The Babaylan + why Trese being a woman is high-key important.

by KaijuQgle on twitter, this story is not mine, and I am not passing it as my own.

Disclaimer: Filipino pre-colonial history and culture is a lot more difficult to talk about and research about. It’s because when the Spaniards occupied the country in 1565, was burn our written records… among other things. More on that later.

Because of that, it’s possible that some of my info won’t be complete or 100% accurate. I don’t think I’ll be as specific or as detailed as I usually do in my info threads like this, relaying only the info I’m p confident in.

We’ve been trying to piece together our pre-colonial past for centuries, relying on the records of our early trade partners, the still existing Indigenous People (IPs), and more. We’re still learning too.

It’s one of the reasons why the Filipino identity is a really complex topic as well. It’s also why a show like Trese is so important to us. We literally had our identity ripped away and burned by colonizers. The show feels like we’re reclaiming it. More on this later.

So what is a Lakan? Okay, let me dip real quick into Philippine Royalty. *ahem* Every Rajah is a Datu but not every Datu is a Rajah. Every Lakan is a Rajah but not every Rajah is a Lakan. I’ll give you a moment to absorb that.

“Datu” was the general term for a “ruler”. I believe it’s a term that you can hear in other SEA and Austronesian countries like Malaysia or Indonesia. “Datu” is also a gender neutral time so a Datu isn’t exclusively male (which is, well, a common misconception. hm wonder why)

(also, quick tangent. It goes to show that our Philippine ancestors never really saw gender as a binary. In my Anthro class, we learned that most cultures have a certain “binary” in their cultures, one that shapes how they view the world. The most common was b/w man and woman.

In Japan, the binary was between “god” and “not-god” which explains why we have extra respectful and extra humble languages. In the Philippines, it was between the “seen” and “unseen”. No gender in either of those, whatsoever.)

In terms of hierarchy, I guess you can see it as: Lakan > Rajah > Datu But you couldn’t be the position on the left if you weren’t first the position on the right.

Another tangent. A lot of Filipinos would pronounce “Raja” with a soft J (or j like an H) instead of a hard J but that’s bc of the Spaniards. it’s supposed to be a hard J.

Raja is a Hindu-Buddhist term for sovereign king or prince. So, in a way Rajas presided over different Datu etc etc. You kinda get the idea.

Lakan are a bit more interesting. They weren’t just simple kings or queens. They were believed to be imbued with DIVINITY. They were the physical embodiment of our ancestors’ mythologies. They were DIVINE RULERS.

It’s very similar to the “god-king” or Devaraja concepts you can find throughout Southeast Asia. The Lakan were believed to be descendants of Diwata. There’s a lot more nuance to this but I won’t get into it.

(Here’s a painting of Lakan Dula and his nephew, Rajah Sulaiman fighting off the white people)

The Babaylan, or as referred to in English “Philippine shamans”, were the spiritual leaders of the Philippines. They were also called the “Balian” or “Katalonan” depending on which region you’re from.

The role is a FEMININE role. I emphasized feminine bc it wasn’t necessarily a cis woman’s role. There have been records of feminized men (asog or bayok) in this position as well as the possibility of trans women being babaylan as well

The babaylan had the power to communicate with the spirit derived from their spirit companions who guided and interceded for them. These companions were called friend, guardian, guide, etc. These spirits could be ancestor spirits but more often than not, they were inhuman.

Aside from being mediums, Babaylan were also the healers in their communities. This was arguably their most important function. They had to determine whether an illness was spiritual or non-spiritual then treat it accordingly.

Divination and Sorcery were also known to be the Babaylan’s abilities. Because of all these, they were highly respected in their communities and were treated at the same level as the nobility. They were even their communities leaders in the datu’s absence.

And now we get to the ugly part: What happened to the Babaylan during the Spanish colonization?

We were always taught that the “3 Gs” were the reasons why Spain sought to colonize the Philippines: Gospel, Gold, and Glory. Gold and Glory were obvious. Don’t really need to explain that.

Gospel on the other hand… I honestly don’t believe that this was as altruistic as a lot of schools paint it to be. “Gospel” was always defined to us as “to spread the word of God!” lmfao.

Just look at the definition of Lakan and Babaylan. They weren’t just leaders. They were divine rulers and spiritual leaders. People turned to them for guidance and protection.

To make conquering the Philippines easier, to make it easier for the people to accept these new rulers and authority figures, they had to discredit the existing ones.

They used the Filipinos’ misunderstanding of what Christianity. They initially thought that it was another type of “anito” or “nature spirit”. They put their friars forward as “shamans” with powers more powerful than that of our babaylan.

They desecrated our sacred objects, trees, and areas, to prove their might and power. The Spaniards stigmatized the Babaylan, labelling them as witches, Satanists, or just flat-out crazy.

They didn’t stop there. Spain forced their patriarchal culture onto the Philippines, lowering the status of women, discouraging any from rising up to claim the power that was rightful theirs. I’m honestly getting so angry just talking about this.

It’s why ALEXANDRA Trese being a Lakan AND a Babaylan is so important. It’s why the series Trese itself is so important. I don’t think the story would have been as effective if she was a man

Seeing this woman rise up, be a pillar of the community, commanding respect and authority yet still somehow kind and compassionate; to see her wield power ripped away from my ancestors? It fills me with a sense of pride and happiness that I can’t really put into words.

Spain colonized us for 333 years before selling us to the Americans. We had our history re-written, erased, and trampled on far too many times.

It’s time we took it back.