social beings, with individual quirks and personalities (both good and bad). The friendship of abyan depend on reciprocity. The shamans do not command them. People with abyan must regularly offer sacrifices to these spirits, usually consisting of food, alcoholic drinks, ngangà, and blood from a sacrificial animal (usually a chicken or a pig) in order to maintain good relations. This friendship of abyan, once earned, is enduring. They become, in essence, part of the family. The abyan of a deceased shaman will often "return" to a living relative who might choose to become a shaman as well. The abyan are essential in shamanistic rituals as they prevent the shaman's soul from getting lost in the spirit world. They also communicate entreaties on behalf of the shaman to more powerful spirits or deities, as well as fight evil spirits during healing or exorcism rituals. Sex and gender In most Philippine ethnic groups, shamans were predominantly female due to the role of the shaman (especially the medium) being an intrinsically feminine one. Among the minority of males, most belonged to a special class of shamans—the feminized men known as asog in the Visayas and bayok or bayog in Luzon. The asog assumed the voice, mannerisms, hairstyle, and dress of females. They were treated as women by the community and were considered as comparable to biological women aside from their incapability to give birth to children. Their social status and recognition also granted them access to professions related to the spiritual realm, such as shamans and religious functionaries. In Historia de las islas e indios de Bisayas (1668), the Spanish historian and missionary Francisco Ignacio Alcina records that the asog became shamans by virtue of being themselves. Unlike female shamans, they neither needed to be chosen nor did they undergo initiation rites. However, not all asog trained to become shamans. Castano (1895) states that the people of Bicol would hold a thanksgiving ritual called atang that was "presided" by an "effeminate" priest called an asog. His female counterpart, called a baliana, assisted him and led the women in singing what was called the soraki, in honor of Gugurang. Historical accounts suggest that during the precolonial period in the Philippines, female shamans predominated in the religious realm. The Bolinao Manuscript (1685), for example, records that during an Inquisitional investigation of the shamans in the town of Bolinao, Pangasinan between 1679 and 1685, animistic paraphernalia