and use banay to do it.
Lagaylay is a dance that the parabawi, an exorcist, gets the afflicted to perform to get an evil spirit to leave someone’s body.
Statues and figures that are carved in honour of the dead are called parangpan/paraparangpan or tatawo.
Basbas is when you wash the body of the dead with the water-softened leaves of lukban/pomelo/citrus/lemon.
Katumba is the loud prayers and songs sung during the purification rites of the dead.
The ayay is when you cover the graves of the dead with cooked rice or rice mixed with dirt.
Duol is also done after the death of a relative, where you abstain from certain foods.
The taroc/tarok is a ritual in which a banay is carried into a battle of vengeance and if the enemy is defeated placed on the grave of the relative who has been avenged.
Hugot is when a slave is sacrificed and the entrails are offered to the aswang to prevent it from eating a newly dead chief or other important person.
The kataposan is the ceremony held nine days after someone’s death.
The actual funeral ceremony is called pasaka, and when you partake of the funeral feast on the day of the burial in honour of the dead, that is called lalala.
Lalawan is when you mourn the dead by dressing in mourning clothes, cutting the hair, or holding a special ceremony.
Binangonan/Binagnonan is when you speak to the dead in ceremony.
Uraw is the ceremony to resurrect the dead with incantations.
Makatagi is to be influenced by the positions of the dead.
An anting is the name of a physical charm or talisman. Munay is a general ointment.
aguatiempo: a potion which replaces drinking water of sick people in the belief that it will hasten the effect of medicine which has been administered
barat: the wind from the west; bolt; a needle-like wooden or metal peg which is an accessory to a small idol in human shape possessing movable joints and having many holes; if the barat is inserted into a chosen spot on the idol; after an incantation mumbled by the mambabarat the victim is supposed to suffer at the spot pierced by the peg; mambabarat a sorcerer who uses a barat
hinaw: a charm created by the balyan capable of identifying a thief; maghinaw to divine by using such a charm; maghinaw/hinawon to suspect of thievery by such divination
huklob: root (used by witch doctors in their ceremonies); maghuklob / huklobon to enchant, bewitch; hukloban witch doctor
kabal: an amulet which has the power of making its possessor invulnerable to the bolo and the spear, rendering these weapons dull, or suspending them in air upon attack; generally a circular piece of copper with a hole in the center, or a bit of shell roughly carved into the shape of anito noted for particularly admired exploits
laaw: root used as a charm which if brought into contact with an enemy can cause sickness or inflammation maglaaw /laawan to charm or bewitch with this root
lumay: love potion, maglumay / lumayon to give someone a love potion so that he or she will fall in love with you; makalumay/malumay to be affected by a love potion
mutya: pearl, jewel, gem, precious stone, anything someone holds dear, something beloved
pamaghat: a medicinal mixture of tree roots and alcohol, given to nursing mothers
pato: a root or charm which causes someone to who steals from you to fall ill or die
tagalpo: a herb carried by hunters and used to charm wild game so that they will not flee; a magic formula which, if thought of mentally, can turn a hostile attitude into cordiality, or an enemy into a friend; a type of hypnotism
tagohalim/tagohalin/taguhalin: Someone who makes charms/spells through shapeshifting or saying words; a root that was used in spells to aid in flying or shapeshifting into animals (cats or dogs); a plant from which an extract is derived enabling a man to fly, or to change himself into a dog or cat or other animal
tagohopa/tagahupa/tagolmay/tagulmay: A species of grass from whose roots may be prepared a brew capable of depriving a man of his will-power.
tagulipod: a plant possessing roots which, when eaten, may render a man invisible at will
tambal: antidote, snake medicine, tambalan: one proficient in such treatment
tauac/tawak: A charm which can be protect someone from a poisonous insect or snake bite; the charm is affected by pricking the person with something serving as an antivenom
barubarita/baribarito: the name of the singing of a haya/sayasaya, a bird, in which hearing the sound was a bad omen.
didit: the cricket, if the cricket’s chirping awakens someone during the night, a relative or someone close to that person will die
kuro-kuro/korokoro: bird; also a messenger of the buggo whose cooing indicates that the aswang is coming to devour the entrails of a baby or someone who is sick; cooing followed by a muffled sound, such as that of distant thunder, announces the impending death of someone in another tribe
patyanak: if the wailing of a tiny black bird is heard at night by a pregnant woman but not by others who are with her, this could indicate that she will have a miscarriage
yasaw/yassau: a creature which hides in the shadows of trees on moonlit nights, if it is seen at the same time a cry resembling that of an infant is heard or imagined, the aswang is on the prowl and someone is going to die
Taboos, Oaths/Vows, and Curses
ngasa: a superstition/taboo that holds if one’s fields or crops are particularly successful in comparison with those of others, death or misfortune will soon be visited on someone in the town, or the crops themselves will be lost
puhon: an ancient belief which holds that if a slave or person of low birth were to drink from a glass or eat from a plate of someone of high rank in the community, the abdomen of the slave or person of low birth would swell with air
sibol/sido/siro: An ancient ritual and taboo to not go to the house where sick and wounded are healing.
sibong: A ritual/taboo/curse where those who get tattooed without earning it through battles or other ways, become sick and die.
matay: may I die; an oath taken whereby one swears to take his own life if he is not telling the truth
karaw: a sickness inflicted by sorcery; magkaraw / karawan to curse; to put a curse on
ratak: to put a spell on, to charm or enchant, maratakan: to fall sick or have one’s wounds infected due to the evil medicine of a sorcerer, pagratak: witchcraft, sorcery
All words to describe witchcraft/sorcery/bewitchment/enchantment
aswangon/maaswang: to be bewitched, enchanted, put under a spell; magaswang/aswangon: to betwitch, enchant
babalo: enchantment; magbabalo/babaloon: to bewitch, charm, enchant, put a spell on; sound of a rooster crowing
barang: similarity; magbarang/barangon to bewitch, to cast a spell on someone; makabarang/mabarang to be bewitched, fall under a spell
dagon: to go ask a witch or sorcerer to hurt a sick person and/or eat his entrails.
himalo/maghimalo/himaloon: to bewitch, enchant
maibanan/yba/iba: to be bewitched, damage/enchantment by a sorcerer or demon.
lagaylay: enchanted, bewitched; lagaylayon: to be enchanted or bewitched
rawraw: to cast a spell over; pagrawraw: witchcraft, sorcery
usog: mausog: to be bewitched
Spirits & Otherwordly Beings
Katambay are personal guardian spirits that watch over an individual.
Anito/Diwata are generally ancestor spirits out in nature.
Gugurang are generally ancestor spirits of the household that come along with a person, later thought to be a single spirit that is Chief Spirit of the Bikol people
Batala/bathala are a set of special gods/spirits that watch over a village or clan.
Dawani is the legendary first woman of the world believed to have designed and woven the rainbow; hablon nin dawani: rainbow
Magnindan: spirit that helps fisherpeople
Okot: A dwarf/elf good spirit that spoke through whistling
Arapayan, Nagini/Naguined/Naguinao, and Makbarubak/Macbarubac are the three spirits that, when invoked with crocodile teeth and coconut oil mixed together, has the power to kill another
aguahan: A witch that eats human flesh. A sorcerer that is cursed or gives curses.
anananggal: a two piece witch that is capable of detaching its upper portion from the waist; the upper portion then flies in search of saliva to drink and human flesh to feast on
anduduno: a vampire that finds delight and nourishment in inhaling the odour and sucking the blood for a woman in labour, the sick and the dying; it assumes the shape of a huge bat and sucks from the back of a victim by means of a long, thread-like tongue
aswang: a devil or witch said to eat human flesh, though in later folklore was seen as a single deity (Asuang) inside Mount Malinao
bakunawa: a grotesque dragon that swallows the moon during eclipses, an event which is believed to bring bad luck
Bongan: malicious demon dwarf
bunggo/bonggo: ferocious “priests” whose eyes flash fire, consuming whatever is within the range of their heat. They wandered the woods and were possible descendants of Asuang.
buri: a one-eyed, three-throated creature inhabiting the swamps of a particular section of Bikol called in old records Punong
cacac/cacag/kakak: A witch. The song of a hen when she wants to lay an egg. Also the song of a witch who is flying and/or moaning by a sick person’s house.
daguit: To snatch something; to have something snatched by witches. Mananaguit: A bird of prey, or an aswang/witch that snatches humans.
hingnasuan: A witch that eats human flesh.
irago: the daughter of aswang, a serpent which can appear or vanish at will taking any form pleasing to its victims, often that of an envious woman with a sexy voice; same as uryol
kapri: a legendary giant; an evil spirit
laki: a monster with the hoofs and mane of a horse and the face of a repulsive man with the wide protruding lips which entirely cover its face when it laughs; brushing against the invisible laki or simply being near it, could produce rashes curable by whipping the affected part with the long strand of a woman’s hair; same as unglo
layog: a witch that flies upright with its arms outstretched and its eyes gazing at the full moon; it snatches its victims from behind, between the legs, then carries them aloft by the ankles; it eats the flesh and laps the saliva of the tuberculous and can be found clinging to the rafters under the house of the victim
pupo/popo: a hot-tempered, vengeful spirit who, by touching the head of a child with its hand, causes the child to grow weaker and weaker until it dies, or keeping the child a child forever
rabot: a master liar; also an ugly half-man and half ferocious wild beast that can transform its enemies into rocks by magic
silag: A witch that tears into the body of anyone dressed in white, feeding on the entrails and liver, causing the victim to die
tambaluslos: a small forest creature said to lead people astray; when it laughs, its lips open to cover its whole face
yasaw/yassau: a creature which hides in the shadows of trees on moonlit nights, if it is seen at the same time a cry resembling that of an infant is heard or imagined, the aswang is on the prowl and someone is going to die; the yasaw may be transformed into a laki
daro-anak: an ancient beast, usually a serpent or a wild boar, that has grown enormously large and, weary of its big size and old age, has plunged into the sea to become a sea monster or a small island
duende: dwarf, elf, goblin
ikogan: a spirit creature resembling a hairy man with a tail
mapangilaw: a giant who wears a vine for a belt
isaw/issau: apparition, phantom, elf, dwarf
Kalapitnan: god/spirit of bats
mangindara: merperson; person of the waters
patyanak: the fusion of an untimely discharged human fetus and a tiny black bird whose mournful wailing resembles that of an infant
sarimaw: tiger; a tiger’s tooth; a brutally fierce monster with crossed bulging eyes which appears unexpectedly before the guilty, tearing them pitilessly apart with its sharp claws
tandayag: a large serpent which is said to have gone to the sea and changed into a whale; also applied to a large eel which has undergone the same transformation; referring to things that are very old or very large
tawong-lipod: a general term for invisible creatures including giants, elves, etc.
tupong-tupong: a human-like creature which can stretch or shrink to take the shape of whatever it is next to
apo: grandparents; ancestors; respectful title; imp; small human-like creature living in little earth mounds and possessing magical powers capable of turning people into animals such as toads, snakes; tabi apo means excuse me apo and said when spitting, throwing a stone in the dark, etc. in case by chance one hits the apo
Bikol-English Dictionary / diksionariong bikol - ingles by Malcolm Warren Mintz and Jose Del Rosario Britanico
Vocabulario de la Lengua Bicol by Marcos de Lisboa
Diccionario Mitologico de Filipinas by Fernando Blumentritt
Relacion de las Yslas Filipinas by Miguel de Loarca
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