Is it possible that different nationalities have different understandings of Mary, and perhaps slip into “worship” of Mary rather than veneration?
It does remind me of something. Before the Spanish came to the Philippines, one of the native peoples dwelling in the islands, the
Tagalogs, believed in one god who is often known as
Bathala (also
Batala, perhaps from Sanskrit
bhaṭṭāra ‘noble lord’; cf. Malay
betara). The people respected Bathala and considered him to be the supreme god, but they offered their worship and sacrifice to lesser ‘deities’, ancestral and nature spirits known as the
anito or
diwata. A 16th century Spanish soldier named Miguel de Loarca once asked the reason for this practice; the answer was that Bathala was such a great god who lived up in the sky that no one could speak to him directly. The
anitos and
diwatas act as the mediators between man and God, so to speak.
Chapter 11. Which treats of the rites and ceremonies observed by the Moros
in the vicinity of Manilla, and of their social conditions
The god Batala. According to the religion formerly observed by these
Moros, they worshiped a deity called among them
Batala, which properly means “God.” They said that they adored this
Batala because he was the Lord of all, and had created human beings and villages. They said that this
Batala had many agents under him, whom he sent to this world to produce, in behalf of men, what is yielded here. These beings were called
anitos, and each
anito had a special office. Some of them were for the fields, and some for those who journey by sea; some for those who went to war, and some for diseases. Each
anito was therefore named for his office; there was, for instance, the
anito of the fields, and the
anito of the rain. To these
anitos the people offered sacrifices, when they desired anything—to each one according to his office. The mode of sacrifice was like that of the
Pintados. They summoned a
catalonan, which is the same as the
vaylan among the Pintados, that is, a priest. He offered the sacrifice, requesting from the
anito whatever the people desired him to ask, and heaping up great quantities of rice, meat, and fish. His invocations lasted until the demon entered his body, when the
catalonan fell into a swoon, foaming at the mouth. The Indians sang, drank, and feasted until the
catalonan came to himself, and told them the answer that the
anito had given to him. If the sacrifice was in behalf of a sick person, they offered many golden chains and ornaments, saying that they were paying a ransom for the sick person’s health. This invocation of the
anito continued as long as the sickness lasted.
When the natives were asked why the sacrifices were offered to the
anito, and not to the
Batala, they answered that the
Batala was a great lord, and no one could speak to him. He lived in the sky; but the
anito, who was of such a nature that he came down here to talk with men, was to the
Batala as a minister, and interceded for them. In some places and especially in the mountain districts, when the father, mother, or other relative dies, the people unite in making a small wooden idol, and preserve it. Accordingly there is a house which contains one hundred or two hundred of these idols. These images also are called
anitos; for they say that when people die, they go to serve the
Batala. Therefore they make sacrifices to these
anitos, offering them food, wine, and gold ornaments; and request them to be intercessors for them before the
Batala, whom they regard as God.
