Tuesday, September 1, 2009

The Babaylan | Dream Journal Twenty One




Four years ago, I dubbed her the Babaylan because of her affinity to non-straight guys like me. For some reasons, her name fitted her shining personality because in all the years I have been with her, those who are attracted most to her presence are the ones who are troubled within.

Originally written: August 31, 2:13 PM
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I found myself inside a big room. Looking at the window, the sky was overcast outside. Prayers and worship songs echoed inside the hollowed chamber, and at the center of the floor was a familiar lady, someone, I have known for years, someone who is shaping me to become the person he wanted me to be. She is Mami Athena and for some strange reasons, she was the one leading the ministry.

After the service was over, she asked me to go upstairs and into her private quarters. Being her obedient surrogate son, I followed her. In her quarters was a queen-sized bed with a pull-over mattress on its underbelly. As I positioned myself to lie on the mattress, a collegue of mine, which we will call Ganja Girl sneaked into the room to join me. Mami Athena recognized her presence and allowed her to stay.

Pulling a blanket to conceal me and Ganja Girl's slender body, (because the blanket I brought matched those of Mami Athena's bed sheet cover) those who needed her healing entered her quarters one by one. The first to arrive was a guy about my age. A blue sleep mask covered his face and he was shouting "I am ugly," continuously until Mami Athena pacified him. I cannot recall what she did but a moment later, the guy was feeling better. He was ushered outside by the waiting assistants immediately after.

I turned to ganja girl who was lying beside me and told her what I saw. She said it happens all the time. Mami Athena's patients possess a malady of the mind and not of the body. As she expounded her idea, I saw the next patient lying on the floor. Just like the first one who came in, he was the same age as me but acted a little too young for an adult to do. In fact, he was cooing like a baby while the Babaylan stroked his tummy. Seeing the guy baby talk scared the shit out of my senses but then, I realized that maybe Mami Athena's purpose is to release to repressions, hidden desires and strange aspirations of those who come to seek her. I wouldn't be surprised if a patient suddenly do a Britney Spears act in front of her one day. "Alam mo gagaling naman yang mga yan eh." Ganja Girl told me. "Yun nga lang, asahan mo, babalik ulit sila bukas para magpagamot." The guy Mami Athena was cooing earlier returned to his senses and jumped towards her. The ecstasy on his face leaves me dumbfounded.

I would have stayed a little longer to observe how the Babylan exorcise demons out of her patients' mind, except that I remember to meet a friend that day. Sneaking past ganja girl who was still lying on the mattress, I crawled towards the nearby bathroom without getting anyone's attention. The bathroom leads to another room and as soon as I opened the door, I caught my cousin ranting in front of the mirror. The room which I found myself in resembles the master's bedroom my cousin's parents use in my aunt's house in Paranaque.

end of dream


6 comments:

blagadag said...

adik.

<*period*> said...

!

dencios said...

hmmmm.. interesting to a

thor said...

so, dude: there are two female characters in your dream. a powerful female (the healer) and another friendly one, both helping you out. or trying to.

for some reason, you are not ready for the healing yet, or maybe you do not want it at this time -- that's why you crawled away.

then you go somewhere private/intimate: a bathroom. and you see someone familiar (a cousin, someone who is part of your family, and by extension, a part of yourself).

ang tanong: which parts of your masculine self need healing? and what can you learn from the femine parts of yourself.

hope this helps.

Mugen said...

Thor: Very intriguing analysis you have. The ladies in the dream are the strongest I know at work - in terms of personality. And the guys are the ones I consider someone weaker than me.

Thank you sa pagbibigay linaw sa mga bagay na hindi ko nakita. Nung ni-recall ko kasi siya, details lang ang nasa isip ko at hindi kung tungkol saan yung dream na yun.

gillboard said...

napakalinaw ng pagalala mo sa mga panaginip mo joms... ako, sobrang minsanan lang ako makaalala ng mga ganyan...