![]() Anito can be divided into two main categories: the ancestor spirits ( ninunò), and deities and nature spirits ( diwata). As well as Tao anito, Taivoan alid, Seediq and Atayal utux, Bunun hanitu or hanidu, and Tsou hicu among Taiwanese aborigines. Cognates in other Austronesian cultures include the Micronesian aniti, Malaysian and Indonesian hantu or antu, Nage nitu, and Polynesian atua and aitu. These spirits are collectively known as anito, derived from Proto-Malayo-Polynesian *qanitu and Proto-Austronesian *qaNiCu ("spirit of the dead"). They believed that everything has a spirit, from rocks and trees to animals and humans to natural phenomena. ![]() The belief in anito are sometimes referred to as Anitism in scholarly literature (Spanish: anitismo or anitería). The act of worship or a religious sacrifice to a spirit is also sometimes simply referred to as anito. When a nature spirit or deity is specifically involved, the ritual is called pagdiwata. Pag-anito refers to a séance, often accompanied by other rituals or celebrations, in which a shaman ( Visayan: babaylan, Tagalog: katalonan) acts as a medium to communicate directly with the spirits. Anito (a term predominantly used in Luzon) is also sometimes known as diwata in certain ethnic groups (especially among Visayans). It can also refer to carved humanoid figures, the taotao, made of wood, stone, or ivory, that represent these spirits. Taotao carvings sold in a souvenir shop in Siquijor IslandĪnito, also spelled anitu, refers to ancestor spirits, nature spirits, and deities in the indigenous Philippine folk religions from the precolonial age to the present, although the term itself may have other meanings and associations depending on the Filipino ethnic group.
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