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Category: Shamans & Healers

In this section you will find articles that cover the shamans, healers, sorcerers and ‘witches’ among the various cultures of the Philippines.

An effeminate healer sits cross legged in traditional precolonial attire. They are stirring a pot with a large stick and adding various herb.

Philippine shamans, commonly known as Babaylan (also balian or katalonan, among many other names) were (and still are) shamans of the various ethnic groups of the Philippines. These shamans specialize in communicating, appeasing, or harnessing the spirits of the dead and the spirits of nature. They are believed to have spirit guides, by which they contact and interact with the spirits and deities (sometimes referred to as anito or diwata) and the spirit world. Their primary role is as mediums during rituals. There are also various subtypes of babaylan specializing in the arts of healing and herbalism, divination, and sorcery.