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Qanitu
In the culture of the Bunun of Taiwan, a ''hanitu'' or ''qanitu'' is a spirit. The concept does not exactly equate with similar myths from other cultures. The ''hanitu'' is one of three domains of Bunun spiritual thought, another being ''isang'', which equates more to the soul, breath, and heart. It may refer to the spirit of any living creature as well as forms animate or not, such as land, rocks, plants, animals, and humans. All objects contained ''hanitu''. In Malay and Indonesian, the term for ghost, ''hantu'', may be of related origin. In contrast to other religions and belief systems, multiple spirits can exist in one object/creature, as in the case of humans. They believed bad souls brought illness. With the adoption of Christianity these terms changed, with being equated to ''devil''. Nevertheless, some scholars believe the native concepts were not replaced, but rather Christian thought was added on. Strength of hanitu were innate. Etymology ''Hanitu'' or ''hanidu'' is ...
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Hantu Demon
Hantu is the Malay and Indonesian word for spirit or ghost. In modern usage it generally means spirits of the dead but has also come to refer to any legendary invisible being, such as demons. In its traditional context the term also referred to animistic nature spirits or ancestral souls. The word is derived from Proto-Malayo-Polynesian ''*qanitu'' and Proto-Austronesian ''*qaNiCu''. Cognates in other Austronesian languages include the Micronesian ''aniti'', Lio language ''nitu'', Yami ''anito'', Taivoan ''alid'', Seediq and Atayal ''utux'', Bunun '' hanitu'' or ''hanidu'', Polynesian ''aitu'' or ''atua'', and Tsou ''hicu'' among the Formosan languages. In terms of concept and place in traditional folklore, it is most similar to the Filipino anito. Types Aside from generic spirits of the dead, there exist various forms of Hantu including both the benign and malevolent. * Hantu Air: spirit inhabiting the water * Hantu Beruk: ape demon * Hantu Belian: tiger spirit * Hantu ...
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Anito
''Anito'', also spelled ''anitu'', refers to ancestor spirits, nature spirits, and deities in the Indigenous Philippine folk religions from the precolonial age to the present, although the term itself may have other meanings and associations depending on the Filipino ethnic group. It can also refer to carved humanoid figures, the ''taotao'', made of wood, stone, or ivory, that represent these spirits. ''Anito'' (a term predominantly used in Luzon) is also sometimes known as ''diwata'' in certain ethnic groups (especially among Visayans). ''Pag-anito'' refers to a séance, often accompanied by other rituals or celebrations, in which a shaman ( Visayan: ''babaylan'', Tagalog: ''katalonan'') acts as a medium to communicate directly with the dead ancestors and spirits. When a nature spirit or deity is specifically involved, the ritual is called ''pagdiwata''. The act of worship or a religious sacrifice to a spirit and deities. The belief in ''anito'' are sometimes refer ...
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Polynesian People
Polynesians are an ethnolinguistic group comprising closely related ethnic groups native to Polynesia, which encompasses the islands within the Polynesian Triangle in the Pacific Ocean. They trace their early prehistoric origins to Island Southeast Asia and are part of the larger Austronesian ethnolinguistic group, with an Urheimat in Taiwan. They speak the Polynesian languages, a branch of the Oceanic subfamily within the Austronesian language family. The Indigenous Māori people form the largest Polynesian population, followed by Samoans, Native Hawaiians, Tahitians, Tongans, and Cook Islands Māori. , there were an estimated 2 million ethnic Polynesians (both full and part) worldwide. The vast majority either inhabit independent Polynesian nation-states (Samoa, Niue, Cook Islands, Tonga, and Tuvalu) or form minorities in countries such as Australia, Chile (Easter Island), New Zealand, France (French Polynesia and Wallis and Futuna), and the United States (Hawaii and Amer ...
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Tutelary Deities
A tutelary (; also tutelar) is a deity or a spirit who is a guardian, patron, or protector of a particular place, geographic feature, person, lineage, nation, culture, or occupation. The etymology of "tutelary" expresses the concept of safety and thus of guardianship. In late Greek and Roman religion, one type of tutelary deity, the '' genius'', functions as the personal deity or ''daimon'' of an individual from birth to death. Another form of personal tutelary spirit is the familiar spirit of European folklore. Ancient Greece Socrates spoke of hearing the voice of his personal spirit or ''daimonion'': The Greeks also thought deities guarded specific places: for instance, Athena was the patron goddess of the city of Athens. Ancient Rome Tutelary deities who guard and preserve a place or a person are fundamental to ancient Roman religion. The tutelary deity of a man was his Genius, that of a woman her Juno. In the Imperial era, the Genius of the Emperor was a focus of ...
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Kawas (mythology)
Kawas are supernatural entities in the Amis faith. Though the Amis have converted to Christianity, their spiritual beliefs and Christianity have syncretized and the term kawas is still used. Kawas are divided into six groups: gods, ancestors, souls of living, spirits of living things, spirits of lifeless objects, and ghosts and mysterious beings, giving their blessing or calamities to mortals according to myths about them . Bamboo oracle specialists were among communicators. ''Lisin'', or ceremony, was the preferred method to cope with kawas. ''Kawas'' is a root word used to describe a spiritual practitioner, healer, or shaman in the Amis culture. Meaning and function The concept of spiritual healers has long been a part of many cultures, including the Amis people. This includes the belief in a great and powerful creator, Kakrayan, who is responsible for all that exists and regulates the world according to his will. Kawas are believed to be capable of seeing into both the pa ...
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Kami
are the Deity, deities, Divinity, divinities, Spirit (supernatural entity), spirits, mythological, spiritual, or natural phenomena that are venerated in the traditional Shinto religion of Japan. ''Kami'' can be elements of the landscape, forces of nature, beings and the qualities that these beings express, and/or the spirits of venerated dead people. Many ''kami'' are considered the ancient ancestors of entire Japanese clans, clans (some ancestors became ''kami'' upon their death if they were able to embody the values and virtues of ''kami'' in life). Traditionally, great leaders like the Emperor of Japan, Emperor could be or became ''kami''. In Shinto, ''kami'' are not separate from nature, but are of nature, possessing positive and negative, and good and evil characteristics. They are manifestations of , the interconnecting energy of the universe, and are considered exemplary of what humanity should strive towards. ''Kami'' are believed to be "hidden" from this world, and in ...
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Micronesian People
The Micronesians or Micronesian peoples are various closely related ethnic groups native to Micronesia, a region of Oceania in the Pacific Ocean. They are a part of the Austronesian ethnolinguistic group, which has an Urheimat in Taiwan. Ethno-linguistic groups classified as Micronesian include the Carolinians (Northern Mariana Islands), Chamorros (Guam & Northern Mariana Islands), Chuukese, Mortlockese, Namonuito, Paafang, Puluwat and Pollapese ( Chuuk), I-Kiribati (Kiribati), Kosraeans (Kosrae), Marshallese (Marshall Islands), Nauruans ( Nauru), Palauan, Sonsorolese, and Hatohobei (Palau), Pohnpeians, Pingelapese, Ngatikese, Mwokilese ( Pohnpei), and Yapese, Ulithian, Woleian, Satawalese ( Yap). Origins Based on the current scientific consensus, the Micronesians are considered, by linguistic, archaeological, and human genetic evidence, to be a subset of the sea-migrating Austronesian people, who include the Polynesians and the Melanesians. Austron ...
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Aitu
In Polynesian languages the word ''aitu'' refers to ghosts or spirits, often malevolent. The word is common to many languages of Western and Eastern Polynesia. In the mythology of Tonga, for example, ''aitu'' or ''eitu'' are lesser gods, many being patrons of specific villages and families. They often take the form of plants or animals, and are often more cruel than other gods. These trouble-making gods are regarded as having come from Samoa. The Tongan word ''tangi lauaitu'' means to cry from grief, to lament. In Māori mythology, the word ''aitu'' refers to sickness, calamity, or demons; the related word ''aituā'' means misfortune, accident, disaster. In Tahitian, ''aitu'' (syn. atua/raitu) can mean 'god' or 'spirit';Fare vana'a dictionary ('raitu' is also an affectionate word given to a cherished child/ref> in other languages, including Rarotongan, Samoan, Sikaiana, Kapingamarangi, Takuu, Tuamotuan, and Niuean, ''aitu'' are ghosts or spirits. In Cook Islands ''Aitu'' is also t ...
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Proto-Austronesian
Proto-Austronesian (commonly abbreviated as PAN or PAn) is a proto-language. It is the reconstructed ancestor of the Austronesian languages, one of the world's major language families. Proto-Austronesian is assumed to have begun to diversify in Taiwan. Lower-level reconstructions have also been made, and include Proto-Malayo-Polynesian, Proto-Oceanic, and Proto-Polynesian. Recently, linguists such as Malcolm Ross and Andrew Pawley have built large lexicons for Proto-Oceanic and Proto-Polynesian. Phonology Proto-Austronesian is reconstructed by constructing sets of correspondences among consonants in the various Austronesian languages, according to the comparative method. Although in theory the result should be unambiguous, in practice given the large number of languages there are numerous disagreements, with various scholars differing significantly on the number and nature of the phonemes in Proto-Austronesian. In the past, some disagreements concerned whether certain corres ...
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Indonesian People
Indonesians ( Indonesian: ''orang Indonesia'') are citizens or people who are identified with the country of Indonesia, regardless of their ethnic or religious background. There are more than 1,300 ethnicities in Indonesia, making it a multicultural archipelagic country with a diversity of languages, culture and religious beliefs. The population of Indonesia according to the 2020 national census was 270.2 million. 56% live on the island of Java, the world's most populous island. Around 95% of Indonesians are Native Indonesians (formerly grouped as "Pribumi"), primarily of Austronesian and Melanesian descent, with 40% Javanese and 15% Sundanese forming the majority, while the other 5% are Indonesians with ancestry from foreign origin, such as Arab Indonesians, Chinese Indonesians, Indian Indonesians, and Indos. Population As of 2020, Indonesians make up 3.4% of the world's total population and Indonesia is the fourth most populous country after China, India and the U ...
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