Superstitions

Before the arrival of the Spaniards and the introduction of Roman Catholicism in the 1500's, the indigenous inhabitants of the Philippines were adherents of a mixture of animism, Hinduism and Vajrayana Buddhism. Bathala was the supreme God of the Tagalogs, represented by the langit, or sky, but not all the Tagalogs believed in it. The Ninuno, or the ancient ancestors, were the people who taught Filipinos/Tagalogs who will be in the future; they believed in the supreme God. For the Bikolanos, the supreme God was Gugurang. Other Tagalog Gods and Goddesses include araw (sun), buwan (the moon), tala (the stars), and natural objects (such as trees, shrubs, mountains, or rocks). However, they were not the Western kinds of Gods and Goddesses; they were representations for some Filipinos/Tagalogs; or they were representations as gifts. As the Abrahamic religions began to sweep the island, most Filipinos became Christians, who only believe in one God; but some Filipinos became Muslims, especially in the southern part of the country (such as Mindanao). Spirits such as the aswang (ghoul), the tikbalang (a creature with the head of a horse and the physique of a man), the kapre (a giant that is seen smoking tobacco), the tiyanak (monster-like, vampire-esque child), the santelmo (fireball), duwende (dwarves and elves), the manananggal (witches that can split their bodies at their torsos and feed on baby's blood), engkanto (minor spirits), and diwata (fairies/nymphs), are believed to pervade the Philippines. Aside from that, voodoo practices were practiced by the pre-colonial inhabitants, such as pangkukulam, or witchcraft. Beliefs such as usog (a child greeted by a stranger will get sick) and lihi (unusual craving for something during pregnancy) are also present. These beliefs were carried on up to the present generation of Filipinos, which has led some foreign authors to (incorrectly) describe them as 'Pagano-Christians.'

Voodoo, psychic surgeons and medicine men and women are commonly practiced in most indigenous Filipino rituals. These spiritual-ritual practices are mostly located in the rural areas, throughout the islands. In Filipino, the people who casts spells and lays curses are called mangkukulam, the people who curse their enemies by putting insects inside their bodies are called mambabarang, and in contrast to these two, the healers of these curses are called albularyo.

Psychic surgeons are people who are seen seeming to remove tumors and diseased tissue by sticking their hands into a patient's body and extracting bloody human flesh, leaving the patient scar free. Some see this practice of as being sleight of hand fakery, others accept it as true, still others accept it as an alternative healing method and a way to take advantage of the placebo effect.