Download Karl Gaverza’s Incredible Philippine Mythology Thesis

For those of you who are not already, you need to be following Spirits of the Philippine Archipelago on Facebook.  Leading this talented group of writers and artists is Karl Gaverza, who I first met a couple of years ago when he contacted me online about sharing resources on Philippine Mythology.  It turned out that I had nothing new to offer, and I quickly learned that one of my most valuable resources would become Karl himself.  Not only has he spent countless hours scouring libraries for obscure papers and entries on the subject, but he has an encyclopedic memory for the information he has collected.  When I am stumped on a particular attribute of an unknown being from a specific region, I contact Karl.

Recently, Gaverza made his 2014 dissertation on Philippine Mythology available to the public.  It is a wonderfully generous gesture towards all of us who struggle to map out this sometimes confusing part of the past.  I interviewed Karl to learn more about his thesis, his current blog, and what may be coming from him in the future.

The Thesis: THE MYTHS OF THE PHILIPPINES

Abstract

This Thesis deals with Philippine higher and lower mythology. Terms such as the Aswang were semantically deconstructed to delineate between the different aspects and connotations on what the Philippine idea of different types of halimaw can be represented by one lexical item. Themes and motifs of Philippine myths were extracted from different mythological stories. Philippine higher mythology was organized by ethnolinguistic group in terms of cosmogony, cosmology, the conceptualization of the soul and the deities associated. Philippine lower mythology and the creatures associated were given a new classification.

You may view or download a copy of the thesis by CLICKING HERE. You will need to sign in with Google, or register with academia.edu if you have not already.

An Interview with Karl Gaverza

When did your interest in Philippine Mythology as an educational subject begin?

I was interested in world mythologies at an early age and I was first exposed to Philippine Mythology in Arthur Cotterell’s ‘The Ultimate Encyclopedia of Mythology: An A-Z Guide to the Myths and Legends of the Ancient World’ I remember being confused as to why there were only 3 entries from the Philippines in the Encyclopedia. The first time I really did research for Philippine myth was during an assignment for my ethnolinguistics class back in my undergraduate days. I was doing research on the Subanen language, and my informant started to talk about the mhenamad thalon. I decided to focus my paper on that topic and from there I continued it into my thesis.

What were some of the challenges in writing your thesis on the subject?

Getting resources for the thesis was a major challenge as some books were out of print. It was at that point that I started going to book sales in the hopes of finding the rarer books. There was also the difficulty of navigating through the sources that were easy to find, most of the information on the internet was unsourced and I had to decide whether to include the information. For my informant work it was a challenge doing the interviews, separating experience from opinion.
Generally it was to throw out all I thought I knew about the mythology of the Philippines and to start focusing on what the actual research was. I had to learn and relearn a lot about the different aspects of Philippine mythology.

 

What were some of the more gruesome beings you have encountered during your research?

The kumao comes to mind. It’s a large man, or an ‘ogre’ that kills children by ripping off their fingernails and bleeding them to death.
The taawi is another one, a “monster” creates a noise as loud as thunder from the forest. It has an ugly face and a large frame. It eats people and when killed, the undigested eyes of its victims can be cut out of its belly to restore its victims to life.
There is also Omaka-an, a fearsome giant that if slashed in two, divides itself and becomes two Omaka-an. It can only be killed by not slashing it fully.
The Mamam from Bicol is a gigantic creature with a large mouth and a huge belly. It devours anything it gets a hold of. It is large enough to devour a house. It is insatiable and will eat anything.
The bugsok is one that I find particularly disturbing it is a black being that walks on its hands, upside down. If it is harmed by playing children it causes their legs to swell, from the knee down. This pain causes the children to raise their legs and use their hands to walk, eventually making more bugsok.

 

What are some of the things people should keep in mind when exploring the beliefs of different ethnic groups throughout the archipelago?

They have to keep in mind that belief is not static, it changes through time and can be influenced by any number of things. It is also not monolithic, meaning that there are a diverse set of beliefs around the archipelago, some that may be similar to each other and others that are completely different from anything else. There is no one ‘Filipino mythology’ but many different mythologies in the Philippines.

It also helps to keep in mind that there are some beliefs that get absorbed into another belief system. An example of this is folk Catholicism wherein some pre-hispanic pagan beliefs were continued in the traditions of the catholic faith.

But most importantly I’d like people to always remember that some of these beliefs are very important to people, it is their faith and their culture and it deserves to be treated with respect.

 

What was the inspiration behind launching The Spirits of the Philippine Archipelago website?

It started off as a way for me to keep interested in my idea of an encyclopedia of Philippine mythical creatures then it turned into a weekly showcase of stories that I could do. People just seemed to like the stories so I made it a ritual to keep writing.

What are your thoughts on the Maximo Ramos classifications of Philippine ‘Lower Mythology’ and the categories of Ghouls, Were-Beasts, Witches, Giants, Merfolk, Dragons,Vampires, & Viscera Suckers?

I am of the opinion that it is very western-influenced. I had this to say in my thesis:
“Using terms such as demon, witch or dragon already brings up a set referent that is isolated to a Western concept. When referring to the long, antlered flying serpents of Asian tradition the term ‘Chinese Dragon‘ is used to separate it from its European counterparts. Having such blanket terms for the classification of Philippine mythological creatures ignores their nuance and in doing so also ignores the cultural nuances of the ethnolinguistic groups that propagate narratives of these creatures.”

 

In your research, how many mythical beings can you estimate exist in beliefs from the past and present Philippines?

So far I’ve cataloged around 1500 mythical beings. There are more mythical creatures that get developed in the form of urban legends like The Pasig River Monster or the Devilman. That’s just the tip of the iceberg, I’m sure there are many more that are just waiting to be cataloged by the industrious researcher.

 

Your booklet, Mythica Obscura, features some of the rare beings from Philippine Beliefs. When will more of your stories be released in book form? Any plans for a compendium?

Some of my stories will appear in the UNESCO funded book “Much More than an Archipelago … Tales from the Philippines“ which has already been released in Spain and will release in the Philippines in a few weeks. More information can be found here https://www.facebook.com/LittleFreeLibraryPhilippines/posts/577352702615875

Otherwise I plan on expanding Mythica Obscura into other volumes and to also make that mythical creature encyclopedia that I’ve been trying to work on. My goal is to make a multiple volume encyclopedia series detailing the mythical creatures of the Philippines.

 

VISIT: Spirits of the Philippine Archipelago (now with over 200 stories)

ALSO READ: Yvette Tan: on Writing, Mythical Creatures & “All The Birds”