How is it bestowed to the person – is there a ritual or does a fellow Babaylan grant this title?
A. A Babaylan doesn’t usually self-ascribe. The community knows who she is and they may recognize and acknowledge her as a Babaylan. Sister Mary John Mananzan** says: “The Babaylan in me recognizes the Babaylan in you.” When culture-bearers like Sister Mary John says this, she is acknowledging the influence of the Babaylans in her life and her own integration of the Babaylan spirit in her own life and vocation to serve. **Sister Mary John Mananzan is President of St Scholastica College. Her chapter, “The Babaylan in Me” was her keynote speech at the FAWN2000 conference and is included in the anthology, Babaylan: Filipinos and the Call of the Indigenous” edited by Leny Strobel and published by Ateneo de Davao University in 2010.
Related Questions
- If a person is ineligible for Title XVI (SSI) due to a spouses income, can that income be used as income to contribute to a PASS?
- If a person gains title through adverse possession, does that include both the surface and mineral rights for that property?
- Does a person retain the honorific title "The Honorable" after leaving the position for which they hold it?
