SPIRITUAL SELF

Presente
d by:
Leader:
Israel, Princess Bea
Sunshine B.
Members:
Felipe, Diana
Gamazon, Angelica
Guiang, Mary Hazel
Ignacio, Roger 2
Spiritual self
 Search for meaning/essence
 Intuition and interconnectedness to the metaphysical
 Basis for the practice of religion, rituals,
 ceremonies, etc.
>Refers to the Spirituality labels that the human is longing
for a sense of meaning through morally responsible
relationships between diverse individuals, families,
communities, cultures, and religion.
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What is Spirituality?
 Is a belief that people can connect with something that
is beyond mind and matter An aspect of religious
traditions, and also existential value system
 A way of experiencing that comes about through
awareness of supreme dimension and that is
characterized by certain identifiable values in regard to
self, nature, life, and whatever one considers ultimate
 “To be spiritual is to stand in a relationship based on
matters of the soul" - Carson, 1989
.
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Spirit and soul
⊹ Monist ⊹ Dualist
• The soul is immaterial, made of
• Essence of human being that different substance from the body,
which confers individuality and in union with body, and each one
humanity, often considered to be (body & soul) acting on each other
synonymous with the mind or the Body and soul/mind are separate:
self. Inseparable mind and body

• Maurice Merleau Ponty • Socrates Plato St. Augustine Paul Churchland

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  “It is a search for purpose and meaning involving both transcendence
“ and Immanence, regardless of religious affiliation.” - Decker, 1993

 Transcendence - the experience of existence beyond the physical and

psychological refers to an idea of divinity that is wholly separate from
our universe and our universal laws

 Immanence - the discovery of the transcendent in the physical and

psychological refers to the idea of the divine being present in the
world we all inhabit

 According to Christian Theology, the transcendent God, who cannot be

approached or seen in essence or being, becomes immanent primarily
in the God- man Jesus Christ.

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The Practice of Religion:
Belief in Supernatural
Being and Power
 Philippines is the only Christian nation in Asia.

 The Pre-Hispanic belief system of Filipinos consisted of gods, spirits, creatures and
men that guarded the streams, fields, trees, mountains, forests, and houses. (Belief of
the Bathala, and the superior among the gods.)

 Regular sacrifices and prayers were offered to placate these deities and spirits--some
of which were benevolent, some malevolent.

 Wood and metal images represented ancestral spirits, and no distinction was made
between the spirits and theirphysical symbol. Reward or punishment after death was
dependent upon behavior in this life.

 Anyone who had reputed power over the supernatural and natural was
automatically elevated to a position ofprominence
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 Anitism, animism and
bathalism
 Many natives of the archipelago also engaged in ancestor worship —the reverence for
the “anito” or spirits of their ancestors, whom they believed ascended to godhood in
“langit,” literally the Sky world, where a pantheon of deities lived

 Ancestor worship being what it was, idolatry wasn’t far behind: The natives made
representations of their revered and deceased ancestors in the form of anito statues,
also called bulol, carved of local hardwood. These bulol were so called for their
absence of mouths, for the dead no longer speak.

 “Babaylan” is used in the Visayas and parts of Mindanao to refer to women who are
healers, intercessors with the local deities, and keepers of herb-lore, as well as valued
spiritual advisers to the communities’ top echelons and political leaders. The males
who practiced the same rituals are called “bayot” or binabae and they donned
feminine garb when exercising the functions of their office.

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In Luzon, they people who filled these capacities as spiritual
leader and healer were called catalonan,whatever gender they may
be.

 Catholic friars demonized the animism and ancestor worship of

the indios they had been sent to convert, making malignos (evil
spirits) of their mythical creatures, reducing the powerful diwata
(mountain guardians or goddesses) to small fairy creatures like
Tinkerbell of JM Barrie’s Peter Pan, and forced the animist
priestesses and priests to resort to dark magics: Kulam (hexes) and
barang (killing curses)

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The Concept of Dungan and
Ginhawa, Spirit or Soul.
 Animate or inanimate creatures have “souls” or “life force.” (Forget your
religious belief first.) Our ancestors believed in the spirit beings in the
environment, deceased ancestral souls, and to forces in nature (wind, moon,
stars) which are invoked for help

 From the point of view of the “babaylan,” inside the body of a living person
dwells the “dungan” (a companion that co-exists). This “dungan” gives life,
animation, and sensibilities to a person. It can temporarily leave the body at
will(during sleep). It is dangerous for “dungan” to leave the body when the
person is awake. The body would become like a robot that runs out of battery.

 There is another spirit that resides in a person (same person). We call it

“ginhawa” (breath of life). It is the vital force. If “ginhawa” leaves the
person, the body dies. There is no more vital force that would be responsible
for the throbbing of the heart and the beating of the pulse.

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 - “Ginhawa” and “dungan” should be together. “Ginhawa”
provides the vital life force while “dungan” provides the
intellect, emotion, and consciousness. If “dungan” does
not return, the person dies. “Ginhawa” cannot sustain life
without “dungan.” The “dungan” that does not return (and
the body dies) is known as “kalag” (has separated or
disentangled). The “babaylan” can help “kalag” in a
“patulod,” a rite where a “babaylan’ would usher the soul
to proceed to the world of the dead so that the soul will no
longer come back and disturb the living as “murto” (ghost).
a “babaylan” who specializes on “pukaw” (to awaken) rite
could be done, if the family wants to awaken the soul

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Ritual
 The performance of ceremonial acts
prescribed by tradition or by sacerdotal
decree. Ritual is a specific, observable
mode of behavior exhibited by all known
societies. It is thus possible to view ritual
as a way of defining or describing humans

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Ceremony
 A formal act or series of acts prescribed
by ritual, protocol, or convention; a
conventional act of politeness or etiquette;
an action performed only formally with
no deep significance

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Function of
Rituals
 Rituals traditions of Filipinos are best understood in term of their
intentions

 Rituals have several functions. These are rituals to have a good

harvest, ask for the guidance and protection from their ancestors
and unseen forces, to heal the sick, to bring good luck and to
conceive.

 Religious is the ritual is the means through which people relate to

and communicate with the supernatural

 -above all, rituals provide means of marking many important

events and lessening the social disruption and individual suffering
of crises, such as death.
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Various types
of rituals
 Imitative rituals- are patterned after a myth and the ritual repeat
the myth.

 Negative ritual- focuses on the rules of prohibition.

 Sacrificial rituals- are seen as the earliest form of religion.

 Life crisis rituals- are traditions of one mode or stage of life into
another.

For Durkheim and others who use these terms, ritual is determined
mode of action and according to him, the reference, or object, of ritual
is the belief system of a society.

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Rituals and
Ceremony
Ritual, the performance of ceremonial acts prescribed by tradition or by
sacerdotal decree.
Ritual is a specific, observable mode of behaviour exhibited by all known
societies. On the other hand, ceremonies are performed on special
occasions.

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Purpose of rituals
and ceremonies
Achieving a wide set of desired
outcomes, from reducing their anxiety
to boosting their confidence, alleviating
their grief to performing well in a
competition – or even making it rain.

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Examples of Ceremonies

 Baptism
 Graduation
 Retirement
 Death.

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4 function of rituals

1. Provide reliable markers of group

membership
2. Demonstrate commitment to the group
3. Facilitate cooperation with social
coalitions, and
4. Increase social group cohesion

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Example of rituals
Rituals are a feature of all known human societies. They
include not only the worship rites and sacraments of
organized religions and cults, but also rites of passage,
atonement and purification rites, oaths of allegiance,
dedication ceremonies, coronations and presidential
inaugurations, marriages, funerals and more.

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Religion,
Magic and
Witchcraft
According to Durkheim, religious rituals involve the
community, whereas magic involves the individual
only.

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Magic (not the same as illusion
or tricks).
It is a method that interface with the supernatural and by which people can bring about
particular outcomes.Gives people a sense of control on what is going to happen.

How does magic affects our spiritual self?

It there any magic ritual that you do? What are those? Do you think it has affected the way
you make your decision?

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• Why do people go to magic?
- In the past those set of actions might have brought good ending, hence to make sure the result
would also be good person will replicate all the acts done.
- If the magic did not work, it will be rationalized as saying, that person might have done some
procedures wrong and not because the magic did not work.
For as long as somebody will evil in another, that is witchcraft.
Often associated with the work of the devil. One person might be practicing all three at
the same time ( religion, magic and withcraft) .

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 The three ways of discovering
meaning in life
1. 2. 3.
By creating work or By experiencing By the attitude we take
doing a deep- find something or toward unavoidable
value in the things that encountering someone. suffering. This
we do. When people emphasizes that even in
experience something suffering, one can find
positive like goodness, meaning in life where
love, beauty or just one can turn one’s
merely experiencing predicament into
culture and nature. triumph.

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Thankyou for
listening!
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