Sikodiwa: Revisiting Filipino Indigenous Wisdom for Personal and Shared Well-Being

Researcher and lecturer Carl Lorenz Cervantes explores the timeless wisdom, ancestral worldviews, and spiritual tools of Filipino psychology and culture—and offers Indigenous ways of knowing for all readers, Filipino and non-Filipino alike.

Drawing from folklore, language, ethnography, and personal story, Sikodiwa is a mind-opening exploration for readers of Braiding Sweetgrass and Fresh Banana Leaves

Ang hindi marunong lumingon sa pinanggalingan ay hindi makararating sa pinaroroonan: Those who do not honor their roots will never reach their destination.
—Filipino proverb

For centuries, Filipino lifeways were presented to outsiders through the distorted lens of colonization—and the oppression, exploitation, and denigration suffered by Filipino ancestors are well-documented. Here, Carl Lorenz Cervantes draws from Filipino folklore, language, and culture to reorient toward an Indigenous worldview: one that rejects being seen as a passive object in history. That reclaims Filipino identity, storytelling, and liberation on Filipino terms. And that embraces a powerful truth: We are the descendants of our colonized ancestors, but we are also the grandchildren of the revolution.

Rooted in Indigenous Filipino worldviews, Sikodiwa offers a vital exploration of:

• Indigenization: reclaiming and restoring Indigenous worldviews
• Cosmic origins: Defining Indigenous through the lens of creation myths
• Filipino-ness: Navigating processes of decolonization and the vagueness of cultural identity
• Deep spirituality: Folk healing, native spirituality, and deep, mystical realities
• Cultural authenticity: navigating the complexities of identity and reconnecting with our most authentic selves
• Reclaiming values: Challenging stereotypes about Filipino cultural values
• Towards Kapwa: Understanding shared identity—and learning how it manifests
• Revolution and fate: Applying cultural frameworks and existential tools to self-help practices

Cervantes also shows how we can apply vital cultural frameworks to our own self-help and empowerment practices, from learning to use existential tools like Bahala na (letting go of burden) to understanding the inherently collective meaning-making of Kasaysayan (history). A vital contribution to a more inclusive world psychology, Sikodiwa uplifts Indigenized ways of knowing—and offers a timely and inspired path toward collective consciousness, cultural authenticity, and embodied well-being.