28: PRIESTESS, MEDIUM, HEALER, GUIDE | The Babaylan Part 1

The Gods Must Be Crazy: A Philippine Mythology Podcast

28: PRIESTESS, MEDIUM, HEALER, GUIDE | The Babaylan Part 1

In this episode, we learn about the deep and important history (and present) of the Babaylan: The pre-colonial figure of ancient Filipino tribes who served as the bridge to the spirit world, the herbalist, healer, and sometimes even deputy Datu. Over a series of episodes, we dive into who is qualified to be a Babaylan? Why were they typically women, and sometimes even trans women? What role did she play in society? And where can we find her in our history?
In this first installation, we take an overview of the Babaylan and see what being buried alive, hearing voices, and possibly having an inner-ear condition may mean for your admission into the Babaylan School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. We also try to understand what this tells us about our ancestors’ views on gender identity and equality: How it’s not just about who is “above” or “below,” but who is the best person for the job.

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The Gods Must Be Crazy is a podcast on Philippine Mythology hosted by friends Anama Dimapilis and Ice Lacsamana, avid mythology nerds and semi-professional gossips. Follow us over at @godsmustbecrazy.pod on Instagram and Facebook for more good stuff. We welcome any suggestions on future topics or episodes.

You can also find us on Youtube – Gods Must Be Crazy Podcast channel, where we post some of our episodes and interviews. For other inquiries, please email us at [email protected]

The intro and outro music is by Brian O’Reilly (@dendriform on Instagram).

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References:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Filipino_shamans#:~:text=Filipino%20shamans%2C%20commonly%20known%20as,and%20the%20spirits%20of%20nature.

https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/health/conditions-and-diseases/superior-canal-dehiscence-syndrome-scds#:~:text=The%20problem%20can%20cause%20hearing,footsteps%20in%20the%20affected%20ear.

https://www.babaylanadlaw.com/p/batak-dungan.html

@Nico Valdez on Tiktok (Baranggay)

https://www.isiswomen.org/downloads/wia/wia-2006-2/02wia06_06GirlieA.pdf