The Diwata are the nature-deities and guardian-spirits of Philippine mythology: benevolent (or sometimes capricious) spirits who dwell in the trees, mountains, forests, and seas, presiding over the natural world and granting blessings or misfortune to humankind according to how they are treated. They are the fairies and lesser gods of the islands, the spirits of the living land.
The Spirits of Nature
The diwata (the word derived from the Sanskrit devata, “deity,” reflecting ancient Indian influence) are nature-spirits and minor deities who inhabit and govern the features of the natural world — the great trees (especially the sacred balete and acacia), the mountains, the forests, the rivers, and the seas. They serve under the supreme creator [bathala] as guardians of the land and its bounty, and they are honoured and propitiated by the people, who seek their favour for good harvests, health, and fortune, and fear their displeasure.
The Givers of Blessing and Bane
The diwata are generally benevolent, granting blessings — fertility, good harvests, health, protection — to those who honour them and treat the natural world with respect. But they can be capricious or wrathful if offended — if their sacred trees are cut, their dwellings disturbed, or proper respect not shown — bringing illness, misfortune, or worse upon the offenders. Hence the Filipino custom of saying “tabi-tabi po” (“excuse me, please”) when passing through the wild or disturbing the ground, asking the unseen spirits’ pardon. The diwata thus embody the living, spirit-filled relationship between the people and the land.
The Fairies of the Islands
The most famous of the diwata are great guardian-figures like [maria-makiling], the diwata of Mount Makiling, beautiful and benevolent protectresses of their domains. The diwata range from these powerful guardian-deities to countless minor nature-spirits, and they overlap with the [engkanto], the enchanting fairy-beings of the islands. Beloved and revered, they are the spirits of the natural world in Filipino belief. In the diwata, Filipino myth gave form to the spirits of the living land — the nature-deities and guardian-fairies who dwell in the trees, mountains, and seas, granting blessing to those who honour them and bane to those who offend, the benevolent (and capricious) spirits of the islands’ wild.