Comparing Five Tribal Animistic Belief Systems

2006-09-09

Animism is a universal belief framework in which tribal people view the world. Though this framework is generally the same in all tribal settings (that there is a spirit world that is actively involved in their world that needs to be appeased), the practices are often very different. The following case study will evaluate the similarities and differences of five people groups: two from the Philippines, one from South America, one from Papua New Guinea and one from Indonesia. The names of the tribes have purposely been withheld.

Similarities of spirit world beliefs that affect lives and worldview: Among some of these groups, there is some agreement in cosmology. The first Filipino tribe states that there are multiple earths existing together. The South American tribe agrees in multiple strata of earth, where there are four tiers. Three of these tiers are as follows: the top tier is barren, and the second tier is a spirit world that is much like a carbon copy of the world of the living, only a spirit world. The bottom of the second tier is where the sun and the stars were stuck. The third tier is the world of the living. They may not agree on the specifics, but there is agreement on there being more than one earth.

There is some agreement on the role of a creator god among some of the groups. The people group in Papua New Guinea believes the sun is the creator of all things, but is aloof from the people. It is the spirits that were created to deal with humankind, and to deal harshly with them. The first Filipino tribe believes the same thing: that he is a rather anthropomorphic figure that sits back and smokes a pipe, while the spirit world is interacting with the people. The belief in spirits exists in all animistic peoples by definition, and this includes these five groups. In these groups, communicating with the spirit world to manipulate them is far more important than trying to contact the creator god.

Using of shamans and other mediators to interact with the spirit world is common in all five groups, though the specifics may differ. In the Indonesian tribe, some practitioners offered various herbs and medicines, while others did elaborate rituals to come up with the healing ritual that needed to be done. The spirit would also speak through the shaman to give this wisdom. In the case of the Papua New Guinea group, it was very much the same: how the spirit would speak to the shaman and the shaman would offer to suck through a pipe where one may be hurting to remove and dispose of the painful source. The witchdoctor in the first Filipino tribe was consulted to find the source of the sickness and/or find a way to appease the spirits who caused the sickness.

The belief in omens and superstition are also common amongst the people groups. For the first Filipino tribe, it was feared that if one hears the pitpit bird before going on a long journey, it was a bad omen, and that it was best to turn around. For the second Filipino tribe, they had to call on a certain spirit if one were leaving the house to go on a hunt. When one started planting a garden among this people group, one had to call upon i-oma to ask permission. The first tribe also had their own rituals when planting crops. The South American tribe feared leaving bare footprints behind because someone could take it and put a curse on them. The first Filipino tribe had a similar superstition that if hair or nails were left behind, one could put a curse on them.

Dreams also have a supernatural element to them. Many groups believe that when one is asleep, their spirit will leave their body and have the experience they see in the dream. This is the case in the South American tribe and the first Filipino tribe. What they see in their dreams is counted as fact. The South American tribe can provide descriptions of spirits from their dreams, and it is considered the same as if they would have seen one while conscious.

The most obvious connection between all of these groups is that they are spiritually enslaved without Christ. In some cases it is because they do not have knowledge about some things, such as germs. They believe that offended ancestors, spirits or enemies cause sicknesses. But nonetheless, because they are well aware of the spirit realm, there is real power there that keeps them in fear. In the first Filipino tribe, along with the tribes that tribes in Papua New Guinea and Indonesia, the shamans either talk in other voices or at least are considered to be speaking the words of a spirit. This alone is cause enough to put fear into the lives of the people. Since people from these groups call on shamans and other practitioners, there must be a good percentage of times where their work is successful. In the South American tribe, there is often instant relief when a person gets their footprint back. In another group, a diviner found the precise location of a lost dog. The causes for this could be among many things, including created reality, which can include placing faith in a ritual or story, coincidence, or demonic manipulation.

Differences in practices that have resulted from their spirit world beliefs: Though the framework is the same, the practices of the groups are very different. First, it is worthy to mention that the number of spirits in each animistic religious system is different. In the second Filipino tribe, there are only 23 spirits in total. In the New Guinea tribe, there are thousands of spirits. As a result, the practices that result are a bit different. For the second Filipino tribe, if one gets sick, the corresponding herb of the particular spirit must be found, boiled, and then one must drink, inhale the fumes of, or eat it. The practices of the Indonesian tribe were quite unique in how the shaman would diagnose a cure of a sickness. Though some would give plants or herbal medicines as a cure, there were more complex processes that other types of shaman would offer. The more involved way included the shaman wearing women’s clothes, creating a swing to swing on and chanting on it. The shaman’s language would then change to unfamiliar language. Then the shaman would pass out, and awaken later to be under the spirit’s control. Following this, the spirit would diagnose the cure, which may include hanging a food offering at a designated location. This process would take from dusk until at least dawn.

The practice of becoming a shaman would also differ. Any man from the South American tribe could become a shaman if he wanted or felt impelled to be one. Physical suffering was a part, as there were dietary restrictions and hallucinogenic drugs involved. The shaman from the second Filipino tribe had to be a man initiated into manhood, and the office was hereditary, being transferred from father to son.

Rituals corresponding to life events would be different in each tribe. For the second Filipino tribe, the birth ritual would not be too spiritual in the case of a normal birth, but would be spiritual in the case of a problem with the birth. For the first Filipino tribe, parents would not name their child until a later age. If a baby died, it was not considered human, but only a spirit. As for the Indonesian tribe, all rituals, including the birth ritual, would include killing an animal.

Some tribes had similar rituals that were means to different ends. The first Filipino tribe would hang jawbones in their homes for spiritual purposes, while the second did the same practice to either show that they were a good hunter or orator.

They all seek to control nature or the spirits, but do so in different ways. The first Filipino tribe gives a particular idol a bath in order to make it rain. For the second, they ask permission of the i-oma, the spirit of the garden, to plant gardens and palasikan, the spirit of the river, to go fishing. This is done so that either they or their families would not get sick. For the tribal person in the New Guinea tribe, one must make sacrifices before one can cook a pig. A person from the South American tribe can manipulate spirits to kill another person from their tribe. The shaman in the Indonesian tribe can manipulate the spirits into revealing how to remedy illness. Belief that manipulation of nature and/or spirits can be possible is a reality in all five tribal groups.

Accounting the similarities between the tribal groups’ beliefs: There are several hypotheses one can put forward in regards to why some of the beliefs are so similar. Many will be presented, and then the most viable one will be explained at the end of the discussion.

One reason would be that falsehood was passed down throughout the ages from generation to generation. The second Filipino tribe has a flood story where the flood destroyed all the population of the world except for one woman who was expecting a child. There seems to be remembrance of the real event in the distant past, but it is severely distorted. Other cultures have a flood account as well. Perhaps the belief in spirits was passed down from the real events of the past in the same way, such as the serpent in the Garden of Eden or in the days of Noah in Genesis 6:1-3. These real events were then altered over the centuries. The use of sacrifices in history was introduced in the days of Adam and Eve when an animal was killed to cover them for their sins (Genesis 3:21), so this information could have also survived all the way down to the current day, and they offer sacrifices seeking the same ends. Once again, the information was altered over many generations. The aloofness of God also could have been distorted data that was passed down. Because of humankind’s sin, God is far away from them. This also could have been passed down in a distorted way, that God turned away from humankind, though the opposite is true.

Another explanation could be that everything is a created reality. When people want to believe in something, they will believe it. It is human nature that allows people to want to have control rather than surrender that control to another. Perhaps the people just found something to grab on to, and they believe on it. People worshipped elements in the creation since ancient times rather than worshipping the Creator. People may just look to nature and see it as having personal power, just as it says of people in Romans 1:18-32.

Maybe it is the practitioners that wield some kind of power over the people to make them believe in it. These people could be brilliant con artists that have natural skills in rhetoric to get them to believe in their system.

It is also possible that because some of the tribes were in close proximity, so they were able to share their ideas. This may explain why anything may be similar between the tribes in the Philippines, but it does not explain similarities between any of these groups and the South American tribe, who are on the other side of the world.

It is possible that demons are manipulating people to worship them. The fact that Satan and demons want to be like God is no secret in the Bible. Sacrifices were supposed to be for God alone according to the Hebrew Bible, so the demons enjoy watching people sacrifice to other things because of their involvement. They enjoy the fact that people believe that God (or their aloof creator god) does not care about them, and that the demons are the ones with the power. These people groups all do not have contact with each other; therefore it is very plausible that demons are using the same system to blind them, but that people’s cultural peculiarities define how they operate within that system.

It very well could be a mixture of all of these things, but it seems most plausible that it would be a synthesis between created reality and demonic power. Both are forms of deception from Satan. People want something that works for them. They want to be healed from their sicknesses, to have good crops, and, in short, survive. They need something in which to believe. Human wisdom often finds a way to be in control, and when people cannot have control, they will invent a way (for example, magic). But one cannot deny that some of the striking similarities in some of the beliefs. It is very peculiar that most if not all of these five groups believe that the sickness or pain is an entity that needs to be “sucked out.” Some use different paraphernalia, such as a pipe or a piece of wood, but it is the same belief that even leads to the same practice. It is amazing to see that shamans seek the spirit world to get answers for the living and end up speaking in different voices and are being indwelt by demons. It is also significant that things come to pass as shamans predict they would. In a pogon of the second Filipino village, the proper village that had committed an unlawful headhunt was properly predicted by the sudden rushing up of boiling water in a pot. We have no reason to believe that demons stopped possessing people after the New Testament was written. They seem to be alive and well and seeking to bring people away from God on every corner of the earth.

Accounting the differences between the tribal groups’ practice and emphasis: As stated in the previous section, it is possible that demons have deceived the people with a similar framework, but that people’s cultural peculiarities may define how they operate within that system. Though a lot of the cultural specifics of all of these groups are beyond the scope of this case study, one may be able to infer certain qualities about a culture from these differences. The Indonesian people group and the second tribe of the Philippines stressed community in one way or another. The Indonesian group stressed the communal mindset and support when someone was sick in his tribe. The practices of the second Filipino tribe suggested a strong community when discussing the element of the pogon, where people come together to settle an argument. This is not to say that the others were not community-oriented; the peculiarities of these groups suggest why they do the things that they do.

Another example would be the South American tribe and the other tribes. The purpose for being indwelled by spirits (or for the New Guinea tribe, having a spirit sit on the shaman’s shoulder) is to find out cures for sickness, finding out some kind of information as to where to hunt, or something to that effect. But in the South American tribe, many spirits could allegedly indwell a shaman because his body is like a replica of the world with streams and forests. The more spirits that he has, the more power he has. Just for the sake of illustration, perhaps in this particular culture obtaining power for the Shaman is more significant than in others.

There are amazing similarities in the belief systems of these five tribal groups, yet the differences in the practices are diverse. The reality of the belief systems and the resulting practices confirm one significant principle from the Bible: “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?” (Jeremiah 17:9)