The Oracle
As you enter the Pinto Art Museum, a chapel-like structure called The Oracle will greet you. Intrigued, you will enter the building and see old images of Catholic Saints and the Virgin Mary confined in a prison-cell-like room. But what really stood out inside the ‘chapel’ are two sculptures; an elderly woman, and a tree with a face. On the tree branches, sampaguita garlands which are used to venerate images and statues in honor the holy people represented, are hanged. The whole structure is very intriguing and speaks of something.
This structure shows how Catholicism in the Philippines is influenced by pagan practices. Offerings and garlands (used to venerate saints) being given to the statue of the tree symbolizes the animistic belief of the Filipinos. Also, the elderly woman at the center of what seems to be an altar may represent the albularyo or even witches or mangkukulam. It speaks about how Catholicism is mixed with superstitious beliefs that have been passed on from one generation to another. It may also speak of how Filipino Catholics tend to believe and trust faith healers and the occult practitioners, to the point of setting aside the true teachings of the faith.
Filipinos, however, cannot be blamed if they can’t let go of pagan and occult practices, since these were the norms before Christianity was introduced to us by the Spaniards. From a pious Catholic’s perspective, of course, one cannot “…serve two masters” (Matthew 6:24), as the Sacred Scripture says. A Catholic should not believe in the Christian God and at the same time have faith in the occult. However, using the structural-functionalist lens, the mixture of Catholicism and Filipino Paganism is good for the survival of the Filipino cultural practices and the Filipino society itself. This is because Alfred Reginald Radcliffe-Brown, a renowned structural-functionalist, emphasizes the importance of minimal integration for the society’s survival. The Filipino culture and society cannot survive if the all Filipinos will fully practice Catholicism, since it will result to the eradication of some cultural practices.
This, and much more artworks inside the Pinto Art Museum are waiting for your insights and ideas. Come and explore this museum to understand the Filipino culture by analyzing Filipino art!