Babaylan Bruha Book Club Podcast

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".

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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).

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1. Grounding Prayer & @ 3:13

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

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

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!

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

“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".

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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.

1. Grounding Prayer & @ 3min, 13sec

T’boli women dream weaving discussion

4. Vocabulary Words @ 24min, 5sec

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.

1. Grounding Prayer & @ 1min, 4sec

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

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