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Gabâ
 
 
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Gabâ or gabaa, for the Cebuano people
Cebuano people

The Cebuano people are the inhabitants of Cebu. The Cebuano people are the largest subset of the Visayan people ethnolinguistic group in the Philippines....
 (Cebu Island
Cebu Island

Cebu is an island of the Philippines. It is the main island of Cebu Province in Visayas.It lies to the east of Negros; to the east is Leyte and to the southeast is Bohol Island....
, Philippines
Philippines

The Philippines, officially known as the Republic of the Philippines, is a country in Southeast Asia with Manila as its capital city. It comprises 7,107 islands in the western Pacific Ocean....
), is the concept of a non-human and non-divine, imminent retribution
Retributive justice

Retributive justice is a theory of justice that considers that punishment, if Eye for an eye, is a morally acceptable response to crime, with an eye to the satisfaction and psychological benefits it can bestow to the aggrieved party, its intimates and society....
. A sort of negative karma, it is generally seen as an evil effect on a person because of their wrongdoings or transgressions. The word has later been recycled for translating "divine retribution" or "divine fury" in the Cebuano edition of the Bible. It is also translated as nemesis.

Source
The source of gabâ is not a god or God or an absolute karmic principle, but in the spirits of nature.






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Gabâ or gabaa, for the Cebuano people
Cebuano people

The Cebuano people are the inhabitants of Cebu. The Cebuano people are the largest subset of the Visayan people ethnolinguistic group in the Philippines....
 (Cebu Island
Cebu Island

Cebu is an island of the Philippines. It is the main island of Cebu Province in Visayas.It lies to the east of Negros; to the east is Leyte and to the southeast is Bohol Island....
, Philippines
Philippines

The Philippines, officially known as the Republic of the Philippines, is a country in Southeast Asia with Manila as its capital city. It comprises 7,107 islands in the western Pacific Ocean....
), is the concept of a non-human and non-divine, imminent retribution
Retributive justice

Retributive justice is a theory of justice that considers that punishment, if Eye for an eye, is a morally acceptable response to crime, with an eye to the satisfaction and psychological benefits it can bestow to the aggrieved party, its intimates and society....
. A sort of negative karma, it is generally seen as an evil effect on a person because of their wrongdoings or transgressions. The word has later been recycled for translating "divine retribution" or "divine fury" in the Cebuano edition of the Bible. It is also translated as nemesis.

Background


The gabâ can be characterized through various Cebuano proverbs:

  • It is not necessarily immediate in its effect. (Ang gabâ dili sama sa sili nga mohalang dayon.)
  • It may come unexpectedly. (Ang gabâ dili magsaba.)
  • It is not limited to transgressions against fellow human beings: objects considered holy can also cause gabâ, such as dropping on the ground a sacred root crop of ubi. (The concept was later extended to religious icons such as bibles or rosaries). Even the least-valued object may cause it. (Bisan ang ube makagabâ.)
  • It could happen to persons who are important to the transgressor. For example, people would say "gigabân" of a womanizing father whose daughter has a child out of wedlock.


Source


The source of gabâ is not a god or God or an absolute karmic principle, but in the spirits of nature. It must have arisen out of the animism
Animism

Animism is a philosophical, religious or spiritual idea that souls or spirits exist not only in humans and animals but also in plants, rock s, natural phenomena such as thunder, geographic features such as mountains or rivers, or other entities of the natural environment, a proposition also known as hylozoism in philosophy....
 of pre-Spanish Cebuanos. With the coming of Christianity into the Islands, gabâ became "absorbed" in the Roman Catholic Church
Roman Catholic Church

The Roman Catholic Church, officially known as the Catholic Church is the world's largest Christianity Ecclesia , representing over half of all Christians and one-sixth of the world population....
. In-depth examination, however, would show that it is incompatible with Catholic
Catholic

Catholic is an adjective derived from the Greek language adjective , meaning "whole" or "complete". In the context of Christianity ecclesiology, it has a rich history and several usages....
 dogma
Dogma

Dogma is the established belief or doctrine held by a religion, ideology or any kind of organization: it is authority and not to be disputed, doubted or heresy....
.

Applications


Gabâ and panghimaraot

Gabâ is distinct from panghimaraot (curse) whereby a transgressed person pronounces a maldesyon against the transgressor. In panghimaraot, evil is asked to befall on the sinner; with gabâ, evil
Evil

Evil, in many cultures, is a broad term used to describe intentional negative moral acts or thoughts that are cruel, unjust or selfish. Evil is usually good and evil, which describes acts that are kind, just or unselfish....
 is sure to befall on the sinner, even if it is not asked. Sometimes Cebuanos blurt out threats of gabâ, "Gabân ka gyod!", but it is not taken to mean that gabâ is being asked; it is only a reminder to the transgressor that no one is excluded from it. Sometimes sinners also ask for exclusion: Puyra gabâ!

Gabâ and karma

Gabâ is not synonymous with the Hindu law of karma
Karma

Karma is the concept of "action" or "deed" in Indian religions understood as that which causes the entire cycle of causality originating in ancient India and treated in Hindu, Jain, Sikh and Buddhism philosophies....
: gabâ is only in the negative (a punishment), unlike karma which may be good or bad.

Gabâ and divine retribution

Gabâ is not, strictly speaking, the same as punishment from a godhead, such as the monotheisms' God or the Greek goddess Nemesis
Nemesis (mythology)

Nemesis , also called Rhamnousia/Rhamnusia , at her sanctuary at Rhamnous, north of Marathon, Greece, in Greek mythology was the spirit of divine punitive justice against those who succumb to hubris, vengeful fate personified as a remorseless goddess....
: gabâ does not presuppose an Ultimate Being.

Social effects


Some sociologists believe that Gabâ is one of the causes of the complacency of Cebuanos: because of their belief in it, they prefer to be silent on abuses. It gives hope to the oppressed that someday the abuses will be paid for.

See also


  • Philippine mythology
    Philippine mythology

    Philippine mythology and folklore include a collection of tales and superstitions about magical creatures and entities. Some Filipinos, even though heavily westernized and Christianized, still believe in such entities....
  • Anito
    Anito

    Anito is the collective name for Pre-Spain belief system/s that existed in the Philippines. It is also the name for spirits, which may include deceased ancestors and nature-spirits or diwatas....
  • Karma
    Karma

    Karma is the concept of "action" or "deed" in Indian religions understood as that which causes the entire cycle of causality originating in ancient India and treated in Hindu, Jain, Sikh and Buddhism philosophies....