El Renascimento: Unveiling the Metaphorical Meaning of Bathala

Authors

  • Palmo Iya De La Salle university - Dasmarinas, Philippines Author

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.63931/pasrj.21.7

Keywords:

Bathala, Bahala na, Baybayin, religion and spirituality, modernism, postmodernism, indigenization

Abstract

The author attempts to unravel the tenets of modernism versus the tenets of postmodernism and how the principles of the latter become popular especially with the onset of post colonial studies. This paper explores the effects of the proliferation of postmodernist paradigm that led to the creation of various indigenization movements to those societies which were once colonized like the Philippines. It mainly highlights the revival of the ancient Filipino system of belief on Bathala (Bahala), the ancient Filipino Supreme God through the interpretation of the symbols of Baybayin, the ancient Filipino system of writing. This paper finally addresses the need for a discourse on the renaissance of the precolonial culture in the Philippines particularly in the field of religion. Thus, by uncovering the meaning of Bathala, this author believes that the present Filipino generation will be able to understand and appreciate the roots of their spirituality.

References

Agoncillo, T. (1980). Ang Pilipinas at ang mga Pilipino noon at ngayon. Quezon City: Garotech Publishing.

Aneesh, A., Hall, L., and Petro, P. ed. (2011). Beyond globalization: Making new worlds in media, art, and social practices. New Jersey: Rutgers University Press.

Bautista, M. (2001). The social sciences in the Philippines: Reflections on trends and developments. In Philippine Review of Economics Vol. XXXVIII, No. 1, June 2001.

Boroujerdi, M. (2004). Subduing globalization: The challenge of the indigenization movement. New York Syracuse University Press.

Daly, P. (2003). Bahala meditation: A personal renewal of Filipino spiritual practice. Taken from www.babaylan.com; retrieved July 20, 2013.

(2013). Fertility symbols, feminine principle and "ba". Taken from http://baybayinalive.blogspot.com/search?q=fertility+symbols, retrieved July 18, 2013.

(2013). Meanings and diwa (idea or spirit) within "Bakala" and "Bathala". Taken from http://baybayinalive.blogspot.com/search/label/The%20Bahala%20Meditations, retrieved July 18, 2013.

Delos Reyes, I. (2002). The religion of the katipunan or the old beliefs of the Filipinos. Quezon City: The Toyota Foundation, University of the Philippines Press.

Enriquez, V. (1994). From colonial to liberation psychology: The Philippine experience. Manila: De La Salle University Press.

Jocano, F. (1998). Filipino prehistory: Rediscovering precolonial heritage. Metro Manila: PUNLAD Research House, Inc.

Magos, A. (2004). Towards indigenization: Responses, challenges, and experiences in the Philippines. Berghahn Books.

Mendoza, L. (2007). Theoretical advances in the discourse of indigenization. From Atoy Navarro and Flordeliza Lagbao-Bolante, eds. Mga Babasahın sa Agham Panlipunang Pilipino: Sikolohiyang Pilipino, Pilipinolohiya, at Pantayong Pananaw. Lungsod Quezon: C & E Publishing, 2007, mph. 241-297.

Miralao, V. ed. (1999). The history and development of social science disciplines in the Philippines. Quezon City: Philippine Social Science Center, in The Philippine Social Sciences in the Life of the Nation, Vol. 1.

Morrow, P. (2002). Baybayin- The ancient script of the Philippines. Taken from http://www.mts.net/-pmorrow/baynotes htm, retrieved July 18, 2013.

______________.(2009). Da Bathala code. The Pilipino Express, June 16-30, 2009; Vol. 5 No. 12. Taken from http://www.pilipino-express.com/Instory-a-culture/in-other-words/460-the-bathala-code, retrieved July 18, 2013.

Olivares, J. (2013). The baybayin: Musings on a forgotten history. Taken from https://www.facebook.com/notes/john-paul-lakan-olivares/the-baybayin-musings-on-a-forgotten-history/10151319075301185, retrieved July 18, 2013.

Paterno, P. (1915). La Antigua civilizacion de Filipinas. Manila: Tip. Linotype del Colegio de Sto. Tomas. Taken from ahz9230.0001.001.umich.edu.pdf, retrieved July 18, 2013.

Perry, M. (1993). An intellectual history of modern Europe. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company.

Salazar, Z. (1991). Ang antayong pananaw bilang diskursong pangkabihasnan. In V.V. Bautista & R. Pe-Pua (eds.) Pilipinolohiya: Kasaysayan, Pilosopiya, at Pananaliksik. Manila: Kalikasan Press.

Scott, W. (1997). Barangay: Sixteenth-century Philippine culture and society. Quezon City: Ateneo University Press.

Tolentino, G. (1937). Ang wika at baybaying Tagalog.

Downloads

Published

2025-04-05 — Updated on 2025-06-30

Versions

Issue

Vol. 2 No. 1 (2016): PASR Journal: Religion in the 21st Century: National Canopy Forum on Theory, Methods, and Research

Section

Articles

License

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.

How to Cite

Iya, P. (2025). El Renascimento: Unveiling the Metaphorical Meaning of Bathala. Philippine Association for the Sociology of Religion Journal, 2(1), 1-25. https://doi.org/10.63931/pasrj.21.7 (Original work published 2025)