CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY — As candles flicker in cemeteries and families whisper prayers for their dearly departed this All Saints’ and All Souls’ Days, the Higaonon people of Mindanao honor their dead in a way that bridges the visible and the unseen.

For the Higaonon — an indigenous group found in Bukidnon, Camiguin, Misamis Oriental and Lanao del Norte — death is not the end of life, but a passage. They believe that when a person dies, the “gimokod” (spirit or soul) does not immediately vanish into the heavens. Instead, it lingers — remaining close to the burial site before making its sacred journey to Mount Balatukan, an 8,040-foot extinct volcano believed to be the final gathering place of souls.

This ancient belief has been passed down from generation to generation. The Higaonon say that Mount Balatukan — which straddles Gingoog City and the municipalities of Claveria, Medina and Balingasag — is not only a natural wonder but also a spiritual realm. From its crater flows a river said to carry the essence of life and connection between the living and the dead. Today, the mountain is a protected national park, but for the Higaonon, it remains something far greater: the mountain of souls.

In the book “The Spirit World of the Bukidnon (Higaonon)” by the late Fr. Vincent G. Cullen, S.J., a former parish priest in Impasugong, Bukidnon, the Higaonon view of life and death is vividly described. Cullen wrote that a person is made up of two parts — the “lawa” (body) and the “gimokod” (soul). To them, the soul is as real and tangible as the body itself — “the true body,” as they call it.

“The relationship of the soul and body,” Cullen noted, “is like that of a body to the clothes it wears.”

When the body weakens, they believe it is because the soul has wandered away. To call it back, the tribe performs a ceremony called “gimokodan,” a ritual meant to entice the spirit to return to its physical vessel.

But if sickness persists, the cause may be darker. The Higaonon believe that sometimes, the soul is captured by a “busaw” — an evil spirit. One old tale speaks of a man who, in his dream, traveled to Mount Balatukan to rescue the soul of his ailing wife. There, he met Gumigunal, a tribal god, and found his wife’s spirit imprisoned inside a bottle. When he released it, his wife recovered soon after.

The Higaonon also believe that each person has a “kawa” — a soul companion or twin spirit that stays beside a person throughout their life. When a person dies, this companion remains near the grave, guarding it and sometimes startling those who dare to visit after dark.

For the Higaonon, then, life and death are not separate worlds but parallel paths. The living continue to speak to their gimokods, offering food, prayers, and songs — a quiet reminder that love, like the soul, never truly dies.