Virtual Ethnography 101: The Season of Lent

This summer I asked my college students in Anthropology 1, aside from learning anthropological concepts and theories inside the classroom - to explore places, experience cultural happenings, and then apply their learning through writing ethnographic accounts using the method of participation-observation.

I am posting in my blog with the writer's consent selected ethnography penned creatively by my students to contribute to the emerging sub-discipline of anthropology called 'Virtual Ethnography'.

Basically, virtually ethnography is also referred to as Webnography. We cannot deny the fact that with increasing use of technology and the Internet, there is now a demand for online spaces on various ethnographic accounts.

By Jasper Seth Yao

The scorching heat of the midday sun made everything twice as unbearable as I knelt at the foot of an ancient instrument of torture and consumed ritualistic symbols of blood and flesh. Then, burnt remains of sacred palm were smeared on my forehead accompanied by murmurs of death and decay. With that, my Ash Wednesday was complete and Lent had officially begun.

That was the picture of my annual encounter with the season of Lent as I grew up in a Catholic high school. After school, my mom would laugh at the remnants of the cross on my forehead as it irritated my kin and caused it to swell and turn red. She would tell me that it was the price of being devoted to God and repenting for my sins. After all, that’s what lent is all about, repentance.

The Catholic Church of the Philippines has urged its followers to fast and reflect on their sins. Somewhere along the way, however, thing got out of hand and the Filipinos found a way to somehow follow Christ’s footsteps more literally. Most Filipinos simply went on religious tours, hopping from church to church, praying, and meditating on their sins and sinfulness as they completed the Stations of the Cross. Others, however, chose more physical method of repentance. Along the way to the churches, half-naked men would be found prostrating on the ground, whipping themselves on their backs, carrying crosses, or even actually having themselves crucified.

Once asked, they would say that this is their way of repenting or this was part of their “panata” or a promise they made to God in exchange for a miracle or a favor. As they went around with their bloody backs and their self-flagellation, I wondered what could have possibly caused these people to believe that hurting and torturing themselves was going to do anyone any good.

The Philippine Catholic Church itself made it clear that they do not condone such acts of extreme violence towards oneself. Why, then, do some Filipinos still insist on doing these terrible things to themselves?

As I searched for answers, I stumbled upon a couple of websites that attribute it to Philippines’ history with the Spanish friars. According to one of these sites, such rituals are part of a folk religious culture that has deep roots in a brand of obscurantism that dates back to the Spanish colonial period. Hispanic Filipinos likened the suffering of Christ to their oppression in the hands of their abusive Spanish landlords and friars. Indeed, “Holy Week” encapsulates the Filipino culture of suffering, poverty and illness; it speaks not just of our redemption in the next life, but also the travails of our present life.

On the other side of things, though, there are the less extremely religious Filipinos who take advantage of the non-working holiday to leave the hustle and bustle of Metro Manila in search of themselves in serene beaches, mountaintops, or even lands abroad. Since my family belongs to this particular community, I can attest to their behavior more accurately than those of the religious extremists I have mentioned.

Having been born a Catholic, the early memories of my life were those of an obedient young Filipino Catholic, complete with the trademark focus on damnation and suffering instead of salvation and love for all. Personally, I don’t take this against the Philippine Catholic Church since they have lived with these teachings for almost 400 years at the hands of the Spanish.

Along with the rest of my family, I gave something up every Lent. It would be something typical like junk food, meat. television, or computer games. This wouldn’t last very long since I really loved all those things as a child so I was advised to focus on giving them up on Fridays instead. Given this self-imposed ultimatum, my siblings and I would stay up until the very last minute of Thursday enjoying all these things we were supposed to give up the next day. That way, we spent most of Friday asleep and therefore, guilt-free.

More recently, however, I found this underhanded way of cheating the season rather tiring so I gave up the practice altogether. I picked it up again when I was assigned to observe and participate in the season of Lent once more for school. As I went o Korea with 20 of my relatives, I watched as they tried to abstain on Friday even as we were served nothing but kimchi, some side dishes of vegetables, and meat. It didn’t even last a minute. My cousins, aunts, and uncles were feasting on freshly cooked meat and neglecting those vegetables like they were just saved from a deserted island.

This is true for a lot of my friends as well. I suppose in this day and age, we simply don’t feel as religious and ritualistic about the season of lent as the past generations once were. Maybe it’s just the culture I contribute to in my own sphere of influence. Maybe it’s the mass media from first world countries seeping into our own society. Whatever it is, it has inspired my loved ones and I to become less preoccupied with rules and rites and more focused on what really matters, becoming a better person for society and living a balanced lifestyle.

I have given up being religious long ago. Instead, I have chosen to be spiritual, to take whatever path to God or enlightenment that I find most suitable for myself. My family and friends have done the same. This season of Lent, we have been reminded of how the past has failed in trying to compartmentalize their good will and Christianity into seasons instead of lifetimes. Now, when I ask around, more and more people have been excitedly talking about focusing on being part of the solution instead of spreading hate for the problems. In a few conversations I had with people I knew from Church groups and choirs they generally said that “Giving hope in what we can do is just so constructive, while hating these sins and mistakes we’ve made is just destructive. It only brings people down, you know?”

References:

http://www.seasite.niu.edu/Tagalog/Cynthia/festivals/lent.htm.
http://forthephilippines.blogspot.com/2010/04/philippines-lent-2010-from-lens-of.html.
http://www.icanews.com/2011/03/16/clergy-urge-abstinence-modesty-in-lent/
http;//www.filipinoheritage.com/religious/Cuaresma.htm