#precolonial Philippines

[pinoy-culture]

Happy Winter Solstice!

As someone who is Filipino, Pagan, and practices our pre-colonial beliefs and practices, I thought I'd share a post on whether or not our ancestors knew of or celebrated the Winter Solstice. What did they observe in the night sky? How did the stars guide them as they celebrated during this time of year?

[belleillumina]

Precolonial Philippines (Visayas Region) - Hatsune Miku

Late to the trend and not 100% accurate in terms of the clothing (still researching on them), but something fun to do outside the main projects.

Timelapse

[faefum]

pre-colononial visayan miku because... because BECAUSE

[leng-m]

A couple of sketches from my novella, Metalmade. I meant to post this back in February for the 2nd-year anniversary of its launch, but I got sick and didn't have the energy to finish it until now.

It's about a sentient robot that gets tasked to spy on a taho-peddler to determine if he's actually an aswang in disguise, but despite her best efforts, she gets quite befuddled by him. That conversation they're having in the 2nd pic was so much fun to write.

Actually this whole novella was so much fun to write, and I have quite a few ideas for Yaya and Digan's adventures in Sagabilang, so a possible sequel is not off the table!

[notcaptainjack]

[arkipelagic]

From Museum × Stories at Museo Iloilo:

In the 14th and 15th centuries, pre-colonial Filipinos practiced secondary burials, a fascinating ritual where the bones of the deceased were carefully cleaned and placed in coffins made of hardwood. Archaeological discoveries in caves across Western Visayas reveal that these burials were often preceded by elaborate rites. The presence of deformed skulls in many coffins suggests that cranial modification may have played a role in these practices.

One remarkable find was a burial containing a skeleton adorned with gold eye and nose ornaments, declared a National Cultural Treasure. Called the Oton Gold Death Mask is now displayed at National Museum Western Visayas right beside Museo Iloilo. Alongside the burial, 15th-century Chinese, Siamese, and Annamese porcelain were unearthed, highlighting the region's thriving trade connections during that era.

Also in the town of Oton, other burials revealed a wealth of artifacts, including trade ceramics, locally made pottery, iron tools, beads, and semi-precious stones. Additional discoveries included glass and shell bracelets, earthen net weights, spindle whorls, and teeth decorated with gold pegs—symbols of status and wealth. These finds provide a window into the vibrant cultural and trade networks of pre-colonial Panay.

[artstar1997]

Here it is, two of my favorite OCxCanon ships by @jade-green-butterfly. Since John Dory is two of the BroZone members I didn’t give a precolonial makeover so I decided to add Amalthea, his GF who is a space troll, a species made by @x-elyssa-x, as well as Prince Cooper and Jussy, my first fave ship.

Since women in the precolonial era have the same kinship rights as men, they are treated as companions and equals. Amalthea has a scroll made of tree bark and bamboo that Lux also carries because I see her as studying stars as an astrologer. As for Jussy, she had already passed being a binukot, ready to marry Cooper. For anyone who doesn’t know the lost history, binukot is a pre-colonial Visayan tradition from the Philippines that secludes a young woman with the expectation that seclusion will result in a higher value placed on the girl by marital suitors in the future. It originally applied to young noblewomen. The name literally means "wrapped up" or "veiled" in Visayan languages, in the sense of seclusion.

[anincurabledisease]

A little fun fact about Helena

Her native tongue/language is called Baybayin, it's one of the precolonial writing systems used by early Filipinos.

more information under cut & photos of it, as my rambles ended up being longer than it should have

[ these were the only ones I found that wasn't modernized ]

[ here's the modernized version though :) ]

If the font is right, this should be her name is Baybayin.

Although, mind you, I've run her name through several translations [because I have no way in hell to find out how to manually do it] and it's all different. The one I used in the image is a translating font I took, and made in ibis paint.

1. ᜑᜁᜎᜁᜈᜀ

2.

I couldn't copy n paste

3. Hᜁᜎᜒᜈ [the H was already there 😭]

4. ᜑᜒᜎᜒᜈ

So, it may not be accurate as portrayed. I've tried to do more research, and there are some sources shown that you can spell her name, but in some don't. So it's a bit of a mess, really.

It isn't exactly helping that the name Helena originates from Greek, so I think, it's even harder to translate it. Iirc, two of the sites said 'filipino to baybayin', and I don't know if it matters in the long run or not

as if she totally doesn't have a tagalog name ahem AHEM

Feel free to correct me but please don't be harsh, or too straightforward [because I'll possibly mistake you're mad at me, I struggle at reading tones.] I've tried 🥲

[blueshirezz-2]

In 11th, century BC. My Precolonial Filipino ancestors discovers A giant reptilian monster who collapse and dies in Philippines :

[werreuben]

Pre-Colonial Tagalog Nobleman Early 15th Century Philippines.

I read a bit about Jean-Paul Potet's book regarding Filipino fashion and it opened my eyes on the major differences Tagalog Men wore compared to the usual depiction of Precolonial Fashion that mostly borrows from Visayan depictions.

Particularly how Tagalog often wore their hair short and sometimes still utilize the Bahag. And used feather plumes as ornaments to their putongs. Hence, I decided to draw how I imagined them in my bead based on the description.

Just so you know I'm still learning how to incorporate backgrounds so if the background seems a bit off-puting I'm still learning the basics.

[maya-chirps]

Do you know anything about pre-colonial ilokano culture? Like any practices, myths etc :)

Precolonial Ilokano culture has also been on my radar especially since I myself am of Ilokano descent actually! My ties to the culture had been severed by my Ilokano grandfather after a falling out with his family, but I might be able to get together some sources and articles on precolonial Ilocos some other time.

One of the most popular myths from the Ilokos region that is often taught in schools even outside the area is the Life of Lam-Ang or Biag ni Lam-Ang. This story follows Lam-Ang and different parts of his life from before his birth and up to his peaceful life after all of his adventures. You can read it here alongside a collection of other epics from other Filipino ethnic groups and an English translation here (thanks to a Christian school's English class lol)

From quick research, an article by Jordan Clark of the Aswang Project lists the 1978 book Handbook of Philippine Language Groups as source for knowing the early Ilokano pantheon or at least the generally accepted Ilokano pantheon.

This book identifies Buni as the supreme being of the pantheon, who, from other sources I've seen, is often referenced as someone who has tasked the giants with creation. I can't seem to find the specific myth that exactly references how the world had come to be. Parsua was also identified as a creation deity.

Then there are the deities related to different nature-related and weather-related things which are listed as Apo Langit (Lord Heaven), Apo Angin (Lord Wind), Apo Init (Lord Sun), and Apo Tudo (Lord Rain).

There are also variations listed within the article that had been referenced to have come from the book published in 1952 called the Historical and Cultural Data of Provinces specifically from Vigan, Ilocos Sur, although it seems to have more outsider influence.

Here's the plain-text from the article since it's pretty difficult to find other sources of this myth other than the book and the article:

Cabalangegan was formerly a jungle at the edge of the river Abra. On the far side of the river were mountains high and steep. On these mountains lived an old man named Abra, the father of Caburayan. The old man lived and controlled the weather. It is said that the river Abra was a gathering of water vapor, shaded, and the days were always bright with sunlight. At that time Anianihan, God of Harvests, was in love with Anianihan, Goddess of Healing. Her mother, Lady Makiling knew about their mutual understanding, but Abra did not know it for the three were afraid to tell him since he might punish them as he disapproved of Anianihan. Abra wanted his daughter to marry either Saguday, God of the Wind, or Revenador, God of Thunder and Lightning. This being so, Anianihan took Caburayan from her home. Abra wept a great deal. He sent Lady Makiling away after beating her. When Abra was alone, he wept day and night till Bulan, God of Peace and Calm, came. But though Bulan was there to brighten Abra’s spirits, Abra did not stop weeping. He could not express his anger. He begged the other gods to bring back his daughter. One day the sun, eye of Amman, shone so bright that the water of the river Abra was excessively heated. Smoke rose from the river. Soon, thick, black clouds began to darken the sky. Then Saguday sent the strongest wind until the crowns of the trees brushed the ground. The god Revenador sent down the largest strings of fire. The heaviest of rains fell. All these frightful events lasted seven days. The river Abra then rose and covered the trees. There rose a vast body of water and the highest part of the mountain could be seen. It looked like the back of a turtle from a distance. At this spot Abra lived. On the seventh day, Abra heard a cry. He also heard a most sorrowful song. Abra dried his tears and looked around, but he saw no one. He determined to find Maria Makiling, his grandchild. He did not find her for the cries of the baby had stopped. The search for the baby lasted three full moons, but to no avail and the poor old man returned to his home very sad. He lost all hope. His wits were gone. At that time Maria Makiling was under the care of the fierce dog Lobo, that was under a god of the Underworld. He had been punished by the other gods and that is why he looked like a fierce dog. He was sent down to do charity.

From just the story alone, there's some obvious influences from other cultures such as one of the deities mentioned, Lady Makiling, the mother of Caburayan, having come from Laguna, as well as the usage of the word Lobo to name a fierce dog with the word having come from Spanish.

This may be the reason why this myth isn't regarded as highly as a more authentic version of the precolonial Ilocano pantheon although it is an interesting story still.

I do want to learn more about Ilocano precolonial culture too but that's all I have for now! Hopefully it's informative enough especially since finding sources outside the Aswang Project website is rather difficult.

[pinoy-culture]

✨️📸 Ready to book your Filipino cultural photoshoot?

I am currently accepting bookings for early 2025! I've also included new dates for Chicago and Boston! Chicago dates are still being determined, but it will be in one of the weekends in April.

I am still planning out the rest of the year. But, I've listed the future places I'm planning on heading to in the later part of 2025 to 2026.

If you want to do a photoshoot with me next year, visit my website and fill out my contact form. ✨️

Website Link: https://thepinayphotographer.mypixieset.com/contact/

[samanthakgarner]

Historical inspiration for my fantasy novel: Pre-colonial Philippines

Seeker of the Lost Song is a historically-inspired fantasy novel merging medieval Finnish & pre-colonial Filipino elements, and I wanted to share two elements of Filipino history I included.

☼ 1) Dulang, a low table ☼

One of my favourite tidbits from my research is that pre-colonial Filipinos ate at a low table, sitting on the floor. Part of me worries that readers will think “Hey you stole that from Japan!” but I’m excited for the chance to show my people at their own low table, eating rice with their hands.

☼ 2) The balangay boat ☼

Another pre-colonial Filipino element I included in the book was a balangay, an ancient Filipino boat that’s recently come back into the public consciousness, with ancient boats being excavated and working replicas made. A quote from this article in STARweek, from one of the people who worked to rebuild the balangay, really resonated with me:

“It is very sad because we are a maritime people. We should be gifted and natural in the waters but colonialization robbed us of that consciousness. I am doing this to help rekindle that spirit”

The balangay that appears in my novel has a double outrigger (something that always feels so Filipino to me), but essentially it’s a larger version of the sketch pictured.  And I have to admit, the scenes on the balangay did stir something in me. Something ancient and ancestral, perhaps?

Seeker’s as-yet-unnamed sequel also features elements of pre-colonial Filipino history, but more on that at another time. Suffice it to say I’m enjoying this opportunity to learn more about the history of my people and use it in a fantasy setting!

[greysbadart]

A Filipino demigod npc for a dnd campaign!

[nickysfacts]

The Asog is one of many examples of how transphobia, sexism, and racism are the lasting legacy of colonization.

🏳️‍⚧️🇵🇭

[anitosoul]