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The Baylan and Catalonan in the Early Spanish Colonial Period

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 The Baylan and Catalonan in the Early Spanish Colonial Period 1

Marya Svetlana T. Camacho

University of Asia and the Pacific (Filipinas)

The significance of the baylan/catalonan2—the more widely used terms to refer to

Philippine shamans—both as a symbol and embodiment of Philippine indigenous culture, and
therefore of decolonization and liberation, emerges strongly in Philippine postcolonial studies
and sociocultural advocacies. 3 As a sub-theme of this movement, anchored on the claim that
the baylan is essentially feminine, Filipino feminism has amplified this historical recovery of
Filipino womanhood to its privileged precolonial status and role, appropriating that exemplar
for contemporary realities that many Filipino women face. Whatever ideological perspective
from which the baylan/catalonan may be viewed, the attention they have received in
historical records indicates its perceived importance in Philippine precolonial society; thus
they became particularly critical at the Spanish contact. In turn, as representative of traditions
that are eminently oral, ethnographic data on contemporary Philippine shamans shed light on
the historical written record. Surviving forms of Philippine shamanism today among different
ethnic groups and geographical areas manifest accretions reflective of the varied historical
sociocultural trajectories of those groups.
The adequate context of a study on the baylan/catalonan includes the native-Spanish
encounter. The historical study of Philippine shamanism has been characteristically

1
Published in Marta María Manchado López and Miguel Luque Talaván (eds.), Un mar de islas, un mar de
gentes. Población y diversidad en las Islas Filipinas, 127-143 (Córdoba: Servicio de Publicaciones Universidad
de Córdoba, 2014).
2
For a linguistic study on these two terms, see Zeus A. SALAZAR (Ang Babaylan sa Kasaysayan ng Pilipinas.
Bagong Kasaysayan no. 4. Quezon City: Bagong Kasaysayan, 1999), endnotes 1 and 2, pp.30-34. A discussion
of the variants in other Philippine ethnic groups and languages as used in the chronicles is found in Carolyn
BREWER, pp. 155-156 (Holy Confrontation: Religion, Gender and Sexuality in the Philippines, 1521–1685.
Manila: Institute of Women’s Studies, St. Scholastica’s College, 2001) and Francisco R. DEMETRIO (SJ)
(“Philippine Shamanism and Southeast Asian Parallels”. Asian Studies XI, no. 2 (1973), pp. 128-154), p. 131.
Brewer traces the modification of baylan to babaylan, as it appears in Spanish documents, to the mid-
seventeenth century. Prior to that, which is mainly the period covered by this study, baylan or baylana (Spanish
variant to denote the feminine) was in use.
Brewer adds that the repetition of the first syllable (ba-), that is, babaylan, is more in accordance with
Tagalog, Bikol and Visayan forms. BREWER, 2001, p. 157. Although current Philippine usage has preference
for babaylan, in this study I use baylan, in keeping with the usage in the early colonial chronicles examined.
3
For a bibliography and list of babaylan-related organizations and activities, please refer to the first three
footnotes in Grace NONO (Song of the Babaylan: Living Voices, Medicines, Spiritualities of Philipppine
Ritualist-Oralist Healers. Quezon City: Institute of Spirituality in Asia, 2013), p. 13. This author cautions
against the disconnection between the intellectual appropriation of the babaylan as an empowering symbol, and
the actual survival of the babaylan and their practice, because the former might work against the latter. Nono
frames the babaylan within modernity in which the right of indigenous culture to be recognized is vindicated
(NONO, 2013, pp. 372-373, 380-381).

1
confrontational. Spanish sources, being Catholic and imbued with the spirit of the Baroque,
are uncompromising in their view that the animism they encountered was pagan and
uncivilized. As far as the sources allow it, briefly discussed here is the impact of Spanish
colonization-evangelization on the baylan/catalonan in relation to precolonial society and
culture.
Relative to the Spanish records, recent studies have taken a critical stance as they
enter the “cracks in the parchment curtain” and let the less visible in history emerge and be
understood in its own terms. In this endeavor non-archival, non-bibliographic sources of
ethnohistory have been used. This present study reexamines the representations of Philippine
shamans in historiographical texts vis-à-vis present-day perspectives of religious studies and
ethnography. It relies heavily on the historical documentation produced during the early
colonial period, revisiting the representation of the shamans in those texts. Contemporary
Philippine studies are used to supplement and clarify what the written historical sources
might point to.
This study deals with approximately the first half-century since the formal
establishment of Spanish colonies, with a few exceptions of cases and texts that go beyond
the aforesaid period. Readily available sources for this period are chronicles mostly written
by religious missionaries. 4 This would well be expanded and deepened by archival sources in

4
The bilingual (Spanish-English) texts used are the following: ALCINA, Francisco Ignacio (SJ). History of the
Bisayan People in the Philippine Islands/Historia de las islas e indios de Bisaya. . .1668. Vol. 3 (Part 1, Book
3). Transl., ed., annot. Cantius J. Kobak (OFM) and Lucio Gutiérrez (OP). Manila: University of Santo Tomas
Publishing House, 2005; LOARCA, Miguel de. “Relacion de las Yslas Filipinas” (1582) in The Philippine
Islands, 1493-1803, vol. 5, pp. 34-187. Other texts used are the following: COLIN, Francisco (SJ). Labor
evangelica, ministerios apostólicos de los obreros de la Compañia de Iesus, fundacion y progressos de su
provincia en las islas Filipinas. Madrid: Ioseph Fernandez de Buendia, 1663. Google Books PDF e-book;
COMBES, Francisco (SJ). Historia de las islas de Mindanao, Iolo y sus adyacentes : progressos de la religion y
armas catolicas, Madrid: Herederos de Pablo de Val, 1667. Google Books PDF e-book; CHIRINO, Pedro (SJ).
Relacion de las islas Filipinas i de lo que en ellas an trabaiado los padres dae la Compañia de Iesus. Roma:
Estevan Paulino, 1604. Google Books PDF e-book; LA LLAVE, Antonio de (OFM). Crónica de la Provincia
de San Gregorio de Filipinas. Sucesos y guerras sucedidas en ellas desde que los primeros españoles entraron
a conquistarla. Unpublished manuscript. Manila: 1625; MORGA, Antonio de. Sucesos de las Islas Filipinas.
Anot. Jose Rizal [Paris 1890]. Manila: Comisión Nacional del Centenario de José Rizal, 1961 (Edición del
centenario); SAN NICOLÁS, Andrés de (OSA). Historia General de los Religiosos decalzos del Orden de los
Ermitaños del Gran Padre, y doctor de la Iglesia san Augustin, de la Congregacion de España, y de las Indias.
Tomo I. Madrid: Andres Garcia de la Iglesia, 1664; ADUARTE, Diego de (OP). Historia del Santo Rosario de
la Orden de Predicadores en Filipinas, Japón y China. Vol. 1. Madrid: Consejo Superior de Investigaciones
Científicas, 1962; RIBADENEIRA, Marcelo de (OFM). Historia del Archipiélago y otros Reynos/History of the
Philippines and Other Kingdoms. Vol. 1. Transl. Pacita Guevara Fernández. Manila: Historical Conservation
Society, 1970; PÉREZ, Domingo (OP). “Relation of the Zambals” (1680), in The Philippine Islands, 1493-
1803. Vol. 47. Mandaluyong: Cacho Hermanos, 1973, pp. 298-332; PLASENCIA, Juan de (OFM). “Customs of
the Tagalogs” in The Philippine Islands, 1493-1898. Vol. 7, pp. 173-196. The English translation of sections of
the Boxer Codex (c. 1590) was used, published in F. LANDA JOCANO (The Philippines at the Spanish
Contact. Manila: MCS Enterprises, Inc., 1975), pp. 188-235. This translation by Carlos Quirino was first
published in The Philippine Journal of Science 87, IV (December 1958), pp. 325-453.
4
LOARCA, 1973, p. 132.

2
subsequent research. The aggregate geographical scope of the chronicles includes most of the
Philippine archipelago, as far as northern Mindanao, thus making the treatment of shamans
quite representative of major ethnic groups. The chronicles of the Franciscans Juan de
Plasencia and Francisco de Ribadeneira are limited to areas, around the lake of Bai and in
Camarines (in the Bicol region), respectively, where the shamans are identified as catalonan.
On the other hand, Francisco Ignacio Alcina, being devoted solely to the Visayas, deals only
with the baylan. Andrés de San Nicolás specifies the use of baylan when dealing with
northern Mindanao where Visayan was spoken. Most other chronicles are more wide-ranging,
presenting the catalonan and baylan/babaylan as regional variants. These are the works of
the Jesuits Pedro Chirino and Francisco Colin, the latter echoing the former in some
descriptive passages. Miguel de Loarca and the Boxer Codex, being more systematic in
indicating broad ethnic characteristics, clearly differentiate the terms used, i.e., in the Visayas
and in Luzon. What may be established from the different sources are general animist beliefs
and practices, similarities among shamanistic traditions and celebratory customs of different
ethnic groups.

Spanish encounter with animism

Precolonial religion in the Philippine islands was largely animist with faint traces of Islamic
influence in a few areas.5 Thus the Spaniards encountered a world populated by spirits with
which human beings interacted intensely in daily living as well as in significant moments of
personal and collective life. The physical world—nature—was inhabited by powerful spirits
on which human beings depended for their well-being. Deceased ancestors continued to
intervene in the affairs of their living relatives. Human make-up was conceived as an intimate
union of the corporal and spiritual, such that the state of soul heavily affected the bodily
condition and vice versa. This conception of divinity, the world, and the human person
necessitated mediation between spirits or deities— generally referred to as anito6 and among
the Bisayans, diwata—and men in key areas of life. The shamans’ mediatory function was
consistently recognized in Spanish accounts by the consistent use of the term “priests” and

5
SCOTT, William Henry. Barangay: Sixteenth-Century Philippine Culture and Society. Quezon City: Ateneo
de Manila University Press, 1994. The author explains precolonial religion in Visayan and Tagalog extensively
and summarily in regard to other regions, in proportion to the available Spanish sources for each region.
6
In some accounts a distinction is made in the referent of anito. RIBADENEIRA (1970, p. 52) specifically uses
it to refer to the souls of ancestors. They may be good or bad, depending on their condition in their former lives.
Boxer Codex (1975, p. 190) and LOARCA (1973, p. 172), on the other hand, use it as a general term for the
Tagalog deities. Nonetheless, in both cases, the anito play an intercessory role before the chief gods. In Alcina’s
case (2005, p. 243), ancestors or souls of the deceased are called humalagar, distinct from the diwata or deity.

3
“priestesses” (sacerdotes and sacerdotisas) to refer to the baylan/catalonan.7 Animist
religion was all-encompassing; within its purview lay what the moderns consider as the
separate fields of science and culture. The shaman played the corresponding integrative role,
one that is still embodied in contemporary forms of shamanism in the Philippines.8
To make sense of animism, as they did with other aspects of indigenous society and
culture, the Spaniards adopted a comparative approach based on their worldview, which their
accounts clearly reflect. Their framework of religion was mainly Catholic, although they had
background on other world religions like Islam and ancient religions. Thus in their attempts
to understand the religious belief system and its place in indigenous culture and society, their
exposition was concerned first with divinities and how human beings related to them. The
latter usually took the form of representations of divinities and rituals, which were often
sacrificial in character. In this context the baylan/catalonan were protagonists.
Rituals being among the most external and therefore observable aspect of religion,
they occupy ample space in Spanish accounts, and were logically the object of persecution. A
common remark was that Philippine indigenous religion did not have reserved places 9 or
fixed times for worship, that is, for prayer and sacrifice; the assumption here is the contrast
with the imposing structures of Christianity and other religions, as well as the cycle of
religious rituals.10 Instead the images that were the object of worship were kept in the houses,
and the ceremonies held there as well. Corresponding to the private nature of worship, there
was no regular community worship, in clear contrast with the Catholic Sunday and feast day
Masses, However, individual offerings for individual or family intentions were officiated by a

7
In his classification of Philippine religious functionaries, DEMETRIO (1973, p. 131) characterizes the shaman
as “at once priest-sacrificer, healer intermediary with the spirit world, prophet and seer.” He differentiates the
shaman from the magician/sorcerer who could be a white magician or medicine man, and the witch.
8
For a brief introduction to shamanism and a comparative view of Philippine shamanism, see Francisco R.
DEMETRIO, 1973, pp. 128-154.
9
Like their predecessors, contemporary babaylan perform rituals in their own homes, in the homes of the sick,
in specially constructed places, as well as in natural locations where spirits are believed to have inflicted harm
on offenders. NONO, 2013, p. 347.
10
LOARCA, 1973, p. 130; Boxer Codex, 1975, p. 207; Morga, 1961, p. 312. Francisco Combes noted that they
had neither mezquitas nor oratories (1667, p. 41). As Cantius Kobak clarifies, there were no stone temples.
However, there were places of worship made of light materials such that after quickly building them they were
left to disintegrate. He also notes that early vocabularies made by missionaries have entries referring to places
were ritual sacrifices were carried out. Also, a special tree called the nunok or baliti was considered a suitable
site. Cantius KOBAK. “Ancient pre-hispanic concept of divinity, the spirit-world sacrifices, rites and rituals
among the Bisayans in the Philippines”, Philippiniana Sacra. XXXVII, no. 111 (September-December 2002),
pp. 411-478), p. 413. See also PLASENCIA, 1973, pp. 185-186 on the simbahan and the site of the nagaanito,
and CHIRINO, 1604, pp. 54-56; Boxer Codex, 1975, p. 193.
In an investigation on anito worship carried out in 1685 in some towns in the present-day provinces of
Laguna and Batangas, aside from private homes and fields, traces of rituals were found in caves and trees.
Archivo General de las Indias, Filipinas 75, no. 20, Traslado de autos, informaciones, consultas y respuestas
sobre la idolatría de los naturales del pueblo de Santo Tomás y otros circunvecinos. Manila, 11 de junio de
1688, fos 3r-7v.

4
chosen shaman. Chirino specifies that there are representations of anitos called larauan
among the Tagalog, made of stone, wood, bone, ivory or caiman’s teeth, or of gold, which he
defines as “Idolo, imagen, estatua.”11 However, Boxer Codex12, Plasencia and Ribadeneira
mention images of nature gods in Tagalog and Camarines societies. Plasencia in particular
describes how sacrifice was made to the “idol” which is anointed with fragrant animal or
plant scents.13 Ribadeneira similarly describes the offerings to anitos so that they might
intercede for the people before the principal god for diverse intentions. 14
The chroniclers delve into the occasions on which rituals were held, through which
they gained insight into the vital rhythm of individuals and communities. Often mentioned
are rituals of healing; those meant to bless economic endeavors such as agriculture (planting
and harvest), war, and sea voyages; and milestones in the life cycle like birth, marriage and
death.15 The baylan/catalonan acted as a medium between the world of spirits and of men. As
Aduarte wrote of the “priestesses” in Pangasinan, “les hablaba el demonio por boca destas
mujeres cerca de sus guerras, enfermedades y sucesos.”16 The rituals were meant to appease
the anitos or obtain favors from them. 17 Healing rituals are the most often depicted in the
early accounts, and are paralleled by pious narratives of cures owing to the reception of
sacraments, the use of sacramentals—and also medicinal herbs—faith in the intercession of
saints, and ultimately conversion to Christianity. Conversion was sometimes depicted as the
victorious outcome of choosing Christian means for healing over the maganito.18 After all, in
the animist world, healing mainly aimed at recovering the soul and necessarily involved
communicating with the spirits.19 Similar to the baylan/catalonan, the Catholic clergy came
to be considered as healers of body and soul.
The conception of health and its corollary illness as primarily spiritual in nature
continues to hold among present-day babaylan. However, they also recognize “natural”
causes like the elements, germs, malnutrition, which western medicine can cure. To some,
these natural causes are manifestations of spiritual ones, rooted in the belief that God and/or

11
CHIRINO, 1604, p. 53
12
Boxer Codex, 1975, p. 193.
13
MORGA, 1961, p. 312; Boxer Codex, 1975, p. 190; LOARCA, 1973, p. 132.
14
RIBADENEIRA, 1970, p. 52.
15
To cite some examples: SAN NICOLÁS, 1664, p. 26; Boxer Codex, 1975, pp. 193-194; COLIN, 1667, p. 63
16
ADUARTE, 1962, p. 137
17
ADUARTE, 1962, p. 239, SAN NICOLÁS, 1664, p. 28; PÉREZ, 1973, pp. 302-303; COMBES, 1667, p. 41.
18
Precisely in this regard Pedro CHIRINO (1604, p. 54) observed that priests could win people’s devotion
because of their need for healing. See also Boxer Codex, 1975, pp. 207-208; some examples from COLIN, 1667,
pp. 390, 442-443.
19
DEMETRIO, 1973, p. 130. The shaman’s task of guiding souls to the land of the dead or to back to the body
is explained by his special character as someone who has been into the spirit world and back.

5
the spirits are the cause of everything. This belief is more marked in babaylan who practice
or have closer affinity with Christianity or Islam. Ultimately, healing means restoring or
attaining harmonious relationships with the spiritual world as well as with one’s fellow men.
Towards this end the rituals are performed.20
The description of the sacrificial rituals, habitually called anito, maganito, nagaanito
or paganito, is detailed in varying degrees.21 The material elements are the special ritual
robes used by the baylan/catalonan, offering of food and wine (rice or coconut) placed in
special vessels, oils and scents, pieces of cloth, and even jewelry and valuable personal
ornaments. The preference for pigs as offering, which is killed by spearing, is a shared
practice in Southeast Asia.22 The food and drink are consumed by the shaman and the
participants in feasting mode; according to Chirino, this was “que es su mayor solenidad.”23
Other key elements are the songs or chants uttered as invocations by the officiating
baylan/catalonan, accompanied by music usually of bells, gongs, and kettle-drums. This
music was the background to what to the chroniclers looked like frenzied, dance movements
and a trancelike and fainting phase, recovery and the interpretation of the spirits’ will. 24 In the
eyes of the Catholic missionaries, those movements were a kind of demoniac possession, if
not theatrical acting to deceive those who had asked for priestly intercession. Demetrio posits
that all those elements—the wine, aromatic herbs, the songs, rhythmic music and dance—
induced the state of trance, when the spirit comes into the shaman. 25 The ceremonial gestures
were accompanied by the participation of those present. Aside from feasting, the other
participants responded to the baylan/catalonan’s songs or chants, played music, and also
danced.
In her study of present-day babaylan, Grace Nono qualifies the songs and chants as
largely forms of speech; nonetheless, the melodies and the variations in individuals’ voices
and style are as important as the words in defining the chants. The chants themselves are not
merely individual expressions but integrated tradition with the present, the world of spirits

20
NONO, 2013, pp. 337-342, 362-364.
21
PLASENCIA, 1973, pp. 190-191; CHIRINO, 1604, p. 56; LOARCA, 1973, p. 132; COLIN, 1667, p. 65;
ADUARTE, 1962, p. 137; SAN NICOLÁS, 1664, pp. 26-27, Boxer Codex, 1975, p. 223; PÉREZ, 1973, p. 301.
DEMETRIO (1973, p. 140) recounts the curing ceremony observed by Fr. Richard Arens (SVD) in a village of
Leyte with the comment that it was very similar to the rituals—the elements and the performance—observed by
the Spanish chroniclers centuries ago.
22
DEMETRIO, 1973, p. 129.
23
CHIRINO, 1604, p. 57. Ritual feasting has a symbolic character, with the consumer imbibing the attributes of
what is consumed. KOBAK, 2002, notes 41 and 42, p. 429.
24
The elements of precolonial sacrificial rituals have been largely preserved, as observation of present-day
babaylan rituals attest to.
25
DEMETRIO, 1973, p. 143.

6
with the human, in an “ongoing creation.” The chants are believed to be the medium by
which the spirits communicate with humans; the chants, being pleasing to the gods and
spirits, evoke a response of divine magnanimity towards humans. Lastly, the accompanying
gestures and dances are meant to heal and increase the well-being of those who perform
them.26
As noted above, most of the religious accounts generally used the terms sacerdotisas
and sacerdotes to define the baylan/catalonan. Their priestly function was thus
acknowledged in general, with a focus on their officiating of sacrificial rites. In his
classification of the “priests of the devil”, Plasencia applied the terms “witch,” “sorcerer” and
“soothsayer” to most of the twelve kinds and reserves the term “priest” to the catalonan. The
other religious chroniclers were not as careful about making distinctions. In this way they
were just being consistent with their conviction that animism was heathen and idolatrous, that
the intermediaries with the spirit world were equivalents of witches and sorcerers, who
communicated with the devil, and that their rituals were demonic.27 Kobak’s distinction
between the worldview of the baylan’s society and the missionaries’ religious perspective can
be applied here. This distinction leads to a better understanding of precolonial religion.28

The baylan/catalonan’s status in indigenous societies

Chirino, with his humanistic bent, made an observation which though condescending
points the direction in which indigenous peoples and cultures could better be known and
understood. After elaborating and praising the system of writing and widespread literacy
among the Tagalog, he noted about Philippine peoples in general that
“Todo su govierno, i Religion, se funda en tradicion, i en uso introduzido del mismo
demonio, que les hablava en sus Idolos, i en sus ministros: i lo coservan en cantaras,
que tienen de memoria, i los aprenden desde niños; oyendolos cantar quando
navegan, quando laboran, quando se regozijan, i festejan, i mucho mas, quando
lloran los difuntos. En estos cantares barbaros cuentan las fabulosas genealogias, i
vanos hechos de sus dioses. . . . Tocan en la creadion del mundo, principio del linage
umano, i en el diluvio, gloria, pena, i otras cosas invisibles; contando mil disparates,
i aun variando mucho en dezirlos, unos de una manera, i otros de otra. . . .”29

The combination of the preference for oral tradition—over writing which is a mark of
civilization—and the very content of such influenced his low assessment of indigenous

26
NONO, 2013, pp. 248-250.
27
“Grandes hechiceros y brujos”, according to MORGA (1961, p. 312); “oficialas de hechicerías, agueros y
supersticiones” according to RIBADENEIRA (1970, p. 52).
28
KOBAK, 2002, pp. 427-428.
29
CHIRINO, 1604, p. 52

7
government and religion. Yet in this passage Chirino unwittingly captures the
multidimensional function of the baylan/catalonan in indigenous society. They were
intermediaries between their communities and the spirit world as well as keepers of collective
memory and cultural tradition. The personalized manner in which the invocations and
narratives were transmitted were probably the most effective way of appropriating them
through generations; conservation was achieved by making them alive both in quotidian
activities and in celebratory events. The rituals officiated by the baylan/catalonan belonged
to this realm. Here we have a glimpse of the elaborate preparation that those who took on the
shaman’s functions needed to have. As Chirino likewise noted in his description of the
shaman’s conduct of the healing rituals: “Ganase tambien esta di[g]nidad, enseñando el
oficio, por particular amistad, o parentesco, dexandolo en [h]erencia.”30 The catalonan
chose her successor, another woman, who after accepting the office received the deceased
catalonan’s sacred image. 31 Alcina, however, describes another manner of selection: a
woman became a baylan when communicating with a diwata at its nunoc tree dwelling; after
being possessed by the diwata,she became ready to exercise her new office. 32
In Juan de Plasencia’s categorization of the “priests of the devil,” he differentiates the
catalonan as “an honorable one among the natives, and was held ordinarily by people of
rank, this rule being general in all the islands.”33 Chirino corroborates this, stating that the
inherited office of the baylan/catalonan was highly esteemed. He narrates the story of a
leading catalonan in San Juan del Monte (Taytay) who belonged to an elite family, and
through her sons’ marriage was well connected with other prominent families. The Jesuit
missionary attributed her influence—to keep people in their animist ways—to her family
background as well as to “tanto en sagacidad (porque en realidad la tenia)”.34
Zeus Salazar identifies the baylan/catalonan as the third specialist in the precolonial
community (the barangay). The datu was the head of political, military and economic
organization, and the panday the specialist in the technological aspect. Being in charge of
rituals, the baylan/catalonan possessed some knowledge of astronomy needed to determine
propitious times for agricultural and military enterprises. In relation to the foregoing, they
preserved the mythology of their people which constituted an important part of their cultural
heritage. Lastly, on account of their healing function, they possessed a combination of

30
CHIRINO, 1604, p. 55
31
CHIRINO, 1604, pp. 56-57; cf. COLIN, 1667, p. 367.
32
ALCINA, 2005, p. 260.
33
PLASENCIA, 1973, p. 192.
34
CHIRINO, 1604, p. 56.

8
knowledge of natural medicine and psychology. In sum, the baylan/catalonan were the
experts in the spiritual realm. 35 Today, the babaylan serve as repositories of traditional
knowledge. They act as channels of continuity hrough the study of the oral tradition of their
respective ethnic group, consisting of chants, stories, cosmologies, mythologies, medicine;
likewise, through the practice of skills that accompany their intermediary and healing
functions, such as chanting, performing musical instruments and dancing. On the other hand,
they are creative agents when they produce texts for chants and engage in artistic activities
such as weaving, embroidery, and making bead ornaments. It is believed that this artistic
knowledge was transmitted to them through oral/aural means (including those that go beyond
the bounds of consciousness) from spirits and human persons. 36

Resistance and conversion

Given the central position that the baylan/catalonan held in Philippine societies, their
resistance and persistence represented, for the zealous missionaries, obstinate attachment to
the old indigenous religion and culture. The influence they exerted on the populace was in
direct opposition to the Christianizing-civilizing process led by the missionaries. Aduarte
identified two aniteras in his account of the missions in Nueva Segovia (Cagayan). The first
was from the township of Cabicungan whose influence made the people resist the Christian
faith.37 The missionaries tried to frighten her, threatening her with punishment in la ciudad de
los españoles in the north or in Manila. In the end they asked an indio principal, Don
Francisco Yringán, to subjugate her. The duel that followed is a representative image of the
struggle between pagan and Christian forces, as Don Francisco Yringán used a cross which
drove away the anitera. The other one was Caquenga who led her people to practice the
rituals of their ancestors and to reject Christian teachings, agitating them against the
missionaries. It came to a point that they destroyed their homes and retreated to the
mountains to be with other people who were likewise resisting colonization. 38
Ribadeneira notes how in the early period of conversion indigenous people tried to
make the old and new religions compatible. It sometimes happened that, persuaded by the
catalonan, they continued to offer sacrifices to the anito while at the same time asked the
missionaries to pray for their cure. 39 Chirino’s account of the catalonan of San Juan del

35
SALAZAR, 1999, pp. 4-7,14-18.
36
NONO, 2013, pp. 365 and 369.
37
ADUARTE, 1962, p. 249.
38
ADUARTE, 1962, p. 508
39
RIBADENEIRA, 1970, p. 52

9
Monte described how they maintained their hold over their people, who continued to have
recourse to them in secret. Revealing the capacity to adapt to new beliefs is that the chief
catalonan had persuaded the people that “cuyo Anito dezia ella, que era mui amigo del de los
Christianos; I que havia baxado del cielo.”40
In turn, the missionaries were well aware (as expressed anecdotally) that in the eyes
of the baylan/ catalonan, they were leaders of a religion and culture that threatened to destroy
the old ways and to cause an imbalance in the relationship between the local communities
and their divinities. Thus Aduarte recounted that the “devil” communicated through a gran
hechicera by the name of Fulangán in the township of Pata (Cagayan), that he would not
appear anymore to her people after they had received “aquellos andrajosos encogullados,”
referring to the Dominican missionaries. Indeed the people began to notice the absence of the
oracles and communications mediated by the shaman. Aduarte’s explanation was that the
devil had been silenced by the preachers of the Gospel, and people had begun to recognize
his deception. As an even more direct and encompassing challenge, the missionaries were
there to replace the old priestly class. 41
Although not thoroughly treated, there is sufficient indication in the historical record
of the leadership role that the baylan/catalonan played in indigenous society, whether in
resistance or in conversion.42 Salazar points out that in the course of the Spanish colonial
period, some local rebellions were led by babaylan.43 Logically, in the chronicles their
conversion was considered as a great victory of Christian faith over idolatry, tantamount to
recognizing the deception in which they had been hitherto immersed, and conversely,
accepting the truth that Christianity offered.44 There are a few cases of conversion mentioned,
some more elaborately than others. Aduarte notes that Fulangán eventually became a good
Christian. For Chirino the story of the catalonan of San Juan del Monte ended well because
they converted to Christianity; to ensure their fidelity to their newfound religion, they were
made to live among devout Christians until their conversion was ascertained.45
In the town of Lumbán (in the area of Laguna de Bai) administered by the Franciscan
F. Diego del Villar, a dramatic episode of confrontation between Catholic minister and pagan
priestesses took place in 1594. The newly arrived guardián discovered the persistent presence
of catalonan when the surviving relatives of a deceased man reclaimed the payment they had
40
CHIRINO, 1604, p. 56; cf. COLIN, 1667, p. 367.
41
ADUARTE, 1962, p. 249.
42
CHIRINO, 1604, pp. 56-58; ADUARTE, 1962, p. 509.
43
SALAZAR, 1999, pp. 19-20.
44
ALCINA, 2005, pp. 270-271; CHIRINO,1604, p. 58.
45
CHIRINO, 1604, p. 58.

10
given to a catalonan for the cure of their relative. It was reported that the previous guardians
had already punished the catalonan in question, but she continued in her office. He sought all
the other women shamans in the pueblo, burned their instruments, had the leading shaman
whipped, and the rest put to shame. The places where they celebrated rituals were dismantled
and the women were made to live in an isolated area and dress in yellow. The people exposed
their pagan practices. In one Mass officiated by the visiting Provincial, one of the chief
catalonan tearfully made a public confession of her guilt and what she admitted to be the
devil’s deceptive ways; she offered satisfaction by restituting in gold whatever misdeeds she
might have committed in her office.46
While the authors are ruthless in dealing with the devil in their narratives, they are
more merciful in describing a converted catalonan/babaylan. Ribadeneira recounts a rather
dramatic episode of how a baptized woman of rank, who had relapsed into hechicerías, was
moved by grace and confessed her sin in public. She threw herself at the feet of the priest –
“haciéndose un vivo retrato de la gloriosa Magdalena”—and tearfully beseeched God’s
mercy. By her example, others of her kind were converted.47 Felicitously completing
the conversion in some cases was as Alcina reported:
“a la verdad, algunas de ellas y que tuvieron antiguamente mucho nombre de
catooran, o ‘verídicas’, en este oficio, han ayudado no poco a los Padres en la
enseñanza y doctrina de sus compatriotas los bisayas, y han sido maestros (que así
las llamamos acá) que han servido mucho a la fácil conversión de muchos y muchas
de ellas, sirviéndoles de desengaño mayor las que fueron antes medianeras del
engaño, o engañador; y no es una sola de estas a quien he oido decir que todo eran
embustes, bellaqueñas y maldades cuanto antes sabían y las enseñaba el demonio. . .
.”48

In sum, the conversion of the baylan/ catalonan in missionary accounts represented the
victory of Truth over Falsehood.

From shaman to pious Christian woman

That shamanistic function was assumed chiefly by women, and that male shamans
displayed feminine behavior, has been considered as evidence of female leadership in
precolonial Philippine societies which was lost due to colonization and Christianization. 49

46
LA LLAVE, 1625, pp. 312-314. The entire episode is reproduced in PAZOS, Manuel R. (OFM). “El P. Diego
del Villar extermina la idolatría entre los tagalos Filipinos de Lumbang.” Archivo Iberoamericano VIII (1948),
pp. 531-535.
47
RIBADENEIRA, 1970, p. 82.
48
ALCINA, 2005, p. 270.
49
Contemporary efforts to revalorize the baylan/catalonan take place in two dimensions which sometimes
intersect: first, the recovery and strengthening of the Filipina’s leadership role, and second, its more specific

11
The predominance of female priests is indicated by the chroniclers, not only in number but
also as gender, especially insofar as demeanor and manner of dressing were concerned. 50
Aduarte, referring to the sacerdotisas of Pangasinan, categorically states: “Este oficio era de
mujeres.” However, in treating of them in the region of Nueva Segovia (Cagayan), he
qualifies that there were also male shamans: “Usaban más de sacerdotisas o aniteras que de
sacerdotes, aunque de éstos también tenían algunos.”51 Francisco Combes, in treating of the
indigenous peoples of Mindanao, notes that the shamans were usually women. 52 Loarca,
referring to the Visayans, is more ambivalent: “de aqui llaman baylanes a las mugeres
sacerdotisas o a los varones que hacen este offiçio.”53 Alcina affirms that the baylan or
daitan were ordinarily women. In the exceptional cases of men, who were called asog, they
were effeminate. The asog he knew were more like women in their way of life, in their
movements and even in their tasks, as they applied themselves to womanly activities such as
weaving and needlework; although they did not wear skirts (saya), they were some sort of a
gown. Alcina makes a distinction between the daitan and asog, stating that there was more
selection among the former whereas the asog had the office by the mere fact of his being the
way he was.54 In his classification of “priests”, Plasencia described the bayoguin as “a man
whose nature inclined toward that of a woman” without stating what his particular office
was.55 He seemed to be distinct from the catalonan, for Plasencia states that the latter was
“either a man or a woman.” On the other hand, the closeness of the term bayog to the Zambal
bayoc, referring to the male priest who dressed like a woman, 56 would seem to indicate a
correspondence similar to that between the asog and the baylan. The bayoc wore a tapis or
cloth wrapped around the lower body like a skirt, tied his hair like a woman, but also carried
weapons like men57 Similarly, Ribadeneira describes how male catalonan in Camarines

application of asserting women’s religious leadership both in Catholicism and in the animist tradition.
BREWER, 2001, p. 157.
50
RIBADENEIRA, 1970, p. 52; ALCINA, 2005, pp. 258-259.
51
ADUARTE, 1962, p. 239.
52
COMBES, 1667, p. 41.
53
LOARCA, 1973, p. 132.
54
ALCINA, 2005, pp. 258 and 260.
55
PLASENCIA, 1973, p. 194.
56
PÉREZ, 1973, p. 300.
57
Francisco DEMETRIO (1973, p. 258) cites Mircea ELIADE (Shamanism: Archaic Techniques of Ecstasy
New York: Random House, Inc., 1964) with regard to ritual transformation of sex, which is found in different
peoples, referring to a class of shamans who are males but are female in their conduct and demeanor. Eliade
explains the religious purpose at its origin, i.e., to reproduce in the intermediary the human and the divine, the
feminine element (earth) and the masculine (sky).

12
imitated the ways of the female, who were ordinarily the shamans, without mentioning a
specific term used to refer to that person.58
The fact that the baylan/catalonan were mostly women gives a strongly gendered
nuance to the change in religious leadership that evangelization would bring about. The
efforts to stamp out animism logically included the demise of the figure of the shaman. The
complex of functions that the baylan/catalonan exercised would be largely supplanted by
male Catholic priests. The sacrificial rituals that were central to their mediating and healing
functions were replaced mainly by miracles achieved through faithful prayer, the sacraments,
and the mediation of saints; stories of such abound in the missionary chronicles.
In the Christian order of the early colonial period, the religious role of baptized
women would correspond to their status as lay persons. Specific to the baylan, an example of
this is found Alcina’s appreciative comment that some catooran, who were the highly
esteemed baylan, had become effective teachers of the faith to fellow Visayan women.
Among the different ways of interpreting this collaboration with missionaries, we may
consider it as consistent with the general practice of counting on influential individuals in the
indigenous community to expedite evangelization. The conversion and collaboration of the
baylan/catalonan had a similar impact as that of the datu’s. The public retraction of the errors
of their former religion were highly valued from the pastoral standpoint since it encouraged
many others to turn their backs on animist practices. 59 There are anecdotal accounts of elite
women, married or not, who upon conversion led exemplary Christian lives. Aside from
being very pious, they became known for their works of charity and the teaching of Catholic
doctrine. In sum, the exclusive office of the baylan/catalonan, which was primarily female,
was transformed into types of church-based collaboration open to all women. The question of
a calling to a specific religious office would come with the introduction of institutions of
religious life, specifically the beaterios. This is another chapter in Philippine history that
gives evidence of the spiritual vitality of indigenous women, this time within the framework
of Catholicism. 60

58
RIBADENEIRA, 1973, p. 52.
59
As an example, see CHIRINO, 1604, p. 58: “Quedo el lugar tan desengañado desta vez, que durò muchos
dias, por una parte el traer Idolillos, ropas, vasijas, i otras cosas de sus antepassados; con que no quedo rastro
desta raça: i por otra grandissimo fervor, i frequencia de confessiones Generales, con que quedaron limpias las
conciencias.” Cf. COLIN, 1904, p. 116: “Quedó el pueblo con tanto horror a su antigua supersticion, que por
muchos dias no cesavan de manifestar idolillos, vasijas, ropas, y otras alhajas tocantes a esto.”
60
There have been some speculation connecting manifestations of spiritual vitality in different periods of
Philippine history, i.e., between the baylan/catalonan and the beata. VENERACION, Jaime B. “From Babaylan
to Beata: A Study on the Religiosity of Filipino Women”. Review of Women’s Studies III, no. 1 (December
1992), pp. 1-15; SANTIAGO, Luciano. To Love and to Suffer: The Development of the Religious Congregations

13
Conclusion

The ample space that the religious chroniclers devote to indigenous religion, its
beliefs and ministers, reflects their single-minded purpose of evangelization and civilization
according to the standards of Christianity and western culture. The figure of the
baylan/catalonan presented a major challenge to evangelization, and directly so to the
priestly office of Catholic missionaries. Eventually, the person of the doctrinero and párroco,
both as religious leader and as authority in many aspects of civic life, would predominate in
colonial Philippines on the pueblo level.
The goal of eliminating pagan beliefs and practices, and with them the baylan/
catalonan was not completely achieved, as historical evidence shows. Throughout the
Spanish colonial period, the continuing efforts to find traces of prehispanic religious practice
serve as a gauge of their persistence. Today, shamans and shamanistic practices remain; in
some areas that have long been Christian or Moslem, they have a strongly syncretic character.
Understanding the perspective of the missionaries, who came into contact with inhabitants of
the Philippine Islands in the first century of colonization, is necessary to be able to glean the
ethnological material that their narratives and descriptions offer. Reading their accounts in an
ethnographic key reveals the continuities of the present with the past. The texts produced by
religious chroniclers provide a window to prehispanic religion and culture aspects of which
are still recognizable in the present. Some of those aspects are the underlying worldview of
precolonial society—one in which the spirit world is very close to the human world and vice
versa—the ritual elements, and the shamanistic functions and roles in the community. Indeed
the modern-day babaylan is a link of continuity in indigenous tradition and to some extent
exemplifies resistance as well as adaptation to other religions and to modernity. Thus the
babaylan, portrayed as representative of Philippine indigenous culture, is often referred to in
vindicatory terms whose presence and practice deserve greater recognition.
On the other hand, following on the chronicles’ treatment of indigenous women,
while the baylan/catalonan became a common focus, we cannot lose sight of other Filipino
women who may be considered as agents of continuity as well as adaptation in the native-
Spanish encounter. While very few are mentioned by name as exemplary Christians who

for Women in the Spanish Philippines, 1565–1898. Quezon City: Ateneo de Manila University Press, 2005, pp.
17-18, 22-25.
During the Spanish colonial period, particularly between the turn of the seventeenth century to the mid-
eighteenth century, Filipino women of different racial categories initiated beaterios, non-canonical institutions
of quasi-religious life, which would develop under the auspices of male religious orders. Santiago’s work is
hitherto the most comprehensive study of the beaterios.

14
 contributed to the spread of Christianity in the islands, there are many more who remained
anonymous in the accounts of assimilation of faith in the early stage of evangelization. The
chronicles also devote space to indigenous women indicating their ordinary tasks in the home
and family. As constituents of colonial society who did not exercise a distinctive function in
their respective communities, how they could have contributed to religious and cultural
vitality in an evolving, transcultural context, presents a significant lacuna in Philippine
studies.

15

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