The Philippine Online Chronicles

A casual visit to Quiapo Church on any given day can give anyone an idea of the superstitious nature of the typical Filipino. Here and there, around the vicinity of the church, can be seen various traders and practitioners of religion and the occult. In this motley array of vast and rich cultural traditions, the scapular and rosary vendors, the fortune tellers, and the amulet sellers mix and mingle to make this part of Manila the center of divination and mysticism in the Philippines.

The merchants of the occult  occupy a huge space around the Quiapo Church. Most sellers have a makeshift stall composed of a small table and small baskets where they put all their occult merchandise that cater to the Filipino curiosity: from amulets, to herbal medicines, books on folk healing, love potions, elixirs, and various other objects such as odd-shaped stones, gems, crystals, and other freaks of nature called the mutya.

From my own interviews with several of these occult vendors, I found that the anting-anting (amulets) are the bestsellers among the various magical objects that they sell. Many people buy them: men and women, young and the old. The anting-anting pieces are priced according to size and materials used. Generally, the bigger the size the more expensive it would be. Of course, the material used also determines the price: an anting-anting cast in expensive red bronze commands a slightly higher price than that in cheaper yellow bronze. The amulets range in price anywhere between 20 to 700 pesos.

There are hundreds of designs to choose from, ranging from the medallion of the Infinito Dios, the Santissima Trinidad, the Infinita Dios, to that of the various other lesser gods, angels, and saints of Folk Catholic mythology. The anthropomorphic figures of the Gods are often accompanied by mysterious initials and cabalistic inscriptions in Latin and Tagalog. Many of these initials are actually the numerous names of God and the power words (oraciones) that He had spoken. They are written in initials because they are meant to be secret and not spoken or uttered, not unlike the belief of the Jews who want God’s name hidden, and thus removed the vowels of God’s name in the scriptures, leaving it to be read as YHWH or YHVH, which cannot be pronounced because of the absence of vowels.

In the anting-anting, the removal of vowels is not deemed necessary. It is already enough to put the initials of God. Thus many initials that can be found on the anting-anting are read as A.A.A, M.M.M., L.M., H.A.H., J.A.H., O.I.A., and so on, which are all the various names of the Infinito Dios, the Infinita Dios, or the Santissima Trinidad.

At present the anting-anting is still popular and many people still buy it. It is hard to tell if people buy because they genuinely believe in it, or because they are just curious about it. But for the faithful, the anting-anting has a variety of purposes: for making one impervious to bullets and knives (kabal at kunat); for the ability to be invisible to enemies (tagabulag); for power to control the elements (impasibilidad); for making one attractive to the opposite sex (gayuma); for luck in business and gambling; for protection against illnesses; and for safety from the ghouls and evil elementals of Philippine folklore: the tikbalang, kapre, mangkukulam, nuno sa punso and the itim na dwende.

The Filipino philosophy of “wala namang mawawala kung maniniwala” plays an important role in the culture of the anting-anting. There is nothing wrong in believing something that one cannot prove to be effective, unless one is hacked by a bolo and either survived or killed. But there is no shortage of genuinely honest people who swear in their honor that an anting-anting saved their lives or made their lives worthwhile. In Cavite and Batangas for instance, I met many aged anting-anting people who told me fascinating stories about how they survived assassinations, accidents, and life-threatening illnesses because the anting-anting protected them. One only has to have faith for the anting-anting to achieve its powers.

I myself subscribe to the concept of “wala namang mawawala kung manininiwala.” There is nothing wrong in believing unless the belief limits your abilities as an individual. The anting- anting does the opposite by providing inspiration that God is with the common people, and that in these modern era of high technology, the anting-anting can still provide hope and faith to the oppressed people. God would reward their faith and devotion with His protection and blessing.

Indeed my friends and colleagues started treating me differently when they discovered that I was keeping a collection of anting-anting. They thought that amulets are only worn by superstitious and weird people. But what if the anting-anting really has the power to save me from harm, illness, and other evil things? What if by a freak accident I get hit by a truck and survive? One thing is for sure, however. I always cross the street with extreme caution, even though I may carry an anting-anting in my pocket. I will never test the power of the anting-anting as it is tantamount to challenging the power of God.

During the Philippine-American War, many so-called “insurrectos” fought the better-armed Americans with only their bolos and anting-anting. One of those killed was featured in the book “Harper’s History of the War in the Philippines” in 1899, an “insurrecto” who was wearing an anting-anting vest of the Infinito Dios that proved no match for the gunfire of the Americans.

It astonished the Americans that the “insurrectos” had the courage to face the superiorly-armed U.S. Army:

“Why did not these men surrender? It was an exhibition of solid heroism, the like of which I shall not see again. At least over the graves of these men, whose actions we cannot quite understand, should be written the word “heroes." Many of these men wore anting-anting or charms to preserve life….”

More recently, during the Lapiang Malaya massacre of 1967, those killed were found to be wearing the supposedly magical vests that could turn bullets into snakes and make them fall harmlessly. But as it happened, the bullets easily tore through the vests and flesh of the Lapiang Malaya kapatid. Tatang Valentin Delos Santos, the spiritual leader of the Lapiang Malaya also died violently—allegedly beaten by an inmate in the National Mental Hospital where the Supremo was confined as a lunatic.

I think that the reason why the anting-anting failed is that Filipinos who use them become very fatalistic. Their utter disregard for safety and caution led into their own doom. This brings to mind another of those old Filipino sayings that may have significance to the anting-anting: “nasa tao ang gawa, nasa Diyos ang awa.” People who believe in the power of the anting-anting must also exercise caution and discipline and not become foolish and defy logic. Imagine what faith, reason, and hard work can do to defeat evil.

Be that as it may, the anting-anting still plays a significant role in the social psychology of the Filipino people. Most people who believe in them come from the lower strata of society, the common folk who are deprived of wealth and social power but who nevertheless gain spiritual and psychological powers through the anting-anting.

The anting-anting evolved from being a magical object that protects the Filipinos from evil and harm to religious objects that serve as temporary or even permanent receptacles of God. The anting-anting is thus worshipped as God itself, or his various forms and representations. In this conceptual framework, God becomes a genie which, through proper devotion, faith, and mysterious incantations, can be summoned to protect the believer from evil and harm. Through the oraciones, the believer achieves a unity, a oneness with the Infinito Dios and is thus able to gain God’s qualities that can make him a superman -- a man bearing the powers of God, because through his faith and hard work, the old Bible saying is applied to them: You shall be as gods.

The "anting-anting" group in Quiapo

Photos: by Dennis Villegas

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Dennis Villegas is a college lecturer based in Manila. He dabbles in art and photography in his spare time.