Painting the Brown Face Red
by Leny Strobel
grateful for the invitation
i entered the arbor and sacred ceremony
honoring maiden, matron, elder.
saying prayers to the four directions
in my mind's eye, i was bowing
palms together in front of my chest
I say silently:
I am Asian. Filipino.
holding the talking stick
i share my answer to the question:
what has been your burden this past year?
how did you heal?
i listened to everyone else's answer to same.
after the talking stick made its round
i wished to respond
to go deeper into intimacy
i say silently: I am Filipino.
I want more Kapwa.
drumbeats accompanied wailing time
sage purifying, healing, honoring
after the tears
a holy silence.
drumming began again
i feel the earth vibrate
shy at first, we dance in a circle.
my mind returns to Iloilo
dancing with my tribes
i wished to be back there
with my kin.
but i am in indian canyon
with native sisters
with white women
with black women
we say: it's all good.
it is what it is.
then someone interrupts:
it's not all good. sometimes it sucks.
sometimes it hurts.
the elders pontificate around the fire
wisdom we need to hear
advice on sex and death
on learning to listen.
the wind was howling
we were freezing even around the fire
then before midnite we say
goodbye and thank you
we walk back to camp
pitch dark, the stars are almost within reach.
our hearts are large
our souls feel blessed.
as for the things i didn't say ...
as for the things i didn't understand ...
as for the unaswered curiosities ...
as for the feeling of uncertainty...
as for the longing for more...
the next night i dreamt of a long-absent lover
who has returned to marry me.
oh what bliss!
Link accessed 7/19/2009
Wednesday, July 29, 2009
Monday, July 27, 2009
Portrait of the Filipino as Kidlat Tahimik
Kidlat Tahimik popularized the term "indio-genius" in reference to contemporary culture-bearer/artists whose creative expressions come from Filipino indigenous themes. He and Katrin de Guia (one of our conference keynoters) co-founded Heritage Arts and Academies, Inc (HAPI) and organized the KAPWA national/international conferences/gatherings of 2004 and 2008. Our Babaylan Conference/Gathering 2010 is modeled after these conferences."
Portrait of the Filipino as Kidlat Tahimik
By A.Z. JOLICCO CUADRA
Manila Bulletin - July 19, 2009, 3:08pm
Excerpt:
Who does not know Kidlat Tahimik? Who is Kidlat Tahimik?
Kidlat Tahimik, to put him in the words of E.M.Forster, stands at a slight angle to the universe. We see him look at it askance, imbibe what his eye perceives, refine what he gets, in the cauldron of his poetic imaginative fire...
Choose a name he was to resound to, resonate with his own brand of Filipinism. Kidlat Tahimik, therefore. In those syllables contained in this name, rebound so spiritually strong with his character; always quick on the Go; here, there, everywhere and nowhere.
In himself, he knows the Buddhism of his heart, best to interact with his reverence for all living things; like his love of nature. Eric de Guia: Eric so Germanic meaning ruler; de Guia so Spanish meaning guide; so: Kidlat Tahimik It Is; this No nom de guerre. But true, as real as his flesh and blood. His truest identity and name will be part and parcel of his vision and art. Being Baguio-grown, he inclined himself to follow the cultures of the Igorots, Ifugaos (like reverencing in their cultural rituals aspects of nature). Adopted as Igorot bagani, he sired The Balik Bahag Movement; if the situation calls him, he dons the bahag without affectation, embarrassment, trepidation. He can look the Igorot brave.
The full article appears on the Manila Bulletin site.
Links accessed 7/27/09
Portrait of the Filipino as Kidlat Tahimik
By A.Z. JOLICCO CUADRA
Manila Bulletin - July 19, 2009, 3:08pm
Excerpt:
Who does not know Kidlat Tahimik? Who is Kidlat Tahimik?
Kidlat Tahimik, to put him in the words of E.M.Forster, stands at a slight angle to the universe. We see him look at it askance, imbibe what his eye perceives, refine what he gets, in the cauldron of his poetic imaginative fire...
Choose a name he was to resound to, resonate with his own brand of Filipinism. Kidlat Tahimik, therefore. In those syllables contained in this name, rebound so spiritually strong with his character; always quick on the Go; here, there, everywhere and nowhere.
In himself, he knows the Buddhism of his heart, best to interact with his reverence for all living things; like his love of nature. Eric de Guia: Eric so Germanic meaning ruler; de Guia so Spanish meaning guide; so: Kidlat Tahimik It Is; this No nom de guerre. But true, as real as his flesh and blood. His truest identity and name will be part and parcel of his vision and art. Being Baguio-grown, he inclined himself to follow the cultures of the Igorots, Ifugaos (like reverencing in their cultural rituals aspects of nature). Adopted as Igorot bagani, he sired The Balik Bahag Movement; if the situation calls him, he dons the bahag without affectation, embarrassment, trepidation. He can look the Igorot brave.
The full article appears on the Manila Bulletin site.
Links accessed 7/27/09
Sunday, July 26, 2009
Conversations - Tabada: Why doctors become nurses
Periodically, we will post from the Babaylan Yahoo Group archives. The links offered invite the reader to study, reflect, meditate on the content of these materials. Some of the texts are journalistic in nature, some are scholarly, some are personal anecdotes. Please pay attention to the sources and references.
Sunday, March 02, 2003
Tabada: Why doctors become nurses
By Mayette Q. Tabada
Matamata
One night the serpent in the sky swallowed the moon, and a boy in the village kept his mother awake with his questions.
—Nanay, where has the moon gone?
—Binacunauahan ang bulan, anak.
Despite the darkness in their room, the mother saw the confusion in her son’s eyes.
So she lifted her left arm and made it undulate in the liquid dark. Her son’s eyes followed that slithering arm.
—Our people believe there is a sawa, a large snake that lives in the sky, the underworld or the sea.
She bent her right hand at the wrist, making a broken tail that had been stepped upon.
—People across the sea call it the naga but in our shores we call it the bakunawa. Bent (bako) snake (sawa). Son, we have an eclipse because the serpent spirit has swallowed the moon.
The boy was quiet, absorbing this snake that must have been as long and thick as a coconut tree.
—Nay, what can make the bakunawa spit out the moon?
—Hear the noise our neighbors are making? The babaylan is getting them to scare the bakunawa into throwing up the moon.
And as his mother foretold, the boy saw the moon back in the sky the night after. Many times during his playing, the boy would stop to gaze at the pale and thin shadow. Was it hot or cold inside the snake’s mouth?
A day came when the boy’s mother and other villagers fell sick. The boy’s friends looked everywhere for him but he did not leave his mother’s side, his hot cheek warming her cold one.
—Nay, what is making you sick?
—There’s a fire in my loins, left by the spirits from the river. But the babaylan will put it out.
—Who is this babaylan, Nay?
—The babaylan is the bakunawa’s link to our world. His magic is stronger than that of the sultans, who only count wealth, or the priests, who look after souls. The babaylan is stronger because his power extends over the finite and the infinite.
—What power is this, Nanay?
—The power to heal, anak.
The complete text can be found on the Sun Star Cebu site. Link accessed 7/20/2009
Sunday, March 02, 2003
Tabada: Why doctors become nurses
By Mayette Q. Tabada
Matamata
One night the serpent in the sky swallowed the moon, and a boy in the village kept his mother awake with his questions.
—Nanay, where has the moon gone?
—Binacunauahan ang bulan, anak.
Despite the darkness in their room, the mother saw the confusion in her son’s eyes.
So she lifted her left arm and made it undulate in the liquid dark. Her son’s eyes followed that slithering arm.
—Our people believe there is a sawa, a large snake that lives in the sky, the underworld or the sea.
She bent her right hand at the wrist, making a broken tail that had been stepped upon.
—People across the sea call it the naga but in our shores we call it the bakunawa. Bent (bako) snake (sawa). Son, we have an eclipse because the serpent spirit has swallowed the moon.
The boy was quiet, absorbing this snake that must have been as long and thick as a coconut tree.
—Nay, what can make the bakunawa spit out the moon?
—Hear the noise our neighbors are making? The babaylan is getting them to scare the bakunawa into throwing up the moon.
And as his mother foretold, the boy saw the moon back in the sky the night after. Many times during his playing, the boy would stop to gaze at the pale and thin shadow. Was it hot or cold inside the snake’s mouth?
A day came when the boy’s mother and other villagers fell sick. The boy’s friends looked everywhere for him but he did not leave his mother’s side, his hot cheek warming her cold one.
—Nay, what is making you sick?
—There’s a fire in my loins, left by the spirits from the river. But the babaylan will put it out.
—Who is this babaylan, Nay?
—The babaylan is the bakunawa’s link to our world. His magic is stronger than that of the sultans, who only count wealth, or the priests, who look after souls. The babaylan is stronger because his power extends over the finite and the infinite.
—What power is this, Nanay?
—The power to heal, anak.
The complete text can be found on the Sun Star Cebu site. Link accessed 7/20/2009
Thursday, July 23, 2009
Conversations - Landscape: Re-inventing the babaylan
Third in a series, posted in 2008 at Global Balita
Landscape
by Gemma Cruz Araneta
Re-inventing the babaylan
How did the babaylan cope with the onslaught of “cross and sword”? After the bloody revolts against their sworn enemies, the early Spanish missionaries; after burning churches and disfiguring Christian icons and after the painful betrayal of community members, the babaylans had to devise effective survival methods. They either fled to the mountains or adopted Christian ways to co-exist with the colonial order.
Mr. Adelbert Batica, a Filipino expat, sent his comments to my article “Silencing the babaylan.” He wrote: “The babaylan, as well as the symbols and images associated with them may have totally disappeared except where they have reappeared as modern-day healers and “hilot” who most often use oraciones as part of their healing practice. But, I would propose
that they were actually resurrected, “reinvented” if you may, under a Christian context.”
Indeed, there are several religious communities led by women like the “Ciudad Mistica de Dios”, at the foot of the sacred Mt. Banahaw that uses the Bible and Christian prayers as the basis of their own stylized rituals. Curiously, the “Ciudad Mistica de Dios” began with the “Iglesia Mistica Filipina” founded by Suprema Maria Bernarda in 1915. Mr. Batica observed: “The old ladies who act as prayer leaders at many religious devotionals including novenas (especially for the dead) seem to be carrying on the dynamic of the “babaylan”, although in this day and age instead of being armed with amulets she wears scapulars, religious medals, and usually carries a prayer book or “novenario” and a rosary.”
Complete text available on in the Global Balita archive.
Links accessed 7/19/2009
Landscape
by Gemma Cruz Araneta
Re-inventing the babaylan
How did the babaylan cope with the onslaught of “cross and sword”? After the bloody revolts against their sworn enemies, the early Spanish missionaries; after burning churches and disfiguring Christian icons and after the painful betrayal of community members, the babaylans had to devise effective survival methods. They either fled to the mountains or adopted Christian ways to co-exist with the colonial order.
Mr. Adelbert Batica, a Filipino expat, sent his comments to my article “Silencing the babaylan.” He wrote: “The babaylan, as well as the symbols and images associated with them may have totally disappeared except where they have reappeared as modern-day healers and “hilot” who most often use oraciones as part of their healing practice. But, I would propose
that they were actually resurrected, “reinvented” if you may, under a Christian context.”
Indeed, there are several religious communities led by women like the “Ciudad Mistica de Dios”, at the foot of the sacred Mt. Banahaw that uses the Bible and Christian prayers as the basis of their own stylized rituals. Curiously, the “Ciudad Mistica de Dios” began with the “Iglesia Mistica Filipina” founded by Suprema Maria Bernarda in 1915. Mr. Batica observed: “The old ladies who act as prayer leaders at many religious devotionals including novenas (especially for the dead) seem to be carrying on the dynamic of the “babaylan”, although in this day and age instead of being armed with amulets she wears scapulars, religious medals, and usually carries a prayer book or “novenario” and a rosary.”
Complete text available on in the Global Balita archive.
Links accessed 7/19/2009
Wednesday, July 22, 2009
Conversations - Landscape: Silencing the babaylan
First in a series, posted in 2008 at Global Balita
Landscape
by Gemma Cruz Araneta
Silencing the babaylan
The BABAYLAN, a native priestess or spiritual leader in the days of datus and rajahs, has always been a subject of fascination to latter day Filipina feminists. There is no self-respecting conference on the empowerment of women that does not conjure the spirit of the babaylan directly after the national anthem is sang. So beguiling is the babaylan, members of the gay population insist that they are the rightful descendants and heirs of those enchanted women , a contention belied by a variety of historical evidence ranging from ancient epics and ritualistic formulae to the travel chronicles of Pigafetta and de Loarca who came to these shores with Magellan and Legazpi, respectively.
Antonio Pigafetta did not know they were called babaylan and referred to them as “viejas”, old women, because that was what they were. By the time a woman became a full-fledged babaylan, she was already middle-aged and menopausal for it took almost a lifetime to master that gift those sacred rituals and songs and to assimilate the wealth of ancient wisdom. That being the case, self-styled modern day babaylans like dancer Myra C. Beltran and singer Grace Nono, are probably too green to
aspire for such prominence. After all, the babaylan was a pillar of native society together with the datu, the panday and
bayani ( warrior); they were not only spiritual leaders but also guardians and harbingers of culture values and tradition.
Pigafetta wrote about how the “viejas” danced on a cambay cloth, chanting and drinking wine, playing reed trumpets (flutes probably) to pay homage to the sun . One of them sacrificed a pig, which revolted Pigafetta, and dipped the tip of her reed flute in the pig’s blood and marked the forehead of her busband, companions and community members...The vieja (babaylan) did not mark the Spaniards with pig’s blood, a bold and meaningful statement that went above Pigafetta’s head.
Complete text available on in the Global Balita archive.
Links accessed 7/19/2009
Landscape
by Gemma Cruz Araneta
Silencing the babaylan
The BABAYLAN, a native priestess or spiritual leader in the days of datus and rajahs, has always been a subject of fascination to latter day Filipina feminists. There is no self-respecting conference on the empowerment of women that does not conjure the spirit of the babaylan directly after the national anthem is sang. So beguiling is the babaylan, members of the gay population insist that they are the rightful descendants and heirs of those enchanted women , a contention belied by a variety of historical evidence ranging from ancient epics and ritualistic formulae to the travel chronicles of Pigafetta and de Loarca who came to these shores with Magellan and Legazpi, respectively.
Antonio Pigafetta did not know they were called babaylan and referred to them as “viejas”, old women, because that was what they were. By the time a woman became a full-fledged babaylan, she was already middle-aged and menopausal for it took almost a lifetime to master that gift those sacred rituals and songs and to assimilate the wealth of ancient wisdom. That being the case, self-styled modern day babaylans like dancer Myra C. Beltran and singer Grace Nono, are probably too green to
aspire for such prominence. After all, the babaylan was a pillar of native society together with the datu, the panday and
bayani ( warrior); they were not only spiritual leaders but also guardians and harbingers of culture values and tradition.
Pigafetta wrote about how the “viejas” danced on a cambay cloth, chanting and drinking wine, playing reed trumpets (flutes probably) to pay homage to the sun . One of them sacrificed a pig, which revolted Pigafetta, and dipped the tip of her reed flute in the pig’s blood and marked the forehead of her busband, companions and community members...The vieja (babaylan) did not mark the Spaniards with pig’s blood, a bold and meaningful statement that went above Pigafetta’s head.
Complete text available on in the Global Balita archive.
Links accessed 7/19/2009
Tuesday, July 21, 2009
Conversations - Landscape: Betraying the babaylan
Second in a series, posted in 2008 at Global Balita
Landscape
by Gemma Cruz Araneta
Betraying the babaylan
Thanks to archive moles like historian Dr. Zeus Salazar (Ang Babaylan sa Kasaysyan ng Pilipinas 1999) who have unearthed and analyzed data about the enigmatic babaylan, we now know that in ancient times, she was the authority on mythology and cultural heritage, had healing power, was the harbinger of rituals and knew astronomy which she related to the vital agricultural cycle.
In Fe B. Mangahas compelling essay, “The Babaylan historic-cultural context”, we learn that the babaylan traversed both spiritual and physical realms so she inevitably became the formidable rival of the Spanish missionary /friar who were the spiritual and public leaders of a new religion and political dispensation. That was why the babaylan had to be culturally and socially disempowered; she had to be destroyed.
Prof. Carolyn Brewer, a historian from New Zealand wrote insightful articles about the babaylan like the ones in Bolinao who turned over their ceremonial instruments to the friars and stopped practicing “witchcraft.” The Recollects and Dominicans, according to Brewer, used newly-converted young boys to spy on the babaylans in their families, steal their paraphernalia, impersonate them and destroy and profane the anitos. How tragic it must have been for the babaylan to see their datus together with the asog (effeminate male babaylans) join the colonial bureaucracy.
Strikingly, the babaylans crossed swords with the Spanish colonial order. They revolted violently against the ”reduccion” (hamletting) whicih brough the community “bajo de las campanas." Faced with intense vilification campaigns led by the Spanish friars, they urged their communities to preserve their own ancient beliefs and practices. Because they were so close to the people, It was not easy to destroy the babaylan.
Historian Milagros C. Guerrero wrote that many babylans led rebellions from 1596 to 1780 , like Dapungay of Cebu, Negros and Panay (1599), Caguenga, the “vieja anitera“ of Nalfotan, Segovia in Cagayan Valley (1607) , Yga whose alias ”Santa Maria” enraged Fray Juan de Abarca so much that he ordered Gapan, Nueva Ecija burnt and reduced to ashes (1648). From Oton, Iloilo (1664) a babaylan called herself “Santissima” and was impaled on a bamboo pole and fed to the crocodiles.
Complete text available on in the Global Balita archive.
Links accessed 7/19/2009
Landscape
by Gemma Cruz Araneta
Betraying the babaylan
Thanks to archive moles like historian Dr. Zeus Salazar (Ang Babaylan sa Kasaysyan ng Pilipinas 1999) who have unearthed and analyzed data about the enigmatic babaylan, we now know that in ancient times, she was the authority on mythology and cultural heritage, had healing power, was the harbinger of rituals and knew astronomy which she related to the vital agricultural cycle.
In Fe B. Mangahas compelling essay, “The Babaylan historic-cultural context”, we learn that the babaylan traversed both spiritual and physical realms so she inevitably became the formidable rival of the Spanish missionary /friar who were the spiritual and public leaders of a new religion and political dispensation. That was why the babaylan had to be culturally and socially disempowered; she had to be destroyed.
Prof. Carolyn Brewer, a historian from New Zealand wrote insightful articles about the babaylan like the ones in Bolinao who turned over their ceremonial instruments to the friars and stopped practicing “witchcraft.” The Recollects and Dominicans, according to Brewer, used newly-converted young boys to spy on the babaylans in their families, steal their paraphernalia, impersonate them and destroy and profane the anitos. How tragic it must have been for the babaylan to see their datus together with the asog (effeminate male babaylans) join the colonial bureaucracy.
Strikingly, the babaylans crossed swords with the Spanish colonial order. They revolted violently against the ”reduccion” (hamletting) whicih brough the community “bajo de las campanas." Faced with intense vilification campaigns led by the Spanish friars, they urged their communities to preserve their own ancient beliefs and practices. Because they were so close to the people, It was not easy to destroy the babaylan.
Historian Milagros C. Guerrero wrote that many babylans led rebellions from 1596 to 1780 , like Dapungay of Cebu, Negros and Panay (1599), Caguenga, the “vieja anitera“ of Nalfotan, Segovia in Cagayan Valley (1607) , Yga whose alias ”Santa Maria” enraged Fray Juan de Abarca so much that he ordered Gapan, Nueva Ecija burnt and reduced to ashes (1648). From Oton, Iloilo (1664) a babaylan called herself “Santissima” and was impaled on a bamboo pole and fed to the crocodiles.
Complete text available on in the Global Balita archive.
Links accessed 7/19/2009
Monday, July 20, 2009
Indigenous People of Panay
Alicia Magos wrote the important book, The Enduring Ma-Aram Tradition: An Ethnography of a Kinaray-A Village in Antique. Ma-aram is another word for Babaylan. Her current research focuses on the Panay-Bukidnon indigenous traditions and practices. She continues to be a culture-bearer/advocate for the indigenous peoples of Panay.
Indigenous People of Panay
Kinaray-a, Hiligaynon (Ilongo) and Aklanon-Speaking People
by Alicia P. Magos
Excerpt
Western Visayas is known for its yearly grand festivals. Foremost is the Ati-atihan in Kalibo, Aklan, an indigenous festival believed to have originated when the Negritoes and the Bornean Malays celebrated a joint festival after a peaceful talk over the barter of Panay. It later turned into a folk Christian practice honoring the Santo Niño and continues to attract foreign visitors because of its spontaneous audience participation which evokes merriment. It is celebrated in January every year. From the ati-atihan festival, guests proceed to the province of Iloilo which is about three to four hours' land ride from Aklan. There, the guests await the celebration of the Dinagyang which is also a two-day revelry alongside a street dancing on the third day to honor the Sto. Niño.
The province of Antique also has its Binirayan festival celebrating the landing of the Bornean settlers in Malandog, Hamtic, Antique. The Capizeños have their Halaran, a thanksgiving which commemorates the one offered by the Borneans to their god Bululakaw. This, after a peace pact with the Negritos from whom they purchased some lands. There is also the present-day celebration called Masskara of Bacolod City, Negros Occidental to popularize Bacolod as a "City of Smile," hence, the smiling masks used by the participants.
The complete article also contains an article entitled The Last of the Binukots By Hazel P. Villa and an article entitled Chanter of Epic Poetry.
Links accessed 7/19/2009
Indigenous People of Panay
Kinaray-a, Hiligaynon (Ilongo) and Aklanon-Speaking People
by Alicia P. Magos
Excerpt
Western Visayas is known for its yearly grand festivals. Foremost is the Ati-atihan in Kalibo, Aklan, an indigenous festival believed to have originated when the Negritoes and the Bornean Malays celebrated a joint festival after a peaceful talk over the barter of Panay. It later turned into a folk Christian practice honoring the Santo Niño and continues to attract foreign visitors because of its spontaneous audience participation which evokes merriment. It is celebrated in January every year. From the ati-atihan festival, guests proceed to the province of Iloilo which is about three to four hours' land ride from Aklan. There, the guests await the celebration of the Dinagyang which is also a two-day revelry alongside a street dancing on the third day to honor the Sto. Niño.
The province of Antique also has its Binirayan festival celebrating the landing of the Bornean settlers in Malandog, Hamtic, Antique. The Capizeños have their Halaran, a thanksgiving which commemorates the one offered by the Borneans to their god Bululakaw. This, after a peace pact with the Negritos from whom they purchased some lands. There is also the present-day celebration called Masskara of Bacolod City, Negros Occidental to popularize Bacolod as a "City of Smile," hence, the smiling masks used by the participants.
The complete article also contains an article entitled The Last of the Binukots By Hazel P. Villa and an article entitled Chanter of Epic Poetry.
Links accessed 7/19/2009
Sunday, July 19, 2009
Drumming for Babaylan sponsors and volunteers
Literally, if I had a drum, I'd be drumming for volunteers right now, hoping that you will step forward and dance with us. For as Agnes Miclat-Cacayan writes about the babaylan: "she dances in wholeness."
We have this beautiful vision for the Babaylan conference of bringing culture-bearers and babaylan-inspired artists and scholars from the Philippines. Our dream budget is $50,000. We are holding this vision and sharing it with you so that you can help us in making sure this vision happens on April 17-18, 2010.
A sponsorship solicitation packet is now available. It describes the categories by which businesses, media sponsors, community organizations, and individuals can support the conference. If each one of you who has expressed an interest in supporting the conference will contact at least five potential sponsors, we will be on our way.
In addition, watch for "grassroots" sponsorship opportunities or create your own by hosting an event at your location. It could be something small like a special dinner or movie viewing at your home where funds could be gathered from guests and donated to the Center for Babaylan Studies through the International Humanities Center, the Center's fiscal sponsor. Center organizers and supporters will also be creating small sponsorship opportunities that will be posted here on the Babaylan Files.
We also have a list of volunteer opportunities on the Center for Babaylan Studies website. If you can help, please notify us by sending an email to: admin@babaylan.net
Submitted by Leny Strobel with additional edits by Bec Mabanglo-Mayor.
We have this beautiful vision for the Babaylan conference of bringing culture-bearers and babaylan-inspired artists and scholars from the Philippines. Our dream budget is $50,000. We are holding this vision and sharing it with you so that you can help us in making sure this vision happens on April 17-18, 2010.
A sponsorship solicitation packet is now available. It describes the categories by which businesses, media sponsors, community organizations, and individuals can support the conference. If each one of you who has expressed an interest in supporting the conference will contact at least five potential sponsors, we will be on our way.
In addition, watch for "grassroots" sponsorship opportunities or create your own by hosting an event at your location. It could be something small like a special dinner or movie viewing at your home where funds could be gathered from guests and donated to the Center for Babaylan Studies through the International Humanities Center, the Center's fiscal sponsor. Center organizers and supporters will also be creating small sponsorship opportunities that will be posted here on the Babaylan Files.
We also have a list of volunteer opportunities on the Center for Babaylan Studies website. If you can help, please notify us by sending an email to: admin@babaylan.net
Submitted by Leny Strobel with additional edits by Bec Mabanglo-Mayor.
Friday, July 10, 2009
Conversations - Signs and Symptoms of Decolonized Filipinas in the US
Signs and Symptoms of Decolonized Filipinas in the US
by Leny Strobel
1. She understands European and American colonial history and its psychic and epistemic violence on herself and her people.
2. She understands that her presence in the US is a product of this history. The narration of US history as it relates to the Philippines should be understood as an imperial and colonial narrative in need of critique and revision.
3. She does archeological psychic work to uncover, discover, or reimagine, what her Filipina indigenous memory is trying to teach or reveal to her.
4. Filipino indigenous memory reveals intuitive knowledge about who she is as an indigenous woman. Indigenous Filipino theorizing includes language-based concepts like Kapwa, Loob, Damdamin, Diwa, Dangal, Paninindigan -- that gives a decolonized Filipina a narrative that anchors her identity and her life work in Filipino values.
5. She recognizes that the framework of indigeneity and decolonization can serve as a powerful critique of modernity and its discontents. After all, modernity is the newbie on the block (only 500 years old and yet has brought more havoc on the planet than anything before it).
6. A decolonized Filipina knows herself as a "self-in-relation" (kapwa) rather than the product of the western and liberal notion of the self as an "individual with free will" acting out of its self-interest.
7. A decolonized Filipina understands that the location and position of her Fil Am community need to be reframed away from the model of assimilation into US society. The assimilationist model has long been debunked as an unviable and an unsustainable one.
8. A decolonized Filipina in the US understands that she lives on stolen land from indigenous peoples on this continent. What are the implications of such realization? What is the connection between the taking of the Philippines by colonizers and the taking of this continent?
9. A decolonized Filipina understands the uses of history in order to be an effective and powerful woman in the US context. If NVM Gonzalez is correct in saying, "To be a good American, you must be a good Filipina first," how does a US-born Filipina begin to articulate what it means for her to be a good Filipina?
10. A decolonized Filipina has a global perspective that is informed by what the rest of the planet has to say and not just the US perspective.
Link accessed 7/19/2009, backdated for archive purposes.
by Leny Strobel
1. She understands European and American colonial history and its psychic and epistemic violence on herself and her people.
2. She understands that her presence in the US is a product of this history. The narration of US history as it relates to the Philippines should be understood as an imperial and colonial narrative in need of critique and revision.
3. She does archeological psychic work to uncover, discover, or reimagine, what her Filipina indigenous memory is trying to teach or reveal to her.
4. Filipino indigenous memory reveals intuitive knowledge about who she is as an indigenous woman. Indigenous Filipino theorizing includes language-based concepts like Kapwa, Loob, Damdamin, Diwa, Dangal, Paninindigan -- that gives a decolonized Filipina a narrative that anchors her identity and her life work in Filipino values.
5. She recognizes that the framework of indigeneity and decolonization can serve as a powerful critique of modernity and its discontents. After all, modernity is the newbie on the block (only 500 years old and yet has brought more havoc on the planet than anything before it).
6. A decolonized Filipina knows herself as a "self-in-relation" (kapwa) rather than the product of the western and liberal notion of the self as an "individual with free will" acting out of its self-interest.
7. A decolonized Filipina understands that the location and position of her Fil Am community need to be reframed away from the model of assimilation into US society. The assimilationist model has long been debunked as an unviable and an unsustainable one.
8. A decolonized Filipina in the US understands that she lives on stolen land from indigenous peoples on this continent. What are the implications of such realization? What is the connection between the taking of the Philippines by colonizers and the taking of this continent?
9. A decolonized Filipina understands the uses of history in order to be an effective and powerful woman in the US context. If NVM Gonzalez is correct in saying, "To be a good American, you must be a good Filipina first," how does a US-born Filipina begin to articulate what it means for her to be a good Filipina?
10. A decolonized Filipina has a global perspective that is informed by what the rest of the planet has to say and not just the US perspective.
Link accessed 7/19/2009, backdated for archive purposes.
Tuesday, July 07, 2009
Artist Expressions: Suku, New Sun Artistry
Christine Balza of Suku, New Sun Artistry is a ceramics artist based in San Francisco. Recently, Leny Strobel asked Christine about her connection with babaylan practices. This is an excerpt of her response.
Babaylan, Deeper Understanding
by Christine Balza
Leny asked: Do you feel an emotional connection to babaylan concepts such as kapwa, babaylan, baybayin, bathala?
Christine writes:
Yes.
I feel the knowledge and understanding of the concepts of Kapwa and Babaylan that is within me, but have not had an opportunity to articulate or express before. I see flash backs of memories of a relative or family friend practicing message, or “helot”. They focus a spiritual aspect, much like meditation or prayer, towards healing and cleansing the body and mind. I had been approached by the same Aunties’ and Titas’ declaring they feel a sense that I was somehow gifted with this power to “helot.” As a child, I took the comments and spent hours trying to understand and focus on this power. Having little understanding of these concepts left me with an energy that I couldn’t focus on. It seemed too far-fetched and eventually my Fil-Am understanding took a dominant perspective and I not only forgot about these notions, but I mocked it as well.
Moving forward in life’s experiences, marriage, four children and finding this familiar feeling in my art, I am developing a better understanding of the metaphysical and spirituality. Its relation to caring for my family came first. Eventually, it was finding a sense of self and how necessary it was to care for my needs in order to maintain a balance. It was art that fueled the renewable energy to keep a healthy cycle going. But my creations were not moving out of my realm, except as tokens and gifts to those I love. It was the first piece I made written in Baybayin that affected someone other than one that I love. A Mother’s Day gift to my sister that said “Ina’” made a street fair vendor ask her if I could make more in bulk; thus, leading to my learning aspects of my culture that has widening my perspective and understanding.
My understanding of Kapwa and Babaylan at its most basic and fundamental form is as a mother. The obvious role is to my four children. However, I can see how I have been developing and practicing far before I gave birth to my oldest daughter of 16. I had not put much thought into this role in relationships I’ve had throughout the years until lately.
The complete article can be found on the Suku, New Sun Artistry site. All links accessed 7/6/09.
Babaylan, Deeper Understanding
by Christine Balza
Leny asked: Do you feel an emotional connection to babaylan concepts such as kapwa, babaylan, baybayin, bathala?
Christine writes:
Yes.
I feel the knowledge and understanding of the concepts of Kapwa and Babaylan that is within me, but have not had an opportunity to articulate or express before. I see flash backs of memories of a relative or family friend practicing message, or “helot”. They focus a spiritual aspect, much like meditation or prayer, towards healing and cleansing the body and mind. I had been approached by the same Aunties’ and Titas’ declaring they feel a sense that I was somehow gifted with this power to “helot.” As a child, I took the comments and spent hours trying to understand and focus on this power. Having little understanding of these concepts left me with an energy that I couldn’t focus on. It seemed too far-fetched and eventually my Fil-Am understanding took a dominant perspective and I not only forgot about these notions, but I mocked it as well.
Moving forward in life’s experiences, marriage, four children and finding this familiar feeling in my art, I am developing a better understanding of the metaphysical and spirituality. Its relation to caring for my family came first. Eventually, it was finding a sense of self and how necessary it was to care for my needs in order to maintain a balance. It was art that fueled the renewable energy to keep a healthy cycle going. But my creations were not moving out of my realm, except as tokens and gifts to those I love. It was the first piece I made written in Baybayin that affected someone other than one that I love. A Mother’s Day gift to my sister that said “Ina’” made a street fair vendor ask her if I could make more in bulk; thus, leading to my learning aspects of my culture that has widening my perspective and understanding.
My understanding of Kapwa and Babaylan at its most basic and fundamental form is as a mother. The obvious role is to my four children. However, I can see how I have been developing and practicing far before I gave birth to my oldest daughter of 16. I had not put much thought into this role in relationships I’ve had throughout the years until lately.
The complete article can be found on the Suku, New Sun Artistry site. All links accessed 7/6/09.
Monday, July 06, 2009
Conversations: Lakandiwa - The Way of the Warrior
Lakandiwa: The Way of the Warrior
by John Paul 'Lakan' Olivares*
When we contemplate the concept of a warrior, we often conceive a person who is trained in the martial arts, engaged in the thick of battle, or celebrated for conquering his foes. When we think of the ancient warrior (or even the present), the professional soldier comes to mind. These warriors come in various images, from the Roman gladiators or legionnaires, the Japanese samurai, or the medieval knight.
We often romanticize these people because of their exploits and most especially because of their warrior codes, such as Bushido for the samurai and Chivalry for the knight.
However, in my research on ancient/traditional(1) Philippine cultures I discovered that the concept of the warrior is completely different from what we would expect. There are many historical accounts and mythical epics about warriors and their exploits in battle, ranging from our national heroes (such as Andres Bonifacio), to early chieftains (such as Lapulapu), to even epic legends (such as Lam-Ang).
However, if we delve deeper into their stories, we will find that they were not professional soldiers. Warriors/heroes lead completely different lives when there was no war. In the pre-Hispanic times, the warriors were also landowners who were greatly respected not just for their martial prowess, but also for their leadership in administering the care of the land. In other words, they were also farmers and patrons of the various rituals that governed the daily lives of the people under their tutelage. Yet in times of war, these men would raise their arms and defend their homeland to the death.
I have observed these traits associated with a Bagobo man, whom I have met. Within this man's clan, he is one of the chieftains in the council of elders, but he is also their chief magani, or warrior. Yet, on an ordinary day, he was a farmer, with several families under his care. On special occasions, he was a poet and a musician.
This is a warrior who is a far cry from the professional soldier we often think about. I can also say this for a whole range of people of traditional cultures, whom I have met in the course of my research and journeys around our archipelago.
There were the Tausug MNLF (Muslim National Liberation Front) soldiers, whom I met up in the mountains of Patikul, in Sulu. Having recently returned from skirmishes with the Philippine Marines, they immediately transformed into Pang-alay dancers performing in a wedding ritual.
There was the Mumbaki (shaman) of the Ifugao, whom I met in the hinterlands of Banaue, who was a farmer by trade, yet a seasoned warrior in clan wars of the past. In fact, in the ancient headhunting practices among the Cordillera cultures (Ifugao, Kalinga, Bontoc, etc), they would only start their forays after the planting or harvesting season was over.
There were the Aeta of the Subic area, who practice their martial arts in a dance that is also a ritual of fertility.
In other civilizations (and it seems to be continuing in the present), the professional soldier was created not in defense of the homeland, rather for conquest. They had no other duty but to be warriors, and were sustained by taxes from the common people. However, to augment their salaries and give justification to their existence they needed to go to war and collect loot by pillaging others. It is just common sense not to pay taxes for an army, if there was always peace, thus a war is needed.
In fact, the popular warrior codes such as Bushido, were guiding principles among the samurai and their daimyo, anyone lower than these were treated as lesser people and not treated with respect as dictated by the code of honor. Among the European knights, the Code of Chivalry was drafted to curb the barbaric acts of the knights against other people. The code of the Cavalier (the mounted knight) has been overly romanticized, yet hardly enforced in the Dark Ages.
No matter how idealized were their codes of conduct, their lives revolved around the killing of others and not the defense of the people.
Looking back again at our ancient warriors in the Philippines, their lives revolved around creating, as in the tilling of the land and managing the lives of the families under his tutelage, rather than destroying through war. Because of these traits, we can view our heroes as builders rather than destroyers. In fact, the name hero or bayani, is derived from the ancient name for warrior; the magani for the Bagobo or the bagani for the Manobo. Thus the warrior/hero was more than just a fighter, he was a defender of the way of life, in battle or in the daily participation and administration of duties; such as farming and ritual. And, in my opinion, if they ever rose up in arms, it was not just to defend their lands and people, but to defend their way of living, their culture.
To summarize this concept, I have come across an ancient Tagalog word, ‘Lakan’, which means warrior, the freeman/landowner caste, or even chieftain. This seems to cover the range of responsibilities of the warrior/hero, from madirigma(warrior) to magsasaka(farmer) to mamanmanhala (leader).
Yet there is also another word, Lakandiwa, which is commonly described as a judge. Yet, if you breakdown the word into its components, you get Lakan (warrior) and Diwa (spirit). Thus, Lakandiwa may also mean the spirit of the warrior or the way of the warrior. And from this word, we can derive our own code of the warrior: a hero who, in times of war or times of peace, leads us in our maintaining the very essence of our lives, our culture.
Author's Notes: (1)In this paper, the Traditional Cultures are those ethno-linguistic groups whose cultural identity and practices are still very much the same from before Spanish, American, and Modern colonization. (2) 2009 June. (3) I wrote this as a Father's Day gift to the men out there, to be the warriors of their families.
Biography: Artist, Designer, Advocate, and Teacher; John Paul 'Lakan' Olivares' work is is inspired by his travels around the archipelago and living with different urban, rural and tribal communities. In these travels, he has searched for the Filipino spirit, which he tries to share in all his activities. In his paintings, he reflects a soulful connection with the various traditional indigenous cultures and the sensibilities of the people. Passionately rooted on Philippine lore, the free-spirited artist orients his audience to his journeys by way of graphic representations of nationalistic concepts which are simply expressed, yet sincerely articulated by his meditative art process. Beyond native motifs etched in his art, Olivares conveys themes that celebrate universal connectedness by his environment, which inspires him to share his own visions of beauty through his varied works.
He may be contacted through via email - lakan70 (at) hotmail (dot) com
The original article has been edited for style and grammar.
by John Paul 'Lakan' Olivares*
When we contemplate the concept of a warrior, we often conceive a person who is trained in the martial arts, engaged in the thick of battle, or celebrated for conquering his foes. When we think of the ancient warrior (or even the present), the professional soldier comes to mind. These warriors come in various images, from the Roman gladiators or legionnaires, the Japanese samurai, or the medieval knight.
We often romanticize these people because of their exploits and most especially because of their warrior codes, such as Bushido for the samurai and Chivalry for the knight.
However, in my research on ancient/traditional(1) Philippine cultures I discovered that the concept of the warrior is completely different from what we would expect. There are many historical accounts and mythical epics about warriors and their exploits in battle, ranging from our national heroes (such as Andres Bonifacio), to early chieftains (such as Lapulapu), to even epic legends (such as Lam-Ang).
However, if we delve deeper into their stories, we will find that they were not professional soldiers. Warriors/heroes lead completely different lives when there was no war. In the pre-Hispanic times, the warriors were also landowners who were greatly respected not just for their martial prowess, but also for their leadership in administering the care of the land. In other words, they were also farmers and patrons of the various rituals that governed the daily lives of the people under their tutelage. Yet in times of war, these men would raise their arms and defend their homeland to the death.
I have observed these traits associated with a Bagobo man, whom I have met. Within this man's clan, he is one of the chieftains in the council of elders, but he is also their chief magani, or warrior. Yet, on an ordinary day, he was a farmer, with several families under his care. On special occasions, he was a poet and a musician.
This is a warrior who is a far cry from the professional soldier we often think about. I can also say this for a whole range of people of traditional cultures, whom I have met in the course of my research and journeys around our archipelago.
There were the Tausug MNLF (Muslim National Liberation Front) soldiers, whom I met up in the mountains of Patikul, in Sulu. Having recently returned from skirmishes with the Philippine Marines, they immediately transformed into Pang-alay dancers performing in a wedding ritual.
There was the Mumbaki (shaman) of the Ifugao, whom I met in the hinterlands of Banaue, who was a farmer by trade, yet a seasoned warrior in clan wars of the past. In fact, in the ancient headhunting practices among the Cordillera cultures (Ifugao, Kalinga, Bontoc, etc), they would only start their forays after the planting or harvesting season was over.
There were the Aeta of the Subic area, who practice their martial arts in a dance that is also a ritual of fertility.
In other civilizations (and it seems to be continuing in the present), the professional soldier was created not in defense of the homeland, rather for conquest. They had no other duty but to be warriors, and were sustained by taxes from the common people. However, to augment their salaries and give justification to their existence they needed to go to war and collect loot by pillaging others. It is just common sense not to pay taxes for an army, if there was always peace, thus a war is needed.
In fact, the popular warrior codes such as Bushido, were guiding principles among the samurai and their daimyo, anyone lower than these were treated as lesser people and not treated with respect as dictated by the code of honor. Among the European knights, the Code of Chivalry was drafted to curb the barbaric acts of the knights against other people. The code of the Cavalier (the mounted knight) has been overly romanticized, yet hardly enforced in the Dark Ages.
No matter how idealized were their codes of conduct, their lives revolved around the killing of others and not the defense of the people.
Looking back again at our ancient warriors in the Philippines, their lives revolved around creating, as in the tilling of the land and managing the lives of the families under his tutelage, rather than destroying through war. Because of these traits, we can view our heroes as builders rather than destroyers. In fact, the name hero or bayani, is derived from the ancient name for warrior; the magani for the Bagobo or the bagani for the Manobo. Thus the warrior/hero was more than just a fighter, he was a defender of the way of life, in battle or in the daily participation and administration of duties; such as farming and ritual. And, in my opinion, if they ever rose up in arms, it was not just to defend their lands and people, but to defend their way of living, their culture.
To summarize this concept, I have come across an ancient Tagalog word, ‘Lakan’, which means warrior, the freeman/landowner caste, or even chieftain. This seems to cover the range of responsibilities of the warrior/hero, from madirigma(warrior) to magsasaka(farmer) to mamanmanhala (leader).
Yet there is also another word, Lakandiwa, which is commonly described as a judge. Yet, if you breakdown the word into its components, you get Lakan (warrior) and Diwa (spirit). Thus, Lakandiwa may also mean the spirit of the warrior or the way of the warrior. And from this word, we can derive our own code of the warrior: a hero who, in times of war or times of peace, leads us in our maintaining the very essence of our lives, our culture.
Author's Notes: (1)In this paper, the Traditional Cultures are those ethno-linguistic groups whose cultural identity and practices are still very much the same from before Spanish, American, and Modern colonization. (2) 2009 June. (3) I wrote this as a Father's Day gift to the men out there, to be the warriors of their families.
Biography: Artist, Designer, Advocate, and Teacher; John Paul 'Lakan' Olivares' work is is inspired by his travels around the archipelago and living with different urban, rural and tribal communities. In these travels, he has searched for the Filipino spirit, which he tries to share in all his activities. In his paintings, he reflects a soulful connection with the various traditional indigenous cultures and the sensibilities of the people. Passionately rooted on Philippine lore, the free-spirited artist orients his audience to his journeys by way of graphic representations of nationalistic concepts which are simply expressed, yet sincerely articulated by his meditative art process. Beyond native motifs etched in his art, Olivares conveys themes that celebrate universal connectedness by his environment, which inspires him to share his own visions of beauty through his varied works.
He may be contacted through via email - lakan70 (at) hotmail (dot) com
The original article has been edited for style and grammar.
Sunday, July 05, 2009
Definitions: Decolonization
In 2007, Leny Strobel developed a list of traits possessed by individuals who have awakened into a different sense of being, often as part of their reconnection with their Filipino heritage and growing awareness of babaylan practices.
Signs and Symptoms of Decolonized Filipinas in the US:
1. She understands European and American colonial history and its psychic and epistemic violence on herself and her people.
2. She understands that her presence in the US is a product of this history. The narration of US history as it relates to the Philippines should be understood as an imperial and colonial narrative in need of critique and revision.
3. She does archeological psychic work to uncover, discover, or reimagine, what her Filipina indigenous memory is trying to teach or reveal to her.
4. Filipino indigenous memory reveals intuitive knowledge about who she is as an indigenous woman. Indigenous Filipino theorizing includes language-based concepts like Kapwa, Loob, Damdamin, Diwa, Dangal, Paninindigan -- that gives a decolonized Filipina a narrative that anchors her identity and her life work in Filipino values.
5. She recognizes that the framework of indigeneity and decolonization can serve as a powerful critique of modernity and its discontents. After all, modernity is the newbie on the block (only 500 years old and yet has brought more havoc on the planet than anything before it).
6. A decolonized Filipina knows herself as a "self-in-relation" (kapwa) rather than the product of the western and liberal notion of the self as an "individual with free will" acting out of its self-interest.
7. A decolonized Filipina understands that the location and position of her Fil Am community need to be reframed away from the model of assimilation into US society. The assimilationist model has long been debunked as an unviable and an unsustainable one.
8. A decolonized Filipina in the US understands that she lives on stolen land from indigenous peoples on this continent. What are the implications of such realization? What is the connection between the taking of the Philippines by colonizers and the taking of this continent?
9. A decolonized Filipina understands the uses of history in order to be an effective and powerful woman in the US context. If NVM Gonzalez is correct in saying, "To be a good American, you must be a good Filipina first," how does a US-born Filipina begin to articulate what it means for her to be a good Filipina?
10. A decolonized Filipina has a global perspective that is informed by what the rest of the planet has to say and not just the US perspective.
Contributed by Leny Strobel, originally posted on Kathang-Pinay, 24 October 2007.
Links accessed 7/5/09.
Signs and Symptoms of Decolonized Filipinas in the US:
1. She understands European and American colonial history and its psychic and epistemic violence on herself and her people.
2. She understands that her presence in the US is a product of this history. The narration of US history as it relates to the Philippines should be understood as an imperial and colonial narrative in need of critique and revision.
3. She does archeological psychic work to uncover, discover, or reimagine, what her Filipina indigenous memory is trying to teach or reveal to her.
4. Filipino indigenous memory reveals intuitive knowledge about who she is as an indigenous woman. Indigenous Filipino theorizing includes language-based concepts like Kapwa, Loob, Damdamin, Diwa, Dangal, Paninindigan -- that gives a decolonized Filipina a narrative that anchors her identity and her life work in Filipino values.
5. She recognizes that the framework of indigeneity and decolonization can serve as a powerful critique of modernity and its discontents. After all, modernity is the newbie on the block (only 500 years old and yet has brought more havoc on the planet than anything before it).
6. A decolonized Filipina knows herself as a "self-in-relation" (kapwa) rather than the product of the western and liberal notion of the self as an "individual with free will" acting out of its self-interest.
7. A decolonized Filipina understands that the location and position of her Fil Am community need to be reframed away from the model of assimilation into US society. The assimilationist model has long been debunked as an unviable and an unsustainable one.
8. A decolonized Filipina in the US understands that she lives on stolen land from indigenous peoples on this continent. What are the implications of such realization? What is the connection between the taking of the Philippines by colonizers and the taking of this continent?
9. A decolonized Filipina understands the uses of history in order to be an effective and powerful woman in the US context. If NVM Gonzalez is correct in saying, "To be a good American, you must be a good Filipina first," how does a US-born Filipina begin to articulate what it means for her to be a good Filipina?
10. A decolonized Filipina has a global perspective that is informed by what the rest of the planet has to say and not just the US perspective.
Contributed by Leny Strobel, originally posted on Kathang-Pinay, 24 October 2007.
Links accessed 7/5/09.
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