South East Asian Folk Religions

In the Philippines, traditions within South East Asian folk religion included offerings to ancestral spirits and nature deities. Visayan ritual specialists known as babaylan acted as mediums in ceremonies for communicating with spirits.

Miguel López de Legazpi's expedition reached Cebu in 1565, beginning the Spanish conquest of the Philippines. Spanish colonizers subsequently burned some Indigenous religious writings and images of deities, while missionaries sought to spread Christianity.