The Boxer Codex’s supernatural beings and Philippine cosmology

Record summary

The Boxer Codex is a late-sixteenth-century illustrated manuscript describing peoples, customs, clothing, and supernatural beings associated with the Philippines and neighboring regions. Its images and text can support comparative research on encounters with nonhuman entities, spirit beings, and culturally specific anomaly narratives. It is not a UFO report: the manuscript reflects Spanish colonial observation, informants, translation, and European categorization. Its value lies in documenting how early modern Southeast Asian traditions were recorded and visually reframed for a colonial readership.