What is the purpose of babaylan?

Babaylan women serve as intermediaries between spiritual and material worlds in their communities. Their leadership roles are multi-fold: warrior, healer, priestess and sage. Babaylans listen to the community and lead through a deep understanding of the inter-connectedness of all life forms.

What is babaylan in the Philippines?

Filipino shamans, commonly known as Babaylan (also Balian or Katalonan, among many other names), were shamans of the various ethnic groups of the pre-colonial Philippine islands. These shamans specialized in communicating, appeasing, or harnessing the spirits of the dead and the spirits of nature.

What is the function of babaylan in shaping and refining the Philippine literature?

It is the role and function of the Babaylan to mediate between the world of the spirits and the human and non-human world and re-member for us the deep connectedness between worlds; thus suturing and healing the split in our psyche.

What is the cultural meaning of babaylan?

Philippine indigenous communities recognize a woman (or man) as a Babaylan, someone who has the ability to mediate with the spirit world, has her own spirit guides, and is given gifts of healing, foretelling, and insight. She may also have knowledge of healing therapies such as hilot, arbularyo.

What happened to the babaylan within and throughout the course of Philippine history?

According to Amoroso and Abinales (2005), the Spaniards broke the anito and other ritual instruments, which they dragged through the villages, burned, and made young boys defecate on them. This effectively dishonored and depowered the babaylans, while defiling the ancient religion of the Filipinos.

What is the relevance of babaylan in 21st century?

What is the relevance of the Babaylans in the 21st century? Precolonial babaylans have inherited practices and worldviews we could all learn from: praying, chanting and singing in native tongues, inviting and asking the Divine Source for bountiful harvests and protection from harm.

Is babaylan festival religious?

They are mostly a matriarchal society, with the Babaylans placed among the highest-ranking leaders of the group or tribe. When the Spanish colonizers came, the Babaylans and their rituals were suppressed, making way to the Christian religion.

What happened to the babaylan when Spaniards came to Philippines?

What do you call a male babaylan?

According to Maria Milagros Geremia-Lachica’s Panay’s Babaylan: The Male Takeover, some of the Spanish friars managed to chronicle religious practices of our ancestors headed by women. Yet they also found male priest who preside during sacred ceremonies. These so called male Babaylans were properly called “Asog”.

How do I become a babaylan?

Any woman or man who could identify and solve the problems of the community can be chosen a babaylan. She had to demonstrate her leadership in solving its problems as they arise and mature. In other Lumad communities, a woman or man must be able to wield a sword or a weapon in defense of the community.

What is the role of babaylan during the pre Spanish period in the Philippines?

A group of elders were advisers to the tribal ruler and jointly they acted as judge and lawgiver. In some communities, the Babaylan was highly respected as priestess or religious practitioner, as well as healer, counselor and mediator in the tribe.