D'wata
Tboli · deity · Tboli traditional religion; continuing · deity
D'wata is a son of Kadaw La Sambad and Bulon La Mogoaw and the demiurge of the T'boli creation cycle. He marries his sisters Sedek We and Hyu We and, after his brother Sfedat's body has become the first land, obtains that land from Bong Libun (on condition that she later marry one of his sons), spreads it out, and plants it with trees and vegetation to form the inhabited earth. The first human beings arise when D'wata breathes life into the clay figurines his wives have modeled. His name derives, through earlier Indic contact in island Southeast Asia, from Sanskrit devata, and among the T'boli the word d'wata serves more broadly as the general designation for the deities to whom prayers and offerings are addressed.
Parentage
Domains
- creation and earth shaping
- humankind and life giving
Powers
- to spread out the primordial land and plant it to form the inhabited earth
- to breathe life into clay figures and so create the first people
Epithets
- D'wata
Relations
Sources
- Casal, Gabriel S. (1978). T'boli Art in its Socio-Cultural Context. Makati: Filipinas Foundation.
- Casinto, Caesar Dealwis (2022). 'Looking From a Window: A Critical Analysis of the T'boli's Worldview Through their Oral Traditions.' International Journal of Language and Literary Studies 4(1): 282-303.