What happened to the Babaylan?

Today, babaylan is not a commonly used term in the Philippines. The influence of colonizers from the Western world has turned our honor of the babaylan to scorn. Instead of seeing their work as sacred and real, we now see them through western eyes---they are evil and their work fakery.

Centuries ago, because the babaylan role was to speak to the spirits for the people, priests demonized their work because the spirit world was not acknowledged by the Catholic Church and was thus satanic. The Spanish brought with them Roman Catholicism and the Americans protestantism, and the ways of the babaylan were deemed as the work of the devil and the babaylans condemned as bruja or witches. Despite the widespread practice of western religions brought in, native Filipino healers still have acceptance in society and are called arbolaryos and manghihilots. Again, although modern medicine and science has relegated their work to the status of quacks, Filipinos, rich and poor, educated or not, still go to traditional folk or alternative medicine practitioners.

There is a modern day notion that babaylan and katalonan are only women, but they are also men. In some ancient island villages, babaylan men dressed up as women. In Negros Occidental today, a powerful psychic who consults for rich and poor alike, is an unabashed, colorful gay man. There are many powerful hilots and arbolaryos who are men. There is an American native tradition that speaks of the choice of the shaman--- "he must have the heart of a woman."

The pagdiwata role of the Babaylan must be revisited and embraced anew. Like our mixed heritage of various cultures and race, we Filipinos must learn to embrace and integrate our mixed heritage of religion and spirituality.

Ancient Babaylan Ways

Beginning Notes on Healers, Teachers, Warriors, Sages of Today

So the topic of traditional babaylan roles have been covered---we still have the faith healers, the arbolaryos and the manghihilots(terms used for the folk bonesetters, herb masters, massage therapists) who attend to the Healing aspect of people and the community.

But now I want to talk briefly, for now, about the other leaders of today who embody the babaylan spirit in other ways...

We also have spiritual leaders---men and women in secular and pastoral roles who in essence provide healing when they promote wholeness and forgiveness between not only family members but also divided factions of society. Social workers also provide a form of healing to society.

We have the Warriors found not only in military leaders and political leaders but also in activists, proponents for social change.

Our Teachers are found not only in school, but also in artists and musicians who share heritage in their work.

Sages and Visionaries are found in the Poets, Artists, and Scholars who have glimpsed what could be and share their vision and hopes in their artwork, writings and teachings... They are also the hulas who know how to impart glimpses of the future in a way that helps a person grow spiritually.

Please expound on these thoughts more for yourself... You will find that various people in society do not call themselves babaylans, priests or priestesses, but the work they do certainly embodies the babaylan.

The Dilemma of Leadership: Positions and Possessions

When one subscribes to the belief in one’s superiority over another, one will also justify the right to take away from others to satisfy one’s own needs. But true leadership is not about taking from others to increase one’s value and superiority but rather about giving of oneself to help others grow---the belief in service that helps us all evolve spiritually, the belief in the participation of Divine Purpose for all of humankind’s advancement both in spirit and in the world.

Filipino spiritual leaders have encouraging words to the Filipino people: the Philippines may be a third world economically but it is first world in spirituality. What do we do with these words?

We must examine the failure of spirituality to exist within our leadership. We must examine the guiding forces of leadership that fail us.

There are too many people who believe that leadership is only about power and control. How many of us believe leadership is about acquiring position with influence then wielding power to gain more influence? How many of us believe that leaders may use their power and influence to access resources to increase their wealth and superiority?

We must not only define leadership by what it should be but also re-define it by what it shouldn't be. And a key "shouldn't be" is: Leadership shouldn't be based on Fear. Related to this is Leadership should not be based on Greed. For what is greed if not the fear of not having enough? Leadership should not be based on superiority. For what is superiority but a fear of inferiority?

I think it goes straight to the personal choices and decisions that leadership and society make that are based on Fear. I think it has something to do with materialism, colonial mentality, and the lack of spirituality that exists in leadership and in society. And now that I got myself going, I will say that it also has something to do with imbalance of feminine and masculine principles in people and in society (patriarchy), but I will save that for another time.

Corruption comes from Fear and Insecurity in our leadership. I can cite 2 sources of those fears and insecurities. The first may be obvious---Materialism. The second may be half-obvious--- Colonial mentality.

Materialism and Colonial Mentality are intrinsically part of one’s personal value system and beliefs so let's briefly review these values and beliefs:

Materialism: When one believes that honor, prestige, self-esteem, and personal value are directly proportional to possession of money, looks, land titles, houses, cars, clothes and the other things you own.

Colonial Mentality --- when one believes that honor, prestige, self-esteem, and personal value are determined from social status, masculinity, racial background and family tree.

Greed is a form of Fear. Greed is an adverse reaction to the fear of lack of money, of prestige and honor, of luxury and ease in life.

If people in leadership already live beyond the cares of survival and the eking out of an existence why would they still be concerned with increasing their wealth? If many of those in leadership positions in the Philippines already come from the privileged circles of society why then would greed still be their modus operandi?

When leaders possess fear of not having enough of the resources that give them value in their lives and make decisions based on that fear, that is where it begins---acts of corruption, the misallocation of resources.

These values and beliefs are the pivotal points from which corrupt leaders make their choices and decisions. These are also the values and beliefs of a society that upholds corrupt leaders, that is complacent of corruption in the government and all levels of social interaction.

This brings us to the lack of spirituality in leadership and society. When one denies their highest beliefs and values and instead embraces concerns for material possessions, status, and race then a lack of spirituality comes about.

Leaders may proclaim their good values to the world and at the same time adhere to religious rites, but when their choices and actions only serve their own positions and possessions and fail to help the oppressed and underprivileged improve their lot then that leadership is false.

Corrupt leaders are possessed by their own fears and insecurities. Their fear controls them. When leadership is drowning in personal fears and insecurities, then it fails us.

We are all human and so we all have fears. And we know that our leaders have fears, too, because they are not super-human. But we do expect our leaders to have more courage than the ordinary person.

When leadership is lead by personal fears of the loss or lack of positions and possessions, then it fails us.

More Notes to come on:

The Soul of the Philippines and Its People

The 4 Elements, Fire, Earth, Water and Wind ----
and the Divinity of Tao ("person" in Filipino)