The article proposes “Babaylan feminist multiplicity,” as a theoretical concept, towards the honoring of the multiplicity of identities, bodies, and agency. It reflects on the history and struggles of the Babaylan, pre-colonial priestesses, contemporary Filipino females, and a queer transgender woman, Jennifer Laude, which are paralleled with Biblical characters and narratives reinterpreted from a post-colonial, gender, and queer perspective. The work exposes how popular readings of such passages perpetuate gender violence and disempowerment while reflecting on the theological issues of incarnation, desire, and body. “Babaylan feminist multiplicity” is argued to allow space for queering and even the reimagining of the meaning of God’s love, Christ’s body, and human eros.
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