<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN">
<HTML><HEAD>
<META http-equiv=Content-Type content="text/html; charset=iso-8859-1">
<META content="MSHTML 5.50.4616.200" name=GENERATOR>
<STYLE></STYLE>
</HEAD>
<BODY bgColor=#ffffff>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Does anyone know the word BELIAN 'spirit medium' -
and its etymology/original literal meaning?</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>According to Dr. Penelope Flores (San Francisco
State University), this is what the Tagalog word BABAYLAN 'priestess' came
from. </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>In 1984, I was informed that the Fijian WAQA 'boat'
when reduplicated, WAGAWAGA means 'spirit medium'. This makes me wonder if
BELIAN (> *BAILAN) also had a literal meaning that, upon partial
reduplication, served as a metaphor for 'medium of transport for the
spirit'.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Another question: was the role of spirit
medium restricted to women?</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Thank you in advance for any information on
these matters. Paz</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV></BODY></HTML>