ssp 112 - customs of the tagalogs

Juan de Placencia

The Customs of the Tagalogs is a narrative on the established culture of the Tagalogs in Luzon written by a Fransiscan missionary since 1578 - 1590

datos

chiefs

barangay

tribal gathering

maharlica/ nobles, aliping namamahay/ commoners, aliping sa guiguilir/ slaves

3 castes

maharlica/ nobles

They did not pay tax or tribute to the dato, but must accompany him in war, at their own expense.

tingues

mountain ridges

aliping namamahay/ commoners

They are married, and serve their master, whether he be a dato or not, with half of their cultivated lands, as was agreed upon in the beginning. They accompanied him whenever he went beyond the island, and rowed for him. They live in their own houses, and are lords of their property and gold.

aliping sa guiguilir/ slaves

They serve their master in his house and on his cultivated lands, and may be sold. The master grants them, should he see fit, and providing that he has profited through their industry, a portion of their harvests, so that they may work faithfully.

inaasava

unmarried woman

simbahan

means a temple or place of adoration;

pandot/ worship

when they wished to celebrate a festival, which they called ___ they celebrated it in the large house of a chief.

sibi

temporary shed on each side of the house, with a roof, called ___ to protect the people from the wet when it rained.

sorihile

small lamps

nagaanitos

During this time the whole barangay, or family, united and joined in the worship which they call

Badhala

whom they especially worshiped. The title seems to signify “all powerful,” or “maker of all things.”

sun

They also worshiped the ___, which, on account of its beauty, is almost universally respected and honored by heathens

moon

They worshiped, too, the __, especially when it was new, at which time they held great rejoicings, adoring it and bidding it welcome.

tala

morning star

the Pleiades

“seven little goats”

mapolon

change of seasons

Balatic

Greater Bear

lic-ha

They possessed many idols called ___, which were images with different shapes;

Dian masalanta

the patron of lovers and of generation.

Lacapati and Idianale

the patrons of the cultivated lands and of husbandry.

buaya/ crocodiles

water lizards

sun-time and water-time

The winter and summer are distinguished as

catolonan

poetic songs sung by the officiating priest, male or female, who is called

mangagauay/ witches

who deceived by pretending to heal the sick.

manyisalat

same as magagauay. These priests had the power of applying such remedies to lovers that they would abandon and despise their own wives, and in fact could prevent them from having intercourse with the latter.

mancocolam

whose duty it was to emit fire from himself at night, once or oftener each month.

hocloban

Without the use of medicine, and by simply saluting or raising the hand, they killed whom they chose. But if they desired to heal those whom they had made ill by their charms, they did so by using other charms.

silagan

if they saw anyone clothed in white, to tear out his liver and eat it, thus causing his death. This, like the preceding, was in the island of Catanduanes.

magtatangal

his purpose was to show himself at night to many persons, without his head or entrails. In such wise the devil walked about and carried, or pretended to carry, his head to different places; and, in the morni ng, returned it to his body—remaining, as before, alive.

osuang

equivalent to “sorcerer;” they say that they have seen him fly, and that he murdered men and ate their flesh. This was among the Visayas Islands; among the Tagalos these did not exist.

mangagayoma

They made charms for lovers out of herbs, stones, and wood, which would infuse the heart with love. Thus, did they deceive the people, although sometimes, through the intervention of the devil, they gained their ends.

sonat

which is equivalent to “preacher.” It was his office to help one to die, at which time he predicted the salvation or condemnation of the soul. It was not lawful for the functions of this office to be fulfilled by others than people of high standing, on account of the esteem in which it was held.

pangatahojan

was a soothsayer, and predicted the future.

bayoguin

signified a “cotquean,” a man whose nature inclined toward that of a woman.

maca

“paradise,” or, in other words, “village of rest.”

casanaan

“a place of anguish;