The Born Again Babaylan mural is one of many murals located in downtown Bend, Oregon. This mural was painted by Bekah Badilla in 2021. I previously featured one of her other works, Myth of Progress, also located in Bend. The Born Again Babaylan mural was created in collaboration with the High Desert Equality and Justice Mural Festival.
Bekah describes this work in the following partial description. See her website for the full description.
Melting out of the glacial ice is the spirit of a Babaylan and her descendants. Babaylan refers to the naming for a matriarchal leader, spirit guide and warrior prevalent in pre-colonial Philippines. The Babaylan is embodied in the ice, changing, shifting and eternally offering knowledge and guidance not through elitism and brute force but through spirituality, mysticism and ancestral strength.
Bekah Badilla
Thank you for sharing this. I knew the “babaylan” term comes from Filipino culture. Didn’t know about the artist until now. Glad to come across this and your previous post on her work.
Great captures!
Glad you liked it! She’s one of my favorite local mural artists. 😁
Interesting. I had never heard that term before. Nice mural. Thanks for participating in Monday Murals.
Thanks, Sami!