The Tinguian: Social, Religious, and Economic Life of a Philippine TribeCole, Fay-Cooper
Religion
The Tinguian: Social, Religious, and Economic Life of a Philippine Tribe
Cole, Fay-Cooper
Tinguian (Philippine people)
Two female spirits, Dalimayawan and Ginlawan, came at the same
time and danced together, while they informed the people of their
beauty and their expertness in dancing. Suddenly they stopped,
and said that Andayau, the mother of Lakgangan, was near by; then
they instructed the host that he should wrap a gourd in a cloth and
tell Andayau that it was her son's head, and that he had been killed,
because he had stolen carabao. Scarcely had the two visitors departed,
when the mother appeared, and being informed of her son's death, she
began to wail, "He is lost. No one works the fields, where we planted
calabasa. Lakgangan is lost, he who has been killed. Why did you go
to steal carabao? We have put Lakgangan in a hammock; we take him to
Tomakdang. The _basi_ put out for Lakgangan is good. He is lost whom
they went to kill. Lakgangan is lost. We take him to Tomakdang."
The song was interrupted by a head-hunting spirit, who demanded the
heads of two visiting girls from Patok, but she finally went away
satisfied with a piece of cloth which they gave her. Blood and oil
were sprinkled liberally over the ground and the gathering broken up
for the morning.
All the forenoon, a small group of men and women, had been constructing
a small covered bamboo raft, and had placed in it a sack of rice,
which had been contributed by all the people. [157]
By four o'clock a large number of people had gathered in the yard near
the house, and soon the spirit mats were spread on an old bedstead,
and the mediums started again to summon the superior beings. The first
two to appear were Esteban from Cagayan and Maria from Spain. They wore
gay handkerchiefs about their shoulders, and when they danced, gave
an imitation of the Spanish dances now seen among the Christianized
natives of the coast. It was quite evident that these foreign spirits
were not popular with the people, and they were distinctly relieved
when Mananáko replaced them. This spirit has the reputation of being
a thief, and the guests had great sport preventing him from stealing
the gifts intended for other spirits.
In the midst of this revelry, the other medium was suddenly possessed
by Kadaklan--the supreme being. The laughter and jesting ceased, and
breathlessly the people listened, while the most powerful being said,
"I am Kadaklan. Here in this town where I talk, you must do the things
you ought to do. I hear what you say you desire, and I see what you are
able to do. Something ill will befall you unless you quickly celebrate
_Sagobay_ (cf. p. 324), when there are no strangers or Christians in
your town. Where is the _basi_ which should have been in the place
where I first came?" [158] Without awaiting an answer he vanished,
and his wife Agemem took his place and repeated his remarks with
little variation.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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