This book shows, through painstaking research and documentation of artifacts and practices, how art pervades the everyday life of the people of the Sulu Archipelago, such that no divide exists between beauty and function, between artistry and utility.

Many authors, ancient and modern, native and foreign, have been preoccupied with 'primitive' religion, or even better said, the paganism of the Natives of the Philippines; however, their writings about the religion of the natives, non-Christianized or from the mountains, who until now keep their ancient practices, are always reduced to form a chapter indistinct from the other historical or ethnographic notes of their published works. There exists no work, [major] or minor, dedicated specifically and especially to the study of the religion of all the indigenous races of the Philippine Archipelago. The purpose of this dictionary is to put together the religious groups of the Philippines, and removing those of Christian or Mohammedan origins. This work will provide an opportunity to make comparative studies and give an idea of the wealth of names that are in the mythologies of this country.