[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"detail-sidebar-cat-0-en-105":3,"doc-seo-145468-105":59,"doc-detail-145468-en":130},{"code":4,"msg":5,"data":6},0,"success",[7,13,18,23,28,33,38,43,48,51,55],{"id":8,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":10,"show_sort_weight":11,"slug":12},1,"Document","Story & Novel",90,"story-novel",{"id":14,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":15,"show_sort_weight":16,"slug":17},2,"Literature",80,"literature",{"id":19,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":20,"show_sort_weight":21,"slug":22},4,"Exam",70,"exam",{"id":24,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":25,"show_sort_weight":26,"slug":27},5,"Comic",60,"comic",{"id":29,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":30,"show_sort_weight":31,"slug":32},6,"Technology",50,"technology",{"id":34,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":35,"show_sort_weight":36,"slug":37},7,"Healthcare",40,"healthcare",{"id":39,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":40,"show_sort_weight":41,"slug":42},8,"Research & Report",30,"research-report",{"id":44,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":45,"show_sort_weight":46,"slug":47},9,"Religion & Spirituality",20,"religion-spirituality",{"id":46,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":49,"show_sort_weight":46,"slug":50},"World Cup","world-cup",{"id":52,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":53,"show_sort_weight":52,"slug":54},10,"Lifestyle","lifestyle",{"id":56,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":57,"show_sort_weight":24,"slug":58},19,"General","general",{"code":4,"msg":60,"data":61},"ok",{"site_id":62,"language":63,"slug":64,"title":65,"keywords":66,"description":67,"schema_data":68,"social_meta":123,"head_meta":125,"extra_data":127,"updated_unix":129},105,"en","walking-history-gahum-our-filipino-concept-of-power","Walking History - GAHUM: Our Filipino Concept of Power","","A reflective essay connects Filipino folk beliefs about death and spiritual force with the concept of “gahum” (power). Through references to “undas” traditions, rituals in the Cordillera collecting bodily fluids, and Good Friday practices around the Santo Sepulcro, it explains how authority and power are thought to transfer to people. It also discusses “anting-anting” and tattooed bagani warriors, showing how power can be both protective and destructive depending on its effect on community order.",{"@graph":69,"@context":122},[70,84,105],{"@type":71,"itemListElement":72},"BreadcrumbList",[73,77,79,82],{"item":74,"name":75,"@type":76,"position":8},"https://docshare.wps.com","Home","ListItem",{"item":78,"name":9,"@type":76,"position":14},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/",{"item":80,"name":45,"@type":76,"position":81},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/religion-spirituality/",3,{"item":83,"name":65,"@type":76,"position":19},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/walking-history-gahum-our-filipino-concept-of-power/145468/",{"url":83,"name":65,"@type":85,"image":86,"author":91,"headline":65,"publisher":94,"fileFormat":97,"inLanguage":63,"description":67,"dateModified":98,"datePublished":99,"encodingFormat":97,"isAccessibleForFree":100,"interactionStatistic":101},"DigitalDocument",{"url":87,"@type":88,"width":89,"height":90},"https://docshare.wps.com/thumbnails/walking-history-gahum-our-filipino-concept-of-power/145468.png","ImageObject",300,407,{"name":92,"@type":93},"Xiajie","Person",{"url":74,"name":95,"@type":96},"DocShare","Organization","application/pdf","2026-10-04","2026-08-26",true,{"@type":102,"interactionType":103,"userInteractionCount":29},"InteractionCounter",{"@type":104},"ViewAction",{"@type":106,"mainEntity":107},"FAQPage",[108,114,118],{"name":109,"@type":110,"acceptedAnswer":111},"What does “undas” refer to in the essay?","Question",{"text":112,"@type":113},"“Undas” is the Filipino term for All Saints Day and All Souls Day, and it is linked to Spanish funeral honors (“honras funebres”) and related local usages.","Answer",{"name":115,"@type":110,"acceptedAnswer":116},"How is power believed to transfer after death?",{"text":117,"@type":113},"The text describes ancient practice where the powers, prestige, and prowess of the deceased can be transferred to another person or thing, including a ritual involving a death chair and collection of last body fluids.",{"name":119,"@type":110,"acceptedAnswer":120},"What is “gahum” and how can it be positive or negative?",{"text":121,"@type":113},"“Gahum” is the Visayan term for power, used for God, government authority, and even amulets like “anting-anting.” It is positive in general, but portrayed as “bad gahum” when it destroys order and relationships, which is why struggles are framed as “kontra-gahum.”","https://schema.org",{"og:url":83,"og:type":124,"og:title":65,"og:site_name":95,"og:description":67},"article",{"robots":126,"canonical":83},"index,follow",{"doc_id":128,"site_id":62},145468,1787723618,{"code":4,"msg":5,"data":131},{"doc_id":128,"user_id":132,"nickname":92,"user_avatar":133,"doc_module":4,"category_id":44,"category_name":45,"doc_title":65,"doc_description":67,"doc_content":134,"file_id":135,"file_url":136,"file_type":137,"file_size":138,"view_count":29,"is_deleted":4,"is_public":8,"is_downloadable":8,"audit_status":8,"page_count":8,"language":139,"language_code":63,"site_id":62,"html_lang":63,"table_of_contents":140,"faqs":141,"seo_title":142,"seo_description":67,"update_tm":129,"read_time":81},8814010472675,"https://avatar.qwps.com/avatar/WGlhamll","WALKING HISTORY by Michael Xiao Chua  \nGAHUM: OUR FILIPINO CONCEPT OF POWER  \nWe recently commemorated our beloved who passed to the next life last Todos los Santos (All Saints Day and All Souls Day) which we call “Undas.” When I asked Dr. Lars Ubaldo, who studied death practices in Ilocos, he said that it came from the Spanish “honras funebres”(funeral honors) . In some Tagalog provinces, undas is called “honras” and “undras,” and in Ilocos, the “atang” is also called “umras.”  \nTalking about death, the ancient Filipinos believe that when we die, whatever power, prestige and prowess we have can be transferred to another person or thing. Dr. Ubaldo told me of a ritual in Cordillera, wherein a man who just died is being sat on a sangadi/sangachil (death chair), and as he is being smoked, the last body fluids that are coming out of his body are collected in a plate below to be drank.  \nWith this perspective, one now understands why on each Good Friday, when the dead Christ is being lowered from the cross in old churches to become the “santo sepulcro” or “santo entierro,” people will clean it. The cloth used to wipe the dead Christ will be distributed as they believed it already have power, “anting-anting.” Now we can understand that what many Catholic Bishops call as “fanaticism” every 9 January, of hundreds of thousands of people trying to get near the Black Nazarene and wipe it with hankies on its procession around the streets of Quiapo, is actually the continuation of an ancient practice of transferring the power of the Lord to the people, despite Western Christian influence.  \nDr. Vicente Villan, one of my mentors, studied the “pintados,” tattooed “bagani” warriors from Panay. I learned from him that the ancient warriors from this archipelago, especially the Ilanun “mangangayaw” warriors, behead their enemies in order for the power of these people to transfer to them. The warrior goes home, adds the hair of the dead to the handle of his kampilan sword and will return with honor, prestige and well-being (ginhawa) to his bayan.  \nIn the Visayan language, power is called “gahum.” In a monograph, Dr. Myfel Joseph Paluga collected the different meanings ofthe concept: it can refer to the nature of God,“Labaw nga Makagagahum”(Almighty God, He who had a high power); it can also mean government (”kagamhanan,” or “the powers-that-be”) and “gamhanan nga tawo” means a man who have power or authority. The amulet known in many parts of the Philippines as anting-anting/agimat is also called “gahum.” Although generally gahum is a positive concept, Dr. Villan said that in Visayan epics like the “Labaw Donggon,” if a power can destroy order, culture, relationships and communities, it is a bad gahum. That’s why the struggle against state hegemony is now referred by many in the Philippine Left as “kontra-gahum.”  \nEarly Filipinos also believe that the “kaluluwa” (loosely translated as soul) has an alignment to heaven. If the alignment is straightly vertical, it is a good soul—“matuwid nakaluluwa.” If its horizontal, it is a bad soul—“halang ang kaluluwa.” That alignment can be affected by someone with a strong inner gahum and that will make one feel bad. And this is the folk explanation for a kid who suddenly felt sick because his soul’s alignment was disoriented—“nausog.”  \nWe always borrow theoretical concepts from Western scholars when we can also see how colorful and comprehensive our own concepts are.  \n6 November 2011","cbCaibqygexZy3UY","https://ap.wps.com/l/cbCaibqygexZy3UY","pdf",10263,"English","# GAHUM: Our Filipino Concept of Power\n## Death rituals and the transfer of power\n## Good Friday practices and ant­ing-ant­ing\n## Warriors, authority, and gahum in epics\n## Kaluluwa alignment and folk explanations","[{\"question\":\"What does “undas” refer to in the essay?\",\"answer\":\"“Undas” is the Filipino term for All Saints Day and All Souls Day, and it is linked to Spanish funeral honors (“honras funebres”) and related local usages.\"},{\"question\":\"How is power believed to transfer after death?\",\"answer\":\"The text describes ancient practice where the powers, prestige, and prowess of the deceased can be transferred to another person or thing, including a ritual involving a death chair and collection of last body fluids.\"},{\"question\":\"What is “gahum” and how can it be positive or negative?\",\"answer\":\"“Gahum” is the Visayan term for power, used for God, government authority, and even amulets like “anting-anting.” It is positive in general, but portrayed as “bad gahum” when it destroys order and relationships, which is why struggles are framed as “kontra-gahum.”\"}]","Walking History - GAHUM: Our Filipino Concept of Power | PDF"]