Katipunan

DOCUMENTS OF THE Katipunan
HOME Membership documents Initiation rites (different version) Source: Philippine Insurgent Records, 514.10 (Microfilm reel no.31)
Introduction No printed version of a KKK initiation ritual has yet been found, and probably none ever existed. Lodge officers who conducted the rites must therefore have relied on handwritten copies, or guidance passed on by word of mouth, or their own devices. Practices consequently varied from place to place. Nevertheless, the two texts posted on this website (the only Spanish-era versions so far located) indicate the observances had a common core. The ritual set out below is at many points identical, or nearly so, to the other, longer version. Before the meeting, Brother Sentinel stands by the door checking the secret signs, and Brother Fiscal assigns brothers to keep watch outside. Brother Terrible asks the initiates the same questions, “Who are you? And what are you searching for here?”, etc., and cautions them that joining the Katipunan will place them “mabibingit sa katakot-takot na kapamahakan” (“on the threshold of the most frightful misfortunes.”) When he introduces them to the Lodge, he uses the same, poetic phrasing. They have come, he tells his fellow brethren, “buhat sa lusak ng pagkaalipin, inagao sa kuko ng bulag” (“from the mire of slavery, snatched from the claws of blindness.”) But the ritual set out below also differs from the longer version in several respects. No reference is made, for instance, to blindfolds being used in the “trials,” or to crossing a raging torrent, but the initiate faces instead the threat of a branding iron being put to his cheek. The initiate does not get stripped to the waist, or have to answer a succession of questions about his personal life from the Lodge president. But it is possible, of course, that the ritual did include some of these elements, and that they were just not spelt out in the document. More significantly, perhaps, the text does not mention the “Chamber of Reflection,” where initiates in other branches had to sit at a desk and answer, in writing, questions about the country’s past, present and future condition. Possibly this task was omitted from the ritual because many recruits were unlettered, or at least would have difficulty with a written test. The most striking feature of this ritual, entirely absent in the other version, is the long, exhortatory speech delivered to the neophyte. Whoever delivers the speech – presumably Brother President or Brother Terrible – becomes the channel through whom “matandang kalayaan” (old liberty) speaks, begging her compatriots to rescue her from the chains of slavery. The voice of liberty beseeches the initiate to defend not only the native land, but also its “sorrowing religion”. Does this mean the pre-Hispanic religion, of which Bahala was the Supreme Deity, or an “authentic” form of Christianity, untarnished by friar distortions and embellishments? Alas, the text offers no clues. Reynaldo Ileto quotes extracts from this document in his Pasyon and Revolution, and the English text below draws heavily in places on his translations.[1] But the parallels he draws, in his book and elsewhere, between Katipunan and pasyon idioms are often overstretched. “The society's initiation ritual,” he contends, was “an adaptation of the Catholic Easter Vigil ceremony enhanced by Masonic symbols”.[2] They mark the passage of the neophytes, he says, from “kapanatagan (level surface) to karurukan (tip of an elevation); the image of Mount Calvary is clearly alluded to.”[3] The word kapanatagan, however, does not mean “level surface”; it derives from panatag and means “tranquility”. Ileto seems here to be confusing kapanatagan with the similar word kapatagan, whose root is patag, and which could indeed be rendered as “level surface”. His translation of “karurukan” as “tip of an elevation” or “pinnacle” does reflect today’s usage, but seemingly not that of the late 19th century – when it generally denoted “throne” or “seat of honor” – and definitely does not fit the context here. Within the Katipunan, it is clear from other documents, karurukan either meant “Lodge” or, more generally, “session,““meeting” or “summit meeting” in the modern sense. Sometimes a karurukan was convened to initiate new members, sometimes to deal with the routine business of the society, and sometimes to discuss revolution. Kapanatagan, in short, does not connote a “level surface,” and karurukan does not here connote a “pinnacle.” Ileto’s suggestion that the document’s heading, “Pagbubukas ng Karurukan (lit. ‘Opening of the Pinnacle’) refers to the gate of the society, at the summit of which is presumably a symbolic mountain”, is fanciful, and the supposed allusion to Mount Calvary a fiction. Equally specious is the connection Ileto makes between the pasyon and the version of the Katipunan ritual that includes the questions in writing. The room to which the neophyte is taken to answer the questions, he says, has “only a single point of illumination (patterned after the Easter candle).” [4] In reality, the test in the dimly-lit room is a direct replication of Masonic ritual. The Katipuneros called the room the “Silid ng Panilayan,” the precise equivalent of the Masonic “Gabinete de Reflexiónes” or “Chamber of Reflection.” As did the Freemasons, the Katipuneros draped the room in black, hung admonitory messages on the walls (“If curiosity has brought you here, you should depart” etc.) and furnished it with a simple desk on which a single candle or oil lamp flickered. Ileto mentions none of this detail, interested only, it seems, in highlighting what he perceives as the influences of folk Christianity. Brother Terrible, he notes, refers to the entrance to the Lodge as the “mahal na pinto.” The initiates stand before the “mahal na pinto” in search of liberty. Ileto translates this phrase as “holy gate”. In the pasyon and related texts, he says, the “holy gate” is the barrier to man’s complete fulfillment that can only be opened by Christ’s passion, death and resurrection.[5] By incorporating the term into their initiation ritual, he says, “Katipunan leaders merely gave it another layer [of significance], a ‘nationalist’ one.” But the more mundane, far likelier, genealogy of the term is once again Masonic – “mahal na pinto,” in the context of the initiation ceremony, should probably be translated not as “holy gate” but as “esteemed door,” just as “Mahal na Karurukan” should be translated in conformity with Masonic usage as “Respected Lodge.” “Noble,” “worthy,” “venerable,” even “worshipful” might be other options, but not “holy.” Many of the Katipunan texts on this website, like this ritual, mention the Almighty, but not a single one mentions Jesus Christ. › › › › › › › › › › › › › › › › › › › › ›
Tagalog text Pagbubukas ng Karurukan Paglo = Kapatid na Taliva: na pagsiyasat na baga niño sa mga hudiatan lihim kung kaharap ay pauang mga Kapad. Taliva = Oopo Kapad na paglo. = na ang kaharap ay pauang mga Kapd. Paglo = Kapd na Taga Usig = guinaua na baga ang karapatan na uukol sa mahal na karurukan. Tagg. Oopo Kapd na paglo. = na ang sa ngayo,y, may manga kapatid na tumatanod ang atin kapanatagan. Paglo = Kung gayon yamang ganap na ang karapatang na u-ukol kayo,y, mag si tindig at suma ayos minamahal kong mga kapatid....Sangalan ng bayan pinaghahandogan ng lubos nating linalayon ay ipina-u-unaua kong bukas na ang mahal karurukan ng mga A. N. B. Kailangan isiyasat ng mabalasik itong sumusunod. Mabk. = Ikao ay sino? At ano ang dito ay iyong hinahanap Nababatid mo baga kapagkarakang dito ay matatagpuan mo ang iyong hinahanap? = At sino ang me sabe sa iyo? At sino ang nagbunsod sa iyo at nagkaroon ka ng ganitong hangad. M = Dimo baga na babatid na kapagkarakang ikao ay masanib sa Katipunan ito ikao ay mabibingit sa katakot-takot na kapahamakan gaya ng matapon sa iba,t, iba o malalayong lupa o ang maualay kaya sa piling ng iyong pinagkaguiguilio na magulang, asaua, anak at kapatid ay hindi ka natatakot. M = Paris ng mapiit sa malungkot na bilangoan o ang maakiat sa kakilakilabot na bibitayan at patain ng kadusta dusta.... Di ka nangangamba... Di ka nalalaguim na dumaluhong sa gayong karame at walang pag itan kamatayan.... Ikao ay magtapat. Kung gayon ay nag pipilit karin mapakisanib sa Katipunan ito ikao ay sumama. Pagkatapos ay ipunin sa tabi ng karurukan at tumuktok sa pinto. Paglo = Kapatid na Taliba = sa pinto ng karurukan ay me tumatauag na di kakilala sa [?] atin. Tala = At saan buhat. Tagg = Buhat sa lusak ng pagkaalipin inagao sa kuko ng bulag kapagkatapos ay naglagos sa balabalaking kapansanan at kapahamakan ngayo,y, naririto,t, tumatauag sa mahal mo pong pintuan at hinahanap ang kalayaan. Ngayon ay magagaua ang unang hirap gaya ng pagsoot sa isang lunga o patalunin sa balon. Paglo = Ano mga kababayan naparito baga kayong inihahanda niño ang iñong loob sa bauat hirap na ibibigay namin sa iño =Kung gayon yamang kayo ay tankang magbabata ay humanda kayo. =Kapatid na Mabalasik gauin ang tungkol. Pagkatapos ay sabihin ng kapd na Mabk sa paglo Natapos na po ang tungkol kapd na Paglo. Paglo =Kung gayon kapd na Mabk uala kayon nakikilalang ano mang ikina-uudlot ng kanilang loob. = Kung gayon yamang hindi sila nakilanlan = ano kaya mga kababayan ma ipangako kaya niño sa akin paris na nga ngayon may magtaksil sa K. ito ano ma ipangako kaya niñong mapatay.... At hindi kaya kayo natatakot. Kung gayon Kapd na Mbk gauin ang dapat sa kanila. = Tila kung akin titigan ay meroroong kayong mga pusong bakal yata = Yayamang kung gayon na ang puso mandin niño ay tunay ngang dalisay kung akin pag kuruin ay ano baga. = Manga kababayan sa pagkat dito ay nangangailangan ng isang tangkang sukat pagkakilanlan sa habang panahon samantalang kayo ay nasabe [?] sa mga bagay na ito ay matatagalan kaya nino ang datal ng isang pangherong bakal sa pisnge = Kapd na Mabk gauin ang dapat sa kanila. = Ngayon, yamang kilala ko na ang tapang niño, ano ma-isasalubong naman kaya baga niño ang iñong katauan sa......[?].... at yaong [?] ... [?] at matalas na puñal upang inong mga..... [?].... ipagtatangol at di pagpapabaya kung sakali. Ano, na payag kayo = Kapd na Mabalasik gauin ang tungkol. Pagkatapos ay isunod na basahin. = Ini irog kong piling mga kababayan. Kahabagan mo ako nasaan baga ang taglay mong lakas na na sisimpan malaon ng arao at ipinagkakait sa akin. = Idulot mo nga at damayan akong na sa malabis na pagka api at hirap na di maaguanta = agauin niño ako sa kuko ng lilo, ¿Ako baga ay nalimutan mo na? (Titiguil ng kaunte) = Ako ang matandang kalayaan na nabibilibiran ang katauan ng katakot na tanikalang bakal at napipilan ng hibong maraya at ng matapos ay pinagbabantaan patain = Ako ang guinhaua ng unang panahon na naualay sa lahing tagalog at nag dudulot ng sari-saring guinhaua ng puso hanguin mo ako upang tayo ay magsasama sa lubos na kapayapaan huag kang mang hinayang sa kaontin dugong pupuhunanin at magaganti ka rin ng ualang takal na biyaya.=Yayamang sumapit na ang panahon dapat ipag-higante ng napapaayop nating bayan sa mga kuhilang Kastila, ang dugong hihibik-hibik sa pamamahala ng abang frayle = lahing ualang puri at bayan kahirap-hirapan at dugong malabo sa lahat ng dugo ay kaylangan ngan gamitin mga nililayag ang sinimpok na tapang na kinamulatan sa ating lahi at tapang na itinagong maluat ng panahon at tapang na minana sa manga unang nuno natin = kayo mga minamahal na kung nayuyukayok sa karumal dumal at kalaguim laguim na sinapupunan ng nag I-ina-inahang España kayo mga irog kong kalahi ang inaasahan dadamay at makiki ysa sa halagang ninanais upang ipagsangalang ang bandila ng tumatangis nating religion at matandang kalayaaan yayang sa kagandahan ng nilalayon ito at pagkadalisay [?] ng dugong tagalog na nagtatakbuhan sa aking mga ugat ay huag magpabaya at siang magbibigay bisa sa panukalang ito = Talastasin naman niño gilio kong kababayan na ang nilalandas ng Katipunan ito ay isang daan pagkakaisa pagtitinginan at pagdadamayan na dimagmamalio mag pahangan libing = At sa Katipunan ito talastasin naman niño na iniauaksi ang masasamang asal masasamang loob at lalu pa at higuit ang kapalaluan palibhasa ay ang isang uagas at dalisay na kalinisan mag pang hangan kailan = Kababaan loob at pamumuhunanan ng ingat na buhay at madlang kaya upang ipagtanggol ang bandila ng tumatangis nating Religion at sariling bayan at upang din ngang mabaui sa mga Kuhila [?] ang kalayaan dinaya sa mga unang puno natin = Tayahin naman nino sa isat isang sarile ang lahi ng Kastila at Tagalog at alalahanin ang kalayaan ng unang panahon = At sino baga kaya ang Kastila dibaga kaya nilalang dinparis natin ng isang Dios? Malabis baga kaya ang pagkatao nila sa atin? Hindi makalilibong hindi mga guiniguilio tayo ang me sariling bait sariling isip na paris din nila may kamay may paa at ibat iba na sangkap ng katauan. Nguni,t, bakit isosoko ang atin pagkatao? Dibaga may lakas tayong sukat ikalaban ! Ay! mga piling hirang buksan na niño ang nangungulabong isip at titigan ang kaayupan ng kinaguisnan Bayan at dito nino maninilay ang kaonting hirap, kung magahis tayo sa ating pagpaubaya at pagpapatubay tubay at ualang kusa at pang hihinayang sa impok na buhay ay libo bong sakit suson suson hirap at ualang pag itan tangis at paghihimutok: = Nasaan ang pusong bayani nadi dadaluyan sa ganitong kahihinatnan !Ay! ka aba abang labis ng hirap = kaya nga ang inaasahang kong makapagliligtas ng kalait-lait na anong ito = Narian sabalon ng dalita at hinagpis at nalulugami ang kahabaghabag natin mga anak at kapatid at hihibikhibik ang ating mga binibining guinaggahasa mga pusong halimao at naririan din naman ang mga pagluha at hinutok, at nadidian din naman ang sariling buhay na napipilan ng labis at labis kung tayo ay may pagapabaya at di kikilos ng makakayanan… Sino kaya ang may puso na di sasaguinin [?] at bubukalan ng paghihigante kung madiledile ang sasapitin ito, sa banta koy wala, [?] sino-naman kaya ang may pusong [di] magdaramdam sa kalagayan ito? Nguni,t, sino naman kaya ang may tungkol na gugulin sa pag iuas [?] sa kalupitan ito? At sino naman kaya ang ating aasahan upang tayo ay maligtas sa kaayupan ito? !Ay! mga liag uala nga [?] kun di ang bayan o tayo na nga magkakasama ang magtatangol. › › › › › › › › › › › › › › › › › › › › › English translation Opening of the Lodge President: Brother Sentinel: have you checked the secret signs to ensure that all those present are Brothers? Sentinel: Yes, Brother President - each of those present is a Brother. President: Brother Fiscal – Have the necessary measures been taken in relation to the respected Lodge? Fiscal: Yes, Brother President – there are now brothers keeping watch to ensure we are not disturbed. President: If that is so, and everything necessary has been done, please stand and come to order my beloved brothers… In the name of the nation to whom we fully dedicate our endeavors I declare open the respected Lodge of the A. N. B. The Terrible must then ask the following:- Terrible: Who are you? And what are you searching for here? Have you learned that you will find here what you are searching for? And who told you this? And who revealed this to you so that you came to have this purpose? Do you not know that once you have joined this Katipunan you will be at the threshold of the most frightful misfortunes, such as being exiled to various faraway places or being separated from your most beloved parents, spouses, children, brothers and sisters? Are you not now afraid? Do you not fear being imprisoned in a miserable cell or ascending the scaffold to ignominious death?... Are you not frightened?... Do you not dread rushing to the attack in the face of certain death?... be truthful. If that is so, and you still insist upon joining this Katipunan, follow me. They then proceed to the side of the Lodge and knock at the door. President: Brother Sentinel – there is someone at the door of the Lodge who is not known to us. Sentinel: And where from? Fiscal: From the mire of slavery, saved from the claws of blindness; having repeatedly passed through various obstacles and dangers and now are here calling before your esteemed door in search of liberty. Now the first ordeals may be undertaken, such as jumping into a well or crawling through a narrow tunnel. President: Compatriots, what have you done to prepare yourselves for each ordeal we will set for you? . If that is the case, you should get ready to face what you have prepared for. Brother Terrible, do what is required. Afterwards, the Brother Terrible will say to the President:- I have now completed what is required, Brother President. President: If that is so, Brother Terrible, have you not noticed any wavering of their resolve? In that case, if nothing has been noticed, = what, compatriots, can you promise me? We have now someone who has betrayed the Katipunan, so will you vow to kill him? And not be afraid? If that is the case, Brother Terrible, do to them what you must. = From what I have observed it seems you indeed have hearts of iron = If that is the case, can I be assured that your hearts are also truly genuine? = What we need here, compatriots, is a suitable means of distinguishing for all time that you have spoken about these things. You will therefore endure the touch of a branding iron on your cheek. Brother Terrible, do to them what you must. = Now, since I now recognize your courage, what would you be prepared to throw your body onto ... a sharp dagger.... come what may, to resist and not surrender? So, are you willing? = Brother Terrible, do what is required. Then will be read the following:- My beloved compatriots, have compassion for me. Where is the strength you possess that has been saved up through all these years and kept from me? Offer it to me, and have compassion for me in my state of unbearable oppression and hardship. Save me from the claws of traitors. Have you already forgotten me? (Pause briefly) I am the old liberty, whose body is wrapped in fearsome chains of metal, subjected to deceitful temptations and threatened with death. I am the well- being of former times that gives many kinds of comfort to the heart. Rescue me so that we can be together in ultimate peace. Do not feel regret at the blood you shall expend, for you shall be rewarded with grace beyond measure. The time has come for our most humiliated country to seek revenge from the Spanish betrayers for the blood that has flowed during friar rule. Race without honor and a suffering nation. Blood, a surge of dark blood, is needed, a wave of courage that will open the eyes of our race to the long-concealed, valiant legacy of our first chiefs. Dear ones, if you are despondent in the shameful and dreadful bosom of so-called Mother Spain, have compassion, my beloved kindred, and unite behind this precious goal. Defend the banner of our lamenting religion and our ancient liberty. Rally to this magnificent cause. With the pure Tagalog blood that flows in my veins, I beseech you not to waver, and to bring this project to fruition. Bear in mind, my dear compatriots, that the way travelled by this Katipunan is the way of unity, mutual caring and mutual compassion that will not perish even unto the grave. And bear in mind that in this Katipunan, bad behavior and bad character and pride in particular, are renounced, for the object of our journey is the purest and most immaculate existence that can ever be attained. Be humble in character and sacrifice your lives and all your resources in order to defend the banner of our tearfully lamenting religion and native land and also to recover from the Betrayers the freedom they deceitfully took from our early chiefs. = Figure also that the Spaniards and Tagalogs are separate races, and recall the freedom of that early time. And who then were the Spaniards; did they not know that we also have one God? Why did they force their character upon us? No, my beloved ones, a thousand times no. We have our own qualities, our own minds just as they do, as we have hands, have feet and other parts of the body. So why should we surrender our character and identity? Are we not strong enough to fight? Ay! Open your clouded minds, chosen ones, and gaze at the infamy that is our Nation’s heritage. If we cannot overcome our passivity, if we cannot persevere, we can see that the unavoidable, woeful result will be a life of a thousand sufferings, untold layers of hardship, and ceaseless lamentations and sobbing. Where is the patriotic heart that does not revolt at such a prospect? Ay! Such pitiful hardship. And so I really long to be rescued from this accursed condition. There is the well of poverty and plaints and the piteous misfortunes of our children and brothers and sisters, and the sobbing of our young women raped by the heartless monsters. And we too shall be fated to suffer abuse after abuse should we falter and not move forward as are able. Who has a heart that will not beat and boil with vengeance if this comes quickly? I think no one. Who has a heart that is not outraged by this situation? But who then has the task of dedicating themselves to stop this brutality? And who should we trust to deliver us from this infamy? Ay! Beloved ones, there is really nobody except the people, ourselves, and together we shall stand defiant. Notes

[1] Reynaldo Clemeña Ileto, Pasyon and Revolution: popular movements in the Philippines, 1840-1910 (Quezon City: Ateneo de Manila University Press, 1989), pp.116-22.

[2] Reynaldo C. Ileto, The Diorama Experience: a visual history of the Philippines (Makati City: Ayala Foundation, 2004), p.85.