In the context of “Sincerely Yours, The Philippines”, Eisa Jocson, together with the other featured artists, is particularly interested in the multi-layered forms of existence and reception of the Babaylan: as a projection surface for emancipatory movements and practitioners of a holistic conception of care work and care that encompasses spiritual, emotional and physical aspects and thus opposes Western conventional medicine, which reduces the processes of healing to a purely physical process. Led by Maestra Nenita “Nenet” Ciriaco Ocson, Ulysses Derojo and Janine Go Dimaranan and also co-articulated by Sarah Salazar, Christopher Aronson and Eisa Jocson, with moderation by Jaya Jacobo, these sessions introduce the Babaylan-Vaigaland spiritual healing system, its ritual processes as well as concepts of work and labour grounded in livelihood as source of well-being.”
26.09.2025, 2 pm (CET), Zoom-Session (online)
Nenita Ciriaco Ocson, Ulysses Derojo, Janine Dimaranan, Eisa Jocson
The spiritual knowledge of Babaylan-Vaigaland – Session I
This session introduces the ancient system of the Babaylan through the lineage of Maestra Nenita Ciriaco Ocson, and examines its vitality and potency in the contemporary world. Stories of callings, often marked by illness, and the paths toward initiation will be shared as formative moments in the healer’s journey. Framing these within the continuum of Philippine spiritual traditions, the discussion illuminates on the prevailing sistemang tagpitagpi (fragmented systems) in folk healing practices, while also reflecting on syncretic and foreign modalities shaped by colonial encounter. The panel introduces the consolidated and fortified Babaylan spiritual healing system through the power and guidance of Vaigaland, as a living tradition of resilience, reconnection, and renewal.
- Duration: 90 Minutes
- Language: English
- Zoom-Session, resgistration via: nika.warias@mousonturm.de
27.09.2025, approx. 12.30 pm, Live @Mousonturm
Nenita Ciriaco Ocson, Ulysses Derojo, Janine Dimaranan, Eisa Jocson, Jaya Jacobo
The spiritual knowledge of Babaylan-Vaigaland – Session II
As an introduction to the Babaylan-Vaigaland spiritual healing system, this panel approaches the human life cycle from birth to death as foundational in understanding the significance of Maestra Nenita Ciriaco Ocson’s 7 Rituals. The discussion foregrounds the connection of spirit to the senses as an embodied dimension of personhood, while also tracing the rites of passage that mark each stage of becoming. At the core of the session is an emphasis on the relevance and urgency of ancestral connection, underscoring how communion with forebears sustains both individual well-being and collective continuity.
- Duration: 90 Minutes
- Language: English
- Venue: Mousonturm Studio 2
28.09.2025, 2 pm, Zoom-Session (online)
Nenita Ciriaco Ocson, Ulysses Derojo, Sarah Salazar, Christopher Aronson, Eisa Jocson
The spiritual knowledge of Babaylan-Vaigaland – Session III
“The source of your life becomes the distraction of your life.” In this session, translator Ulysses Derojo takes charge in discussing how work, understood from the ancient lifeways to its modern forms as labor and employment, requires integral spiritual guidance and grounding from the Babaylan. In Filipino, the term hanapbuhay or kabuhayan literally means “to seek life” or “the source of life,” relating to how livelihood is inseparable from strength and survival. The discussion also turns to the question of partnerships, where in the Babaylan tradition the word for marriage is bigkis (to bind) rather than kasal (from the Spanish casar, “to marry”). This distinction highlights how binding one person to another is conceived not primarily in legal or gendered terms but as an essentially spiritual relation. The session closes by reflecting on how the destructive forces of damot (greed) and inggit (envy) manifest in both partnerships and livelihood, and how these may be resolved through rituals and the practice of food offering as a gesture of reciprocity, rebalancing and gratitude
- Duration: 90 Minutes
- Language: English
- Zoom-Session, resgistration via: nika.warias@mousonturm.de
Accessibility
Accessibility of Location
Sponsors and Supporters
„Sincerely Yours, the Philippines“ ist ein Projekt des Künstler*innenhaus Mousonturm in Kooperation mit dem Goethe-Institut Philippinen. Gefördert durch die Kulturstiftung des Bundes, gefördert von dem Beauftragten für Kultur und Medien. Gefördert durch den Kulturfonds Frankfurt RheinMain, das Goethe-Institut und „Philippinen - Ehrengast der Frankfurter Buchmesse 2025“.
Biographies
NENITA CIRIACO JOCSON
Maestra Babaylan
Born on April 6, 1969, in San Dionisio, Iloilo, Nenita “Nenet” Ciriaco Jocson grew up in a family of fisherfolk along the northeastern coast of Panay. A timid child among seven siblings, her life shifted dramatically in 1984, at the age of fifteen, when sudden changes in her behavior appeared. While these could have been dismissed as signs of mental illness, her mother recognized them as spiritual in nature. In seeking guidance, she discovered that seven elders from each side of their family were practicing Babaylans. What first seemed a curse revealed itself as a calling, and Nenet was chosen to inherit the divine role. Her mother sold their fishing boats to provide for the costly materials of initiation. In 1987, at twenty-one, during the sadsad or sayaw sa baga, a ritual where elders danced barefoot over burning coals, Nenet’s spirit was restored to balance. Emerging strong, she embraced her destiny as a Babaylan, guided by her ancestors and fortified by the spiritual power of Vaigaland. She has been a practicing Babaylan for 41 years.
ULYSSES DEROJO
Babaylan Translator
A full-blooded Ilonggo, Ulysses Derojo was born and raised in Jaro, Iloilo City, on February 23, 1977. From 1998 to 2004, he worked as a fitness instructor on Boracay Island before he embraced the path of a practicing Babaylan. He struggled with acute vertigo and migraines, which he later understood as signs of a spiritual sickness called a curse from when the sun sets. Over time, he cultivated a social role as translator within the Babaylan-Vaigaland system, beginning with its functional and practical aspects, eventually deepening into the realm of spiritual translation for both local and international audiences and patients. Uly speaks Hiligaynon, Aklanon, Tagalog and English. He has been an initiated Babaylan and life partner of Nenet for 21 years.
JANINE DIMARANAN & BANAHAW GARDUCE
Babaylan Students
Janine Dimaranan (Dayaw) was born in 1992 in San Pablo, Laguna. Raised in a Chinese-Tagalog household, she studied Theater Arts in high school and later earned a B.A. in Language and Literature. After experiencing severe binat following the birth of her first child, she was called to the path of healing and wholeness. Through the Babaylan-Vaigaland system, she was able to trace the roots of her physical and spiritual illness and uncovered her ancestral ties to Aklan and Antique. She was initiated as a Babaylan in 2021, at the height of the pandemic, and now specializes in hilot and herbal treatments for children. Alongside her healing practice, she also works as an independent writer and researcher in the arts. Banahaw Garduce, born in 1993, descends from a lineage of Waray and Zamboangueño, though he was raised among the Tagalogs in Metro Manila. He and Dayaw live at the foot of Mt. Banahaw, his namesake, where they raise their children in close connection with nature. He serves as an auxiliary to her healing practice, supporting family members in their journeys toward restoration and balance.
SARAH SALAZAR & CHRISTOPHER ARONSON
Babaylan Students
Sarah Salazar and Christopher Aronson are artists, homesteading parents, and hilot and herbal healers. Sarah was born on March 26, 1991 in Manila, and grew up in Laguna. She graduated with a BA in Art Studies at the University of the Philippines, Diliman. Christopher was born on October 30, 1988 in California, USA before moving to Manila in 1993. He graduated from Ateneo de Manila University with a BFA in Theatre Arts. They became full-time independent performance-makers after college. Sarah and Christopher shifted paths when they became pregnant during the pandemic in 2021. After an empowering home birth, their newborn became ill with a condition which doctors could only address via surgery. Disillusioned by hospitals, especially under pandemic restrictions, they were introduced to Babaylan Nenita Ocson from Iloilo. The immediate healing of their son through sacred rituals from the Babaylan-Vaigaland system also entailed the healing of Sarah and Christopher’s own physical and spiritual illnesses. Sarah and Christopher are now, themselves, initiated Babaylans, and since 2022, have been healing others under the guidance of Maestra Nenita Ocson. Sarah specializes in womb-centered care, supporting mothers throughout their birth journey, and women of all ages in tending to their vitality. Christopher focuses on herbalism, harnessing the healing power of plants to support people’s overall wellness. They now live in Dolores, Quezon on Mt. Banahaw, where they are developing a creative retreat and healing space.