NAME: ANGELO GABRIEL REGALADO SECTION: BSN II-A DATE: 03/06/20

BABAYLAN ESSAY
1. HOW DID ONE BECOME A BABAYLAN?

Most babaylan inherited their status from an older babaylan they were apprenticed to, usually a

relative in some cultures, like among the Isneg people, older shamans can choose apprentices from
among the eligible young women of the village

2. WHAT WERE THE USUAL REASON WHYS THAT BABAYLAN WOULD PERFORM RITUALS?

These shamans specialized in communicating, appeasing, or harnessing the spirits of the

dead and the spirits of nature. They were almost always women or feminized
men (asog or bayok). They were believed to have spirit guides, by which they could contact and
interact with the spirits and deities (anito or diwata) and the spirit world. Their primary role were
as mediums during pag-anito séance rituals. 

3. WHAT WERE THE DIFFERENT ROLES DID THEY HAVE IN THE COMMUNITY?

Babaylan were highly respected members of the community, on par with the pre-colonial noble
class. In the absence of the datu (head of the domain), the babaylan takes in the role of interim head
of the domain. Babaylans were powerful ritual specialists who were believed to have influence over
the weather and tap various spirits in the natural and spiritual realms. 

4. IN THE MOVIE, WHAT SPECIFIC INDEGENOUS COMMUNITY WAS

FEATURED?

This initial engagement with Leo and Joyce however spurred a rash of visions that seem to traverse
from both the physical and spiritual world, bringing to life heroes, beautiful maidens, gods,
goddesses, deities and other supernatural beings as if they were alive in the right here and the right
now, communicating and interacting with them. Sharing these visions, Lawrence would later
understand from Joyce that the images they were seeing are similar to characters described in the
Suguidanon epics of the Panay Bukidnon cultural communities.

5. WHO IS YOUR FAVORITE SAGUINDANON CHARACTER?

I have no favorite character and I found those characters hard to deal with and they seem to be
predictable.

6. WHAT IS THE RELEVANCE OF THE BABAYLAN IN THE 21ST CENTURY?

“Babaylan” narrates the story of an academic’s pursuit for knowledge, his ancestral roots, and his quests to quell the
call of the spirits that blazes from within. Inundated with various misconceptions and erroneous generalizations of the
babaylan
 7. WHAT ARE THE VALUES SEEN IN THE MOVIE LIKE JOYCE THAT ARE WORTH ?

a babaylan apprentice who seem to have a deeper and more definitive understanding of what a babaylan is from a
cultural, historical and experiential perspective, but also struggling within herself in her search for true identity.

8. WHAT ARE THE OTHER TERMS FOR BABAYLAN?

Babaylan (also balian or katalonan, among many other names) were shamans of the

various ethnic groups of the pre-colonial Philippine islands. 

9. DO BABAYLAN BELIEVE IN GOD?

The babaylans believe that God understands us in our native language. Praying the Mangurug,
the Ibanag Apostles’ Creed based on the Christian prayer and Ba-diw Ibaloi chants, are
appropriately sacred. For many decades, the mystical women in Mt. Banahaw have been going
on pilgrimages and meditating in sacred places called pamumuesto. Babaylans acknowledged the
belief that God is in all nature.

10. WHY IS THE STUDY OF BABAYLANS IMPORTANT IN PHILIPPINE HISTORY?

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. It is also important for us to preserve the culture and history
of our beloved country.

11. HOW CAN THE PRESENT GENERATION PRESERVE THE BABAYLAN

CULTURE?

We can preserve the babaylan culture by looking back to it and learning its ways. We
should be also able to connect with our history for us to show how much we want to learn
about it.