The Moon returned duly, and after depositing her burden in the
house turned to where the children slept but found only their
dried, inanimate forms. She broke out into a loud wail, and in
the wildness of her grief called upon her husband. But he gave no
answer. Finally softened by the loud long plaints, he returned
to his house. At the sight of him the wild cries of grief and
of despair and of rebuke redoubled themselves until finally the
husband, unable to soothe the wife, became angry and called her
his chattel. At first she feared his anger and quieted her sobs,
but, finally breaking out into one long wail, she seized the
burnt forms of her babes, and in the depth of her anguish and
her rage threw them to the ground in different directions. Then
the husband became angry again, and, seizing some taro leaves
that his wife had brought from the fields, cast them in her face
and went his way. Upon his return he could not find his wife,
and so it is to this day that the Sun follows the Moon in an
eternal cycle of night and day. And so it is, too, that stars
stand scattered in the sable firmament, for they, too, accompany
her in her hasty flight. Ever and anon a shooting star breaks
across her path, but that is only a messenger from her husband
to call her back. She, however, heeds it not, but speeds on her
way in never-ending flight with the marks of the taro leaves [18]
still upon her face and her starry train accompanying her to the
dawn and on to the sunset in one eternal flight.
On myths such as these the religions of the pagan tribes of Mindanao
are built up. These religions are by no means primitive, but are
accompanied by sacrifices, sometimes human, and the ceremonies are
performed by a well-developed priest class. [19]
Let us now turn to the highest type of Philippine beliefs:
THE WELL-DEVELOPED POLYTHEISTIC RELIGIONS OF NORTHERN LUZON
I shall mention chiefly the Igorot, Bontok, and Ifugao peoples, as
these three, in addition to holding the highest order of beliefs,
are the best developed in general material and social culture of
any of the Philippine mountain tribes. The Tinggián, Kalinga, and
other tribes in that region also have religions of high type, but
our information concerning them is more limited. [20]
The literature relating to the Igorot-Bontok-Ifugao group is very
considerable in extent, and I shall refer only to a few of the more
important papers dealing particularly with religion and mythology.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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