Babaylan Bruha Book Club Podcast

According to the Bible, it was women who first found Jesus’ empty tomb. It was to women that Jesus first appeared after he rose from the dead. And speaking of women and women speaking on Jesus… Oh, do your Ates have a decolonized Easter treat for you! Join us as we have a passionate, heartfelt, and fiery discussion with Trina, The Radical Visionary, about leaving Church, activism, and decolonizing faith, among other things. Trina is a 2x certified Spiritual Life Coach from the SF Bay Area, CA supporting conscious leaders step into their higher calling for collective liberation. She is passionate about social justice and pulls from the wisdom shared with her as a young adult from respected community elders of the 1960’s Civil Rights Movement. At the intersections of faith + justice, Trina weaves together the power of transformational principles, ancestral connection, conscious entrepreneurship, and decolonization in her work to create a world of love & liberation for all. There were so many powerful take aways from this interview. Tune in and let us know what stood out for you! 📺🎙️…& don’t forget to like and follow your ates on the YouChoobs, hah?! Maraming Salamat sa inyong lahat for your time, support, and consideration! In Indigenous Reverence, Resistance, Remembrance, Reclamation, Reparation, Resilience FOREVER. ✊🏽 💋💋 Ingat Lagi- Ate Ims & Ate Steph https://www.radical-visionary-collective.com/ https://www.instagram.com/radicalvisionarycollective/

Join us in this episode where we sit down with fellow kapwatid, Joe Corzo, on his personal and professional endeavors. Joe shares some of his latest projects and features, things he has done with music, and most importantly his story of overcoming challenges and wins, as he endures the journey as an aspiring and rising Pilipino-American actor in Hollywood!

📺🎙️…Don't forget to like and follow your ates on the YouChoobs & Instagrams, hah?! Maraming salamat sa iyong continued supporta!

🤎 links in bio 🤎

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Ingat Lagi-

Ate Ims & Ate Steph

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#babaylan

#babaylanic

#babaylanbruha

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#babaylanbruhabookclub

#filipinx #filipinoamerican

#filipinxpodcasters #podcasts

#precolonialphilippines

#intergenerationalhealing

#decolonize #backfromthecrocodilesbelly

This episode was special because this was a first time for your babaylan brubrus (Ate Steph) were able to connect in-person with the esteemed @swiggle_mandela! In this episode, we touched a range of Swiggle’s experiences as a bi-racial person growing up & existing on the lands originally inhabited by First Nations including (but not limited to) the Multnomah, Wasco, Clackamas, Kalapuya, Chinook, & many others along the Columbia River— also known as Portland, Oregon. Tune into the tea on nature/animal intuition, entrepreneurial-ship, fatherhood, and of course his work as a performing rapper & community-recognized music artist.📺🎙️…& don’t forget to like and follow your ates on the YouChoobs & Instagrams, hah?!

🤎 links in bio 🤎

💋💋Ingat Lagi-Ate Ims & Ate Steph

#babaylan#babaylanic#babaylanbruha#babaylanbruhahas#babaylanbruhabookclub#filipinx #filipinoamerican#filipinxpodcasters #podcasts#precolonialphilippines#intergenerationalhealing #decolonize #backfromthecrocodilesbelly

Movie Break! Join your Ates as we give our comments and opinions on the recent movie: “1521: The Quest for Love and Freedom”. In this episode, we not only talk about the movie, but we also re-introduce ourselves, since your Ates find themselves on new timelines and in distinct lifetimes and with different hairstyles! 

We believe as we see all the unspeakable genocide happening to the Palestinian people Gaza, that now more than ever, it’s important to remember history, to remember the affects of colonization, and the impact of empire and what an unchecked and unbalanced power dynamic can cause. 

We admit that in light of everything, this episode may seem too carefree. But hopefully it can bring you some levity during this time. Take care of yourselves, continue to keep your eyes open to injustice, and know that your voice is important. 

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Please remember this is a passion project, and your Ates would appreciate your quick support! If you feel called to show us some love, hit the Like, Subscribe, and/or Comment(s) buttons, below! 

You can also find us on Instagram: @BabaylanBruhaBookClub. 

Maraming Salamat sa inyong lahat for your time, support, and consideration!

💋💋

Ingat Lagi-

Ate Ims & Ate Steph

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Follow us on Instagram: Podcast - @babaylanbruhabookclub Stephanie - @st3ph.inrising Imee - @themayarimoon Subscribe to our YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCJpjbGCP5WwlB2vPmaQUWjA End music written, produced and recorded by Dayana Capulong. (C) Dayana Capulong, 2022

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#babaylan 

#babaylanic 

#babaylanbruha 

#babaylanbruhahas 

#babaylanbruhabookclub 

#filipinxpodcasters #filipinopodcast 

#filipinoamerican #filampodcast 

#decolonize #decolonizeyourmind 

#filipinx #precolonialphilippines

In this conversation, we sat with the Manang Lauren, LMFT and her range of personal and professional knowledge. She is a therapist, intergenerational mental health cycle breaker & advocate, fitness coach, past life regression practitioner, & healer. Please remember this is a passion project, and your Ates would appreciate your quick support! If you feel called to show us some love, hit the Like, Subscribe, and/or Comment(s) buttons, below! You can also find us on Instagram: @BabaylanBruhaBookClub. Maraming Salamat sa inyong lahat for your time, support, and consideration! 💋💋 Ingat Lagi- Ate Ims & Ate Steph ------- #babaylan #babaylanic #babaylanbruha #babaylanbruhahas #babaylanbruhabookclub #filipinxpodcasters #filipinopodcast #filipinoamerican #filampodcast #decolonize #decolonizeyourmind #filipinx #precolonialphilippines

Here goes episode 2, kapwatids! We were able to sit and speak with writer and music recording artist, Mark Teodosio, on his "The Realest Bayani" comic book creation process, dating life perspectives, rituals, & his own spiritual references.

Please remember this is a passion project, and your Ates would greatly appreciate your quick support! If you feel called to show us some love, hit the Like, Subscribe, SHARE, and/or Comment(s) buttons, below!

Maraming Salamat sa inyong lahat for your time, support, and consideration!

Instagram & YouTube: @BabaylanBruhaBookClub.

💋💋

Ingat Lagi-

Ate Ims & Ate Steph

Season 3, Episode 1!! New season means new book. 1521: Rediscovering the History of the Philippines (by Judy Robinson) was inspired by the 500 year anniversary of Ferdinand Magellan’s arrival in the Philippine islands. Ate Judy, who was born and raised in the Philippines, but now lives in the Washington D.C. area, having an innate curiosity and love for learning, did a little digging and pieced together stories that she and even friends who grew up in the Philippines but now live in the US were unaware of. Stories such as that of Enrique de Malacca, Magellan’s slave, who was probably the first to circumnaviate the globe even before Magellan, and stories that told of a literate people and a thriving trade and commerce even before the Spaniards arrived.

Ate Judy right off the bat clarifies that she is not a historian, and that this book is not a history textbook. Rather, it is a collection of forgotten stories related to the history of the Philippines and the advent of Spanish colonization. Because with the 500 year anniversary of Magellan’s arrival in 1521, it is time to share an update perspective. In rediscovering these stories, we learn who we were, who we are, and who we can be.

Follow us on Instagram:

Podcast - @babaylanbruhabookclub

Stephanie - @st3ph.inrising

Imee - @themayarimoon

Subscribe to our YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCJpjbGCP5WwlB2vPmaQUWjA

End music by Dayana Capulong. (C) Dayana Capulong, 2022

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Time Stamps:

1. Grounding Prayer & Opening @ 1:00

2. Bruha Check @ 3:08

3. BROWN GIRL CLIFF NOTES / Chapter Overview @ 11:11

4. Vocabulary Words @ 22:16

5. Quotes @ 30:41

6. Closing Prayer @ 45:05

What a chapter to round out the ending of this book! Episode 34, chapter 13, closing out by Ate Perla Paredes Daly, a multimedia artist and activist who collaborates with various artists, healers, and activists around the world. Her story stems from the transition of actually starting in California, and at the age of 10 years old, moved back to the island of Negros Occidental, Philippines with her widowed mother. Growing up around educated, “aristokrato/a”s like her Lola who went to Assumption College, she eventually connected the dots in college and recognized and reconciled her colonial mentalities from her upbringings.

Recognized in 2011 as a recipient of the “100 Most Influential Filipinas in America” award, one could say that Ate Perla underwent the courage that is decolonization through the support of community, and through the self-connection & discovery process, the rise of her babaylanic spirit emerged to unify Filipinos across the diaspora, by shifting Filipina reputations within the late 90’s and 2000’s cyberspace, or as we may now know was the “internets”/social media. Initially floored by the offensive and demeaning “cyber myth” reputations Filipinas were “known” for to be “mail-to-order” brides and submissively hypersexualized beings, she became inspired to focus her creative powers into shifting the cyberspace consciousness around who/what/where/how Filipinas really are. Through her collective, collaborative process in founding and establishing successful online communities & new media publications such as BagongPinay to NewFilipina.com to Babaylan.com. Eventually she connected with Ate Leny Stroebel Mendoza, and then chaired the Filipino American Women’s Network (FAWN) conference in 2005, built around her original conceptualization of the 5 BABAYLAN POWER ROLES, or archetypes: warrior, teacher, healer, sage, priestess. Ate Perla’s “Filipina Feminism” work aims to create space and awareness for others across the diaspora to cultivate, foster, and own their own empowered and called-to-action of recognizing indigenous concepts and invitation to share each of our own unique, indio-genius stories!

Follow us on Instagram:

Podcast - @babaylanbruhabookclub

Stephanie - @st3ph.inrising

Imee - @themayarimoon

Subscribe to our YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCJpjbGCP5WwlB2vPmaQUWjA

End music by Dayana Capulong. (C) Dayana Capulong, 2022

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Time Stamps:

1. Grounding Prayer & Opening @ 2:00

2. "90 second DECOLONIZING" Heart Check-in @ 3:03

3. BROWN GIRL CLIFF NOTES / Chapter Overview @ 13:58

4. Vocabulary Words @ 18:23

5. Quotes @ 32:17

6. Closing Prayer @ 53:45

In this chapter, Ate Ethelyn tells her heartbreaking story of growing up in a valley community in Nothern Philippines, then having to move to Metro Manila where she saw the kapwa bliss of her childhood end as she tried to get used to the crowded city who she says “robbed her parents of their smiles and nurturing touch, turning them into silenced automatons.” Growing up in Manila meant a rejection of everything that Ate Ethelyn held dear during her childhood years, including the nature spirits and guardians that connected all of creation. She was able to find love in the midst of martial law under the dictator Ferdinand Marcos. During this time she had a few kids of her own and started her own community funded school and children’s theater. This bright spot in her life was short lived when her husband passed away, and circumstances forced her, like millions of other Filipinos to swallow the pain of leaving her children and homeland for America. Settling here, she eventually married an African American-Native American man who petitioned her children. She experience verbal abuse and also witnessed first hand the deep suffering of people of color in America. Despite all of the heart ache and racial disparities, Ate Ethelyn continued her community work, bringing Filipino elders together once a week to participate in storytelling or myth weaving, which we will talk about more in a bit. She also began a dissertation on the expressive arts therapies and fought her college advisor in order to include autoethnography in her paper.

Follow us on Instagram:

Podcast - @babaylanbruhabookclub

Stephanie - @st3ph.inrising

Imee - @themayarimoon

End music by Dayana Capulong. (C) Dayana Capulong, 2022

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Time Stamps:

1. Grounding Prayer & Opening @ 1:04

2. "90 second DECOLONIZING" Heart Check-in @ 3:00

3. BROWN GIRL CLIFF NOTES / Chapter Overview @ 10:10

4. Vocabulary Words @ 16:54

5. Quotes @ 31:13

6. Closing Prayer @ 50:26

Written by the vibrant and scholarly S. Lily Mendoza (Manang Leny’s sister), who graduated with expertise in studying Sikolohiyang Pilipino (Filipino Liberation Psychology), Manang Lily takes us through her lovely dissertation on the work of indigenization among scholars in the Philippine academy - one of her life self-actualized “romances & adventure”. Having survived supporting and unconditionally loving her ex-husband who suffered from addiction, Manang Lily speaks of her experiences being able to sit and learn from the founder of the term Sikolohiyang Pilipino & elder, Virgilio “Ver” Enriquez, up until his last moments of life, at the Philippine Psychology Research and Training House. She mentions also learning from other elders & seed planters for the next generations of decolonization work and conversation including but not limited to Zeus Salazar, Popeng Cover, and Felipe de Leon Jr. Manang Lily’s call to action for the generations ahead feels quite urgent at the end of this chapter. She discusses the message relayed from the Kogi indigenous tribe in the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta mountains of northern Columbia in South America. How they recruited a news team to document and release a miraculous and perhaps begrudgingly urgent message to the world in 1990. The Kogi warns ALL of us, that WE “Younger Brother” was not listening to the Earth, referencing the sea & respecting them/Earth/beyond “Elder Brother”/geological boundaries. It seems that her hope is for all of us resonating with this chapter to continue building the bridges between the masses in the world who are corrupted, plagued by greed, and dismantle those systems, ideally before it’s too late.

Follow us on Instagram:

Podcast - @babaylanbruhabookclub

Stephanie - @st3ph.inrising

Imee - @themayarimoon

End music by Dayana Capulong. (C) Dayana Capulong, 2022

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Time Stamps:

1. Grounding Prayer & Opening @ 1:04

2. "90 second DECOLONIZING" Heart Check-in @ 3:00

3. BROWN GIRL CLIFF NOTES / Chapter Overview @ 10:27

4. Vocabulary Words @ 14:13

5. Quotes @ 26:12

6. Closing Prayer @ 39:47

(TW: mention of suicide, sexual abuse)

Here we are! Part TATLO of the book, “Back from the Crocodile’s Belly”! In this chapter, written by Tera Maxwell, a scholar and energy healer, Ate Te proses her Filipino studies dissertation, challenging us to think about and/or remember how the Philippine-American War + Spanish & American imperialism has affected generations of Filipinos across the world. Tera seems to ask us to recall what private, individual memories we have as part of the collective memory - could be brought up to challenge the dominant versions of U.S. history, where Filipinos are literally forgotten. Introducing terms such as “imperial trauma + racial/imperial melancholia”, two terms we cover in this episode and how they intertwine in the fabric of what it means to be a Filipino in today’s society, existing consciously or unconsciously, affectively, as Tera mentions, RESURRECTED, and on our own healing journeys to self-actualize and mourn-to-heal what our ancestors could not.

Follow us on Instagram:

Podcast - @babaylanbruhabookclub

Stephanie - @st3ph.inrising

Imee - @themayarimoon

End music by Dayana Capulong. (C) Dayana Capulong, 2022

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Time Stamps:

1. Grounding Prayer & Opening @ 1:04

2. "90 second DECOLONIZING" Heart Check-in @ 3:23

3. BROWN GIRL CLIFF NOTES / Chapter Overview @ 13:14

4. Vocabulary Words @ 16:54

5. Quotes @ 31:27

6. Closing Prayer @ 46:56

The author of this chapter is James W. Perkinson, a spoken word poet and adjunct professor of things spiritual in an urban college. He describes himself in the chapter as a “repentant Euro-colonizer” who unlearned some of his privilege as a “white male North American and an unwitting beneficiary of the entire history of colonial relations between my ancestors and the Philippine Islands since 1898…”

So, you may be asking just what is it that James W. Perkinson is doing in exploring Filipino Babaylanism? And that’s actually a specific question that he answers, while also confessing that he knows his contribution is minor. And as a participant in a shared dialogue on spirituality, babaylanism, for James, is a question about an entire way of life, not just spirituality.

He then goes on to talk about DJ Qbert’s, a Filipino-American DJ Qbert emerged in the early 1990’s as hip-hop’s premier turntablist on the forefront of the sonic improvisation known as “scratching”, and compare his scratching to something more cosmic and spiritual akin to shamanic journeying via indigenous plants, because DJs like Qbert regularly reflect that they “see” far beyond what they can produce. And to the degree babaylanism can be grasped as an upwelling of animate energy, Qbert’s scratching also brings an upwelling of vital memory, channeling ancestral wisdom, combining a kapwa sensibility within his turntables and synthesizers.

End music by Dayana Capulong. (C) Dayana Capulong, 2022 

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Time Stamps:

1. Grounding Prayer & Opening @ 1:04

2. "90 second DECOLONIZING" Heart Check-in @ 3:10

3. BROWN GIRL CLIFF NOTES / Chapter Overview @ 10:40

4. Vocabulary Words @ 21:04

5. Quotes @ 31:57

6. Closing Prayer @ 48:11

Listen in as we discuss Kapwa and art! In this chapter, artist Ate Margarita walks us through her take on “Kapwa”, and how its concept of “a way of being-at-home-in-the-world”, guided and influenced her decolonization journey, as well as her art journey. Ate Mar was working multiple jobs and art/activism projects while living in NYC, and the workload eventually exhausted and injured her body. For her, that was the wake up call that essentially led her to travel and spend some time living in Batanes, Philippines. Arriving, she was overwhelmed with the way the community embraced her upon day one of arrival and made her feel so interconnected as a Filipina American who spent more time “living in Brazil than the Philippines”. Herr artistic skills and expressiveness eventually allowed her to connect with the Pacita Abad Center for the Arts, which created multiple opportunities for her to facilitate art spaces, create community works, and eventually produce and public projects as she eventually made her way to end up in Germany. Ate Mar’s art practices included in this chapter cited an array of performative, engaging, and displayable art that aimed to nurture the spirit by exploration via food, ritual, and healing.    

End music by Dayana Capulong. (C) Dayana Capulong, 2022 _______________________________________________________________________ 

Time Stamps:  

1. Grounding Prayer & Opening @ 1:04

2. "90 second DECOLONIZING" Heart Check-in @ 3:21

3. BROWN GIRL CLIFF NOTES / Chapter Overview @ 12:11

4. Vocabulary Words @ 18:16

5. Quotes @ 31:09

6. Closing Prayer @ 51:21

In this chapter, Maria J. Ferrara seeks to give an answer to what is probably the most common question of those of us in the Filipinx diaspora, and that is “What does it mean to be Filipinx/a/o?”  She discusses why we need to be conscious of challenges among second generation Filipino Americans (SGFA’s), and how scholars have conceptualized colonial mentality and ethnic identity development. She then goes into the results of her research study on ethnic edentity development among SGFA’s. Maria utilizes an indigneous perspective in understanding the experiences of SGFA’s, and how decolonization education and perspectives seem to be particularly warranted within this group. She describes ethnic identity development concepts and models, which we define in this episode. Through her academic research, what she learn is that despite a long history of colonization, SGFA’s long to understand what it means to be Filipino, because along with the erasure and colonization of indigenous history, as well as forced enculturation,  SGFA’s now live in the country of their most recent colonizer. With that complication in mind, SGFA’s have sought to access their indigenous identity through a concept that emerged from the findings of Maria’s study, called “Cultural Portals”, which we also discuss in this episode. Boiled down, the whole chapter describes the nuanced and complicated history (or lack thereof ) for SGFA’s and the psychological effect it can have.

End music by Dayana Capulong. (C) Dayana Capulong, 2022

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In this two part chapter, through the guidance of Jane J. Alfonso, we explore the breakdown of historical colonialism in the Philippines. She highlights how Colonial Theory’s (Fanon, 1995) four phrases of colonization were catastrophically implied in the Philippines:

1) forced entry of a foreign group into geographic territory with the intention of exploiting the native people’s natural resources,
2) the establishment of a colonial society that is characterized by cultural imposition, cultural disintegration, and cultural re-creation of the native’s indigenous culture (all of which are intended to further create a contrast between the purportedly superior colonizers and the inferior colonized),
3) the portrayal of the colonized as wild and savage peoples that the colonizer has to police and tame, ‘in essence putting oppression and domination into practice’, and
4) the establishment of a race-based societal system in which the political, social, and economic institutions in a colony are designed to benefit the colonizer and subjugate the colonized.

From 1521, when the infamous Ferdinand Magellan claimed the islands for King Philip II, to the first Spanish settlements in 1565, and up to the infamous 1898 Treaty of Paris where the United States acquired the Philippines from Spain for 20 million dollars, ruled over for 50 years until “granted” independence in 1946 – it can be safe to say the Philippines and Filipinos across the diaspora have been through quite a lot! From fascinating terminologies that include but not limited to, Golden Legend (p. 134) to referencing the Thomasites (p. 136), Ate Jane, Ate Leny, and so many other researchers have paved the way with allowing us to think about how all of this colonization has affected the “diaspora consciousness” - framework to understand the Filipino/a/x American experience.

Ate Jane ends the chapter  vulnerably sharing her relative Filipina-American story and how it ties into this interesting concept of the babaylan representing the healing counterpart to Maria Clara – an often referenced archetype of the catholic church’s Virgin Mary. With Mary supposedly representing purity, chastity, and the tragic disembodiment of what it means to be an authentically self-embodied Filipina. Through her psycho-somatic therapeutic insights, we are able to consider how generations of colonization have manifested in our own bodies, and how decolonizing is the way to healing. Her research, reflection, and recommendation serves as inspiration for us to continue the conversation around what it could mean to connect back with our mothers, the great mother, and the babaylan.

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(approximate timings):

1.  INTRO @ 0.00
2.  OPEN PRAYER @ 1:13 (intro is 1:13)
3.  90sec DECOLONIZE CHECK @ 3:39
4.  BG CLIFF NOTES @ 10:01
5.  VOCAB @ 16:42
6.  QUOTES @ 29:08
7.  END PRAYER @ 49:19

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Music by Dayana Capulong. (C) Dayana Capulong, 2022

This chapter was rich with information around the indigenous healers in the Panay Highlands of Western Visayas. Written by trained ethnomusicologist, Maria Christine Muyco, they bring us into a story collected by participant-observation learnings of these Panay Bukidnon (mountain people of Panay). Maria spent 2 years in 2003-2004 in the Panay Highlands specifically inquiring the process of this community’s types of healing rituals, always incorporating the Binanog, a dance practice that draws its inspiration from the local hawk-eagle called banog. The ideological aspects in Panay healing always aimed to achieve SIBOD - a mastery of structures and synchronizations that produces effectiveness, connectedness, and even transcendence. Through the Binanog dance, Maria first encountered the linkage between healing, movement, and spiritual interplay, and drew her attention to the synchronizations between healing and dancing and how each can realize a healer’s intention of bringing harmony to the body-spirit universe, otherwise known as kalibutan.

Through her work, Maria meets and speaks with several traditional healers, serruano, dalungdungan, the maarams, the babaylan. They included learning about how young healer Menchie Diaz-Caspillo stepped into her calling, Noning Lopez of Barangay Cabatangan in Lambunao (Iloilo), Violeta Damas from Barangay Taganhin, and an interview with Alfred Castor who knew a family with 7 adult babaylans. These interactions allowed Maria to discuss what defines a serruano , as they do not choose to be so at will, because powerful spirits or forces select them. Maria provides us with several vocabulary words utilized by the Panay Bukidnon to give insight of their perspectives of life from the origin of creation, to the understandings of various spirit beings that exist and can be seeing during times of the night, how the babaylan moved while she sat in ritual, why and how supplication of the spirits was essential, and overall prosing the theme of indigenous ways for bridging body-and-spiritual constituents that bring about healing for those who are in need.

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1. Grounding Prayer & @ 1:34

2. "90 second DECOLONIZING" Heart Check-in @ 5:16

3. BROWN GIRL CLIFF NOTES / Chapter Overview @ 13:03

4. Vocabulary Words @ 19:33

5. Quotes @ 39:22

6. Closing Prayer @ 1:00:10

We are talking about tattoos today! If you’ve been around the Filipinx diaspora decolonization online community, you may be familiar with Lane Wilcken, also known as Manong Lane.

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Per Lane’s website, Lane is an artisan of ancient technology and art. He is widely recognized by the Filipino-American community as a "mambabatok," a cultural tattoo practitioner only using ancient hand-tapped tattoo techniques. He makes all his own tools, many of which are now extinct in the Philippines. Lane's practice is spiritual and includes meditation and prayer before composing batok (tattoo) arrangements according to the designs and symbols of a person's specific ethnic group and their personal experience. The actual application of the batok is done as ritual, with chants, food offerings and prayers as part of the process.

***

In this chapter, Manong Lane discusses the details of pre-colonial Philippine tattoos and their symbolism, as well as the stigmas tattoos currently face in modern western society vs. the originally deeply rooted, spiritual meaning of our ancestral markings.

When the first Spanish explorers arrived in our islands with Ferdinand Magellan in 1521, they originally called the archipelago, “Las Islas de los Pintados” which means, “The Islands of the Painted Ones” because of the abundance of tattooing they saw. Manong Lane highlights that in the western world perspective, the individual is the one who decides when they will be tattooed and what is tattooed on them. In the ancient Austronesian cultures (which includes the islands of Indonesia, the Philippines, Micronesia, Melanesia, Polynesia, Madagascar and Taiwan), the perspective towards tattooing was very different. Those choices are prerogative of the community and the tattoo practitioner, not the individual.

We further discuss our perspectives on the understandings that men and women received their tattoo markings with different reverence. For example, men had to “earn” their tattoos through requisite bravery, character and knowledge. In contrast, women were naturally "entitled" to receiving tattoos. In fact, women's tattoos displayed messages of the strength, procreative power, and spiritual receptivity she brought with her into the world. They also signified fertility and the bravery and strength needed to endure giving birth. It is also said that the more women had, the more beautiful she was!

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1. Grounding Prayer & @ 1min, 46sec

2. "90 second DECOLONIZING" Heart Check-in @ 3min, 46sec

3. BROWN GIRL CLIFF NOTES / Chapter Overview @ 11min, 36sec

4. Vocabulary Words @ 26min

5. Quotes @ 38min, 23sec

6. Closing Prayer @ 56min, 18sec

This chapter was juicy! We were truly guided by Michael Gonzalez’ words and 8 years of thesis research investigating the said debatable, 2 existing and paradoxical stories of the legendary Jose Rizal. Jose Rizal is formally known as a native reformist, physician, author of books-- a “renaissance man”, that was falsely implicated in an anti-colonial revolutionary plot and executed by the colonial Spanish authorities on December 30, 1896. Gonzalez’ work included understanding the national “official”, sometimes imaginary Jose Rizal; versus the perhaps “unofficial”/folklore (said to be told my peasants, laborers, and middle class Filipinos) version of Jose Rizal, deemed by the “Rizalistas”.

Rizalistas, a conglomeration of various groups (or sects) scattered all over the Philippines that see Rizal and the events surrounding his life as distinctly spiritual, sacred, and personal. Among some of these associations are the Sagrada Familiar, Watawat ng Lahi, Tres Persona Solo Dios, and the Kataastaasang Kapatiran Ng Litaw Na Katalinuhan. These groups have inconspicuous small churches and sanctuaries that dot the rural landscape along the Laguna and Quezon (Aurora) Provinces.

In addition, this chapter was rife with information on the transformation of the Philippine national anthem with colonization within the Philippines, which we discuss briefly. Another potential theory to consider through Gonzalez' writing, was the idea to consider if Jose Rizal was actually the pre-colonial Philippines interpretation of Jesus!?! Gonzalez felt like this concept along with his other works, lit a way for our Filipina/o/x cultural memory to keep unfolding, waiting to be retrieved and revealed for more research, theories, and perhaps action, to come.

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1. Grounding Prayer & @ 2min, 36sec

2. "90 second DECOLONIZING" Heart Check-in @ 4min, 51sec

3. Chapter Overview @ 13min, 56sec

4. Vocabulary Words 17min, 19sec

5. Quotes @ 26min, 51sec

6. Closing Prayer @ 46min, 14sec

In the second chapter of our current read: "Back from the Crodile's Belly", we have a conversation about Anting-Anting.

In her two year long research, Nenita Pambid Domingo sought to answer the question of whatever happened to the native God of the FIlipinos when the Spanish Catholic God and its host of angels vanquished the “heathens” and their gods?

Her research led her to the myth of Doctrine of Infinito Dios (or Infinite God) telling how the Three Persons in One God struggled against the Infinito Dios also known as Nuno (or ancestor). The Nuno said he could not be by any means be baptized by Jesus since the Nuno is Jesus’ forefather, the First and the only God who holds all the power and the well-spring of all the forces in the universe. In the end, the Infinito Dios (aka Nuno) finally succumbed to the wishes of Jesus, but only through his own power. And that was how Nuno, the ancestor, had supposedly come to be baptized, but actually not.

This myth and the oraciones (or power words) were put into symbols in the extant Infinito Dios amulet also known as an anting-anting.

Tune in as we talk about how the anting-anting evolved into a symbol of sovereign agency, fighting for freedom, and defending the motherland.

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(approximate timings):

1. Grounding Prayer & @ 3min, 33 sec

2. "90 second DECOLONIZING" Check-in @ 5min, 30 sec

3. Brown Girl Cliff Notes @ 13 min, 20 sec

4. Vocabulary Words @ 19 min

5. Quotes @ 31 min

6. Closing Prayer @ @ 45 min, 30 sec

Welcome back, Kapwatids!
We SURE IS back, from the CROCODILE'S BELLY that was 2021, as we now enter 2022!
Thrilled to have you tuning in with us again!

WE OFFICIALLY OPEN UP SEASON 2 WITH OUR SECOND BOOK, "Back from the Crocodile's Belly", edited by Lily Mendoza & Leny Mendoza Stoebel. The first chapter segment of this three part book was written by Grace Nono, who journeyed to sit with Mumbaki, the Babaylan (indigenous priest, healer, oralist/auralist) among the people of the Ifugao province in the Cordillera Administrative Region of Northern Luzon, Northern PI.

This story comes from Mamerto “Lagitan” Tindongan, a now 65-year old mumbaki, wood sculptor, champion atlatlist (spear thrower), and healer. He is also an initiated PAQO and LAIKA, a 4th level priest and earth keeper, respectively, in the QUERO/Q’ERO (Native S. American) tradition. Grace’s story and photos capture the Lawet, a transition ceremony facilitated by multiple mumbaki’s to summon a deity responsible for ushering Lagitan’s father’s soul after his passing, Buwaya, who is known as a 7th generational Mumbaki. The Lawet was facilitate by Buwaya’s mentor, Huwan Candelario and assistance from Jose “Nabbud” Pagaddut, Buwaya’s nephew.

The intricacies of this chapter are stated through Lagitan’s “we have a compromise” - holding space to honor Buwaya’s wake in a mixed crowd of Christianized and the presence of many elders (even modernized, US-based Filipino/Filipinx, upholding the Baki ways).

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(approximate timings):

1. Grounding Prayer & @ 2min
2. "90 second DECOLONIZING" Check-in @ 4min, 18sec
3. Chapter Overview @ 11min
4. Vocabulary Words 16min
5. Quotes @ 32min, 30sec
6. Closing Prayer @ 52min, 47sec

Happy Holy Days, Kapwatids!

In this final episode and study break of 2021, Imee & Stephanie discuss their experiences through the holidays. 

We acknowledge various cultural holy days in different religions & spiritual beliefs, our younger church (& non-church) -related holiday years, & wrap up with energetic boundary tips as we navigate through this time of the year in spaces with loved ones, especially when you have differences. 

***Don't forget - Babaylan Bruha Book Club is on YOUCHOOB too! Feel free to subscribe or leave us comments!

In this conversation, Imee & Stephanie take a study break to talk with another special guest. Rob Dalton is walking his life journey as a multi faceted being. From business professional and martial artist, to exploring the balance of divine masculine and feminine in the everyday, Rob is enthusiastic about experiencing the newness of what life may bring. (Fun fact: He is also Imee's husband!) As we sit with Rob, we dive into a discussion about the patriarchy vs. divine masculine, why perhaps men are less likely to seek emotional awareness, and his views on the modern day babaylan-ic experience. 

***Don't forget - Babaylan Bruha Book Club is on YOUCHOOB too! Feel free to subscribe or leave us comments!

Last chapter of our first book! Kapwa, we did that!
As we close out this final chapter of BABAYLAN, we witness the conversational interview between Chato Basa, founder of Babaylan, a Philippine women’s network in Europe with Girlie Villariba, partner of Ed dela Torre author of Touching Ground, Taking Root, friend and activist. Their net-work together during a time where Filipino rights were nonexistent, & protection and resources were not accessible gave rise to brown feminism in Europe, where through collaboration with Genevieve Vaughan’s Global Fund for Women helped create support for victims of sexual exploitation, and various forms of discrimination work in Europe.

Ate Chato’s life story tells us how the eldest daughter from a poor and patriarchal family in Mindoro, Philippines followed the breadcrumbs of life - made her way through agricultural to clerical to government job positions that repositioned her into Italy, which exceeded her own expectations. Chato speaks of her work while in attendance of the United Nations conferences on Human Rights and Women’s Rights. Her lifelong successes and achievements are indications that connections are essential, and it truly does take a village to bring about sustainably impactful change.

***Don't forget - Babaylan Bruha Book Club is on YOUCHOOB too! Feel free to subscribe or leave us comments!

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(approximate timings):

1. Grounding Prayer & @ 2:36
2. "90 second DECOLONIZING" Heart Check-in @ 4:03
3. Chapter Overview 11:48
4. Vocabulary Words 15:03
5. Quotes @ 25:33
6. Closing Prayer @ 39:03

In this second-to-last chapter of our Babaylan: Filipinos & the Call of the Indigenous, we are met with recognizing the truth when people say, “less is more”. Perhaps via pakikiramdam (intuition), we knew this woman was an esteemed writer. Turns out she is an English professor at the University of Hawaii, and though she wrote only a 4 page memoir sharing her decolonizing journey, this chapter painted so much depth and expanded perceptions.

At the age of 11 years, Professor Minahal’s artistic inspiration was sparked & fueled into her adulthood, by a fictional mortal woman heroine Bolak Sonday, who dared to break past heteronormative standards and mainstream dualities. Despite being “Americanized” as a child, having parents who were inadvertent influencers to subscribe to the USA English-teacher-recommendations that her family must “lose their first language/accent” in obtaining jobs, it is refreshing to see such resiliency thrive.

Years later, Professor Minahal would become a queer artist to successfully combine poetry, dance, and music in her ‘before their words’ performance. In her piece, she narrates a poem accompanied by an erotically queer twist to the traditionally heterosexual muslim dance known as Singkil.

Professor Minahal’s boldness to interweave elements of traditional Filipino arts with her own imagination, is an inspiring legacy portraying how kapwa can attempt to heal and recover the aches of our lost culture in our own unique terms and expression, essentially - our own respective imaginations.

***Don't forget - Babaylan Bruha Book Club is on YOUCHOOB too!
Feel free to subscribe or leave us comments!

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(approximate timings):

1. Grounding Prayer & @ 2:03
2. Heart Check-in @ 4:06
3. Chapter Overview @ 6:08
4. Vocabulary Words @ 10:13
5. Quotes @ 24:26
6. Closing Prayer @ 46:43

This latest episode highlights the writings of Marjorie Light as she interviews a variety of celebrated Filipinx artists and creators in the Tongva land (city of Los Angeles) in California.

The work of these artists create intricate segues into dialogue that bridges the idea of indigenous Filipino culture and the contemporary pop culture we witness in current times.

Works discussed include English & Tagalog poetry by Irene Soriano, Filipino, Indonesian, & American dance and choreography by Tomas Tamayo, Dulce Capadocia’s “Singkil stories”, stage manager and playwright Lorely Trinidad, actor & poet Giovanni Oretega’s “Colonial Mentality” performance piece, hip hop artist Bambu, Jilly Canizares an orchestral arranger & the executive director of Fil-Am Arts - the 16+ years annual Festival of Philippine Arts and Culture (FPAC), singer & songwriter Janet Cruz, spoken word artist Johneric Concordia, painter Alfie Ebojo, & multidisciplinary artist Alison De La Cruz.

Ate Marjorie shares that artists are “redefining the landscape of Filipino American expression, evolving from copying Western culture or recreating Filipino arts from the Philippines to creating a new Filipino American culture by fusing these elements of multicultural traditions.”

The chapter ends with interviewing the individuals above, in regards to their thoughts on the concept of "decolonization".

Don't forget - Babaylan Bruha Book Club is on YOUCHOOB too! Feel free to subscribe or leave us comments!

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(approximate timings):

1. Grounding Prayer & @ 1:04

2. Heart Check-in @ 5:43

3. Chapter Overview @ 11:42

4. Vocabulary Words @ 15:53

5. Quotes @ 41:31

6. Closing Prayer @ 1:04:13

More than sixteen-times published poet and activist, Ate Eileen Tabrios walks us through the meta meaning of what it means to bring a poem into the world, and how that is to bring the world into the poem (citing her Conjuration #5 poem, p. 262).

Central Ilocos sur area born, Ate Eileen shares her knowledge & the story of the "Man-nawac" who healed her great grandmother.

Her passion for us to expand our consciousness through poems, having them call out to us, has led her to create several successful blog and publishing start ups. They are known as Meritage Press, for its publishing of "Pinoy Poetics", later citing other grass root FIlipinx publishers who do not discriminate publishing other non-Filipinx poets globally, such as T’Boli Press or Arkipelago Expressions.

Her call to action for us is to consider new, creative ways how we approach poetry, literature, and the arts - and that we practice "Kapwa" by continuously supporting each other.

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Don't forget - Babaylan Bruha Book Club is on YOUCHOOB too! Feel free to subscribe or leave us comments!

1. Grounding Prayer & @ 3:13
2. Heart Check-in @ 6:11
3. Chapter Overview @ 15:48
4. Vocabulary Words @ 20:48

*IMPROV PLAY: HAY NAKU POETICS BY IMEE & STEPH @ 45:44

6. Quotes @ 48:23
7. Closing Prayer @ 1:14.43

In this chapter, written by Michelle Bautista, we found her essay to be reigned with many paradoxical perspectives. The good, the bad, the not-good not-bad, the "just as is". Ate Michelle utilized types of food metaphors, as reference points for cultural fusions and fissions, that have created much dissonance and resonance for us / readers, while attempting to answer the question of “What does it mean to be a Filipino American?”  

Don't forget - Babaylan Bruha Book Club is on YOUCHOOB too! Don't forget to subscribe or leave us comments!

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1. Grounding Prayer & @ 2min
2. Heart Check-in @ 5min
3. Chapter Overview @ 10min, 51sec
4. Vocabulary Words @ 14min, 29sec
5. Quotes @ 34min, 8sec
6. Closing Prayer @ 1hour, 10min

Tune in as we drop another episode with our beloved kapwatid, freestyle modern Babaylan Bruha, and multi-dimensional medium, Krisell Valenzuela! 

We discuss Babaylan Bruha tings such as dreams, past lives, subconsciousness, intuition, spirit guides, and more! All while keeping the Babaylan Bruhaha’s vibes alive with reverence and laughter.  

We invite you to subscribe or stay connected with us via YouTube and/or Instagram!
IG: @krisellcan.medium & @babaylanbruhabookclub

In this narrative, Karen Villanueva's succinct & specific opener caught our eyes and ears. It raised the questioning of the Filipinx conventionally conditioned life. Is it supposedly only about going to school, attending college to become a doctor/nurse/lawyer, then marry a (white) man, and settling down with a family? 

In this chapter, we discuss how Ate Karen shares her immigration, assimilation, recognition, healing, and remembrance journey. She writes this piece while called back to live in the motherland; after having left her nursing profession, a marriage, a comfortable existence to follow her inner call to wholeness, which included healing generational grief in the family. 

After spending time in places, workshops, centers, and practices - she speaks of living a life of what the Katipuneros called KALAYAAN, or Freedom, which she claims as the basis of her spiritual practice. In addition, we discuss how Ate Karen's wisdom translates an eastern medicine practice, MEDITATION into a Tagalog word: PANHINGALAY (pahinga = rest, stillness; hinga = breath; alay = offering, gift). 

Don't forget - Babaylan Bruha Book Club is on YOUCHOOB too! Don't forget to subscribe or leave us comments!

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1. Grounding Prayer & @ 3min, 13sec
2. Heart Check-in @ 3min, 40sec
3. Chapter Overview @ 16min
4. Vocabulary Words @ 21min,10sec
5. Quotes @ 31min
6. Closing Prayer @ 1 hour, 25min, 3sec

“An important aspect of this ever-evolving quest for empowerment as a FIlipina-American, was developing the ability TO BRIDGE the PERCEIVED DICHOTOMIES of white = more, brown = less, and man = more, woman = less. It is from a place of transcending this compartmentalized framework that we can find the openness to welcome the fullness of possibility into our lives. The more forgiveness and acceptance I develop for myself, the more I have to offer others. And that, I think, is truly where empowerment lies".
- Ate Trisha Agbulos Cabeje, MA in Women’s Spirituality, Babaylan, Ch.8, pg. 234

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In this latest installment, we dissect the perspectives of what seems to be advice from an Ate/Elder/Boss Babe/Kapwatid, Trisha, regarding her own decolonizing journey. Like many of us, she was born into a Catholic household. Along her life's journey, she returned back to the Philippines and spent some time on the island of Mindinao, and developed a rich understanding of the T’boli people. This led to her psychological breakdown of the contrast and often conflict between the terms of being a Filipina AND an American.
We mention of the stereotypes that exist within the Filipina-American/Filipinx community, especially the work of recalling memories of cultural and gender subordination (i.e. Americanism vs. Filipinoism, Colorism, then Gender-ism).
Trisha "weaves" us into her inner- and under- standing the sacred feminine in the Philippines.
That recognizing the divinity within women AND men is key. 

1. Grounding Prayer & @ 3min, 13sec
2. Heart Check-in @ 5 min, 50sec
3. Chapter Overview @ 9min, 17sec

T’boli women dream weaving discussion
@15min, 25sec

4. Vocabulary Words @ 24min, 5sec
5. Quotes @ 49min, 35sec
6. Closing Prayer @ 1hr, 10min, 45sec

In this broadcast episode, we discuss Ate Teresita's LAKARAN (pilgrimage/journey) with Babaylan in the province of Banahaw with a group known as Tatlong Persona Solo Dios Kinabuhayan (TPSD) in Delores, Quezon. Teresita spent 20 years sitting with GABINETE (12 elders, priestesses, and sacristans), though the son of Amang Illustrimino, Jose Illustre, was the ordering Supremo when Teresita visited.

Interestingly, priests were originally trained men but they were eventually ruled out as "MARUPOK PO SILA" (weak), so women were given a chance, and they passed training. Ate Teresita guides us into her observation that the people relied on the WISDOM OF THE NATION with various influences they felt through the Filipino cultural matrix, and essentially “bastardized Christianity”. Lastly, the chapter discusses word breakdowns of one of the oldest and most legacy renown languages in the Philippines, Baybayin, with the terms of The Cross Motif, Prayers, Beatas, & Pamitinan.

1. Grounding Prayer & @ 1min, 4sec
2. Heart Check-in @ 3min, 37sec
3. Chapter Overview @ 9min, 18sec
4. Vocabulary Words @ 14min, 13sec
5. Quotes @ ~31min
6. Closing Prayer @ 1 hour, 5 min

Influenced by a "guidance" dream, we discuss Venus Herbito's story of returning back to the homeland after 25 years. In this chapter, she shares her immigration story, sorrowfully leaving her Lola in Manila to settling in Los Angeles, CA. Venus shares perspective on what it means to be separated from her indigenous consciousness, soul wounding, and her studies of indigenous science as a pathway to healing. In addition, we discuss her video-installation-ritual, "Katibuk-an: Journey Toward Wholeness". 

1. Grounding Prayer & @ 1 min, 16sec
2. Heart Check-in @ 3 min, 56 sec
3. Chapter Overview @ 9min, 40sec
4. Vocabulary Words @ 12min, 9sec
5. Quotes @ 34min, 55sec
6. Closing Prayer @ 57min, 28sec

In this conversation, Imee & Stephanie take a study break to discuss the ever-continuing HAWT TAKE/TOPIC on body image - through the lens of a media, dating, and motherhood in this millennia.

Quick friendly reminder:

🔊We recognize some folks like a little bit of dis, or a little bit of dat...

👯‍♀️So we’re launching a lil bit of... visuals!

📺We are excited to share this latest episode is ALSO available via YouChoob (YouTube)!

This chapter was a conversational celebration about the epic Princess Urduja. A long considered myth legend to some scholars, it is said that in 1325-1354, a Muslim explorer, Ibn Batuta recorded encountering the Pangasinan princess. He reports to have met her on the island of Tawalisi, an egalitarian kingdom where the “women ride horses, understand archery, and fight just like the men.” Princess Urduja was known to be skilled in archery and hand-to-hand combat, among other things. We invite you to consider her the Filipinx's version of the newest Disney "princess", Raya, if you will. 

In this chapter, we discuss the similiarities and differences between Princess Urduja as Babaylan, as it is clear Princess Urduja is a representation and symbol of modern Filipinx feminism and a potential healer of a fractured diasporic community.

1. Grounding Prayer & @ 58sec
2. Chapter overview @ 2min, 17sec
3. Vocabulary words  @ 9min, 27sec
4. Quotes @ 41min
5. Closing Prayer @ 1 hour, 7min, 48sec