WHAT IS
Babaylan Shamanism
It is fascinating to learn about the Babaylan and other spiritual practitioners of the Philippine indigenous communities. These gifted individuals possess the ability to communicate with the spirit world, have their own spirit guides, and are blessed with healing and insightful gifts. They are also known for their knowledge of traditional healing therapies such as hilot and arbularyo, and for their roles as ritualists, chanters, and diviners.
The Babaylan are referred to by different names in various Philippine languages, including Mombaki, Dawac, Balyan or Balian, Katalonan, Ma-Aram, Mangngallag, Mumbaki, and Mambunong. In present times, the Babaylan name is being used by those who are inspired by the primary Babaylans’ spirit of revolution against colonization, belief in Sacred Wholeness, love for their mother country, and their desire to serve their communities in achieving justice and peace. Even in urban Philippines and Filipino diasporic communities, the Babaylan name is being upheld and celebrated.
It is worth noting that describing or explaining Philippine traditions in English can be a challenge, and the use of non-Filipino terms like “shaman” can only approximate the role of these healers and spiritual practitioners. Nonetheless, some members may interchangeably use terms like “shaman,” “shaman-priest,” or “priestess” in their writings for Western/Westernized audiences. Still, the local term is always preferred when referring to a specific person, region, or ethnolinguistic group.
Babaylan Tradition concerns the Filipino Wisdom and Power within us. Filipinos everywhere can be empowered by traditions preserved, upheld, passed on by Babaylan women and men. Filipino leaders can individually and collectively strengthen, evolve and uphold this intensifying, re-emerging respect for indigenous traditions and identity, and can in turn empower communities they serve.
You may carry the traditions of the Babaylan within you because you have answered a calling of leadership in one or more of the following: advocacy, activism, teaching, increasing awareness, healing, spirituality and vision, struggling and working for justice—actions and motivation deeply connected to the context of being Filipino. If so, you may be interested in coming to our events and perhaps in helping us bring about these events and future offerings.
Those of us who are organizing CFBS and the conferences refer to ourselves as “Babaylan-inspired” out of respect for the primary Babaylans in the Philippines who are land-based in their indigenous communities.
Come and join us in an exploration and illumination of Babaylan indigenous wisdom and spirit that can empower us in our daily lives and our communities and enable the healing and evolution of Filipino soul.
