Katalonan

A Katalonan (also spelled Catalonan; Catulunan in Pampango) is a priest or priestess of the old Tagalog animistic religion. These priestesses were either female, or male transvestites. ^[1]

The term apparently springs from the Tagalog word "katalo", which means "in good terms with," such that the Catalonan are those "in good terms with the Anito spirits" ^[2]

Historian and Spanish Missionary Pedro Chirino, SJ noted that their long hair is a symbol of their commitment to their religion.^[1]

Confusion with Babaylan

The Catalonan are the Tagalog equivalent of the Visayan Babaylan.

Although the many modern Filipinos mistakenly refer to any priest or priestess of the Animistic Prehispanic Filipino religions as Babaylan, writer Nick Joaquin and historian William Henry Scott remind modern Filipinos that the independent cultural evolution of each Filipino ethnic group should be respected. ^{[3] [4]}

References

1. Chirino, Pedro (1604). Relacion de las Islas Filipinas: Lihim Na Pagsamba Sa Diwata Sa Taytay. http://www.elaput.org/chirn22.htm Retrieved on February 18, 2007.
2. Maggay, Melba Padilla (1999). Filipino Religious Consciousness: Some Implications to Missions. Quezon City: Institute for Studies in Asian Church and Culture. ISBN 971-8743-07-3.
3. Scott, William Henry (1994). Barangay: Sixteenth Century Philippine Culture and Society. Quezon City: Ateneo de Manila University Press. ISBN 971-550-135-4.
4. Joaqiun, Nick (1988). Culture and History. Pasig City: Anvil Publishing, Inc., 411. ISBN 971-27-1300-8.