Many pre-colonial Philippine societies were agricultural, including ancient Kapampangans. As with all ancient societies, natural phenomena were understood through the lens of myth and religion, with ceremonies and festivals performed and celebrated to stay on the good side of the gods and spirits.

In the third installation of my conversation with Mike Pangilinan, administrative officer of the Kapampangan Language Services Unit under the Office of the Mayor and Administrator of the Sinupan Singsing Center for Kapampangan Culture and Heritage, we discussed harvest traditions, some of which exist in different forms to this day.

Pangilinan explained how folklore is deeply intertwined with agriculture. “In Kapampangan, we have the term ‘ariya.’ It’s simply understood as superstition, but it’s actually the old beliefs,” Pangilinan explained. This can refer to traditions that have to do with land preparation and harvest. “We cannot just move or hurt the land without following specific rules.”

For instance, a blood sacrifice must be made before tilling the land, something practiced in many cultures to this day. In Tagalaog, it’s called “padugo,” where an animal, commonly a chicken, is sacrificed to appease the spirits of the land and to ensure a bountiful harvest. In Kapampangan, it’s called “paraya.”

“You cannot just till the land just like that because in our belief, Indung Tibuan, the earth mother, and Yatu, the earth, are on the back of the giant crocodile Dápu. So if you hurt the crocodile, it will get angry. You might cause [an] earthquake. So [before] you hurt it, you have to [perform a] sacrifice. You have to feed it with blood,” Pangilinan said. “We perform paraya every time we till the land or every time we build something. In the case of a rice field, we sacrifice a white [rooster]. The white represents Apu Sinukuan, the sun. It means purity, also death and destruction.”

According to Pangilinan, what we now know as the sport of cockfighting has roots in ancient fertility rituals.

Now it’s just a gambling thing, but before, it was part of the ritual. Because Manalastas, the rooster, is considered a god in Kapampangan belief, man cannot just kill it, so they let the gods decide who [will] die by making them fight each other. There are two colors: red and white. The white represents the sun, Apung Sinukuan, [and] red represents the moon, Apung Mallari. The moon represents life [and] the sun represents death.”

Like sabong now, blades were tied to the ritual roosters’ feet. These were called “tari.” “It was a religious ritual. If the red wins, Apung Mallari wins, light wins. The harvest would be great. If [the] white rooster wins, Apung Sinukuan wins. Death would win. The harvest would fail,” Pangilinan said. “This is part of the ritual to sacrifice before planting, so you already predict what’s going to [happen to] the things that you will plant.”

Humanity’s quest to control every available factor to get their desired outcome has resulted in different beliefs and superstitions. This was especially important when it came to something as important as food production, especially when there are many uncontrollable factors such as pests and weather involved.

Pangilinan said that Kapampangans only planted rice during the new moon, “when there’s no moon and all the stars are out.” “The old folks believe that when the moon is out, all the insects are out as well, and it’s their mating season, so it’s not advisable to plant [then],” Pangilinan explained. “Also, the harvest will be as plentiful as the stars you see in the sky when there’s no moon.”

Another planting superstition, which I heard from a friend which is still practiced on her farm, is that women aren’t allowed to sow seeds when they’re menstruating because “their hands are hot (mainit kamay nila).” Pangilinan affirmed this belief, explaining that it’s “Because they will infect or taint the seeds… The land is female, the seed is female, and the planter is female. So to appease the female, you have to put a man there, especially a young man who’s virile, because [the earth] has to be fertilized. So if all female, it will not be fertile.”

Rice held such importance in ancient Kapampangan society that special agricultural terms were developed solely to refer to its cultivation.

“The first harvest season would be around amihan, when the north wind blows, around October-November,” Panglilinan said. Harvesting rice was called “palut,” while the harvesting of everything esle was called “pupul.”

“With pupul and palut, we celebrate dawun. Dawun is offering. Unfortunately, dawun now is interpreted as November 1. All Saints’ Day. We call All Saints’ Day ‘dawun’ because we go to the graveyard and make offerings to the ancestors.”

Many people see folklore as “old-fashioned.” They don’t understand that these beliefs kept our ancestors safe, helped shape different aspects of our culture, and survive in different forms to this day, sometimes unknowingly practiced by the very people that disparage them!

With special thanks to Karl Gaverza of Philippine Spirits.