A woman of Lagangilang was ill with dysentery; and a medium, in this instance, a man, was instructed to make Dawak. He began summoning the spirits by striking a dish with his head-axe. Soon he covered his face with his hands, began to sway to and fro, and to chant unintelligible words. Suddenly he stopped and announced that he was the spirit Labotan, and that it was his wish that blood and rice be placed on a head-axe, and be laid on the woman's abdomen. Next he ordered that they should feed some rice to the small pig which lay bound on the floor. “If he eats, this is the right ceremony, and you will get well,” he said. The pig refused the food, and, after expressing regret that he was unable to help, the spirit departed, to be succeeded by Binoñgon. He at once directed that the pig be killed, and the palpitating heart be put on the woman's stomach, and then be pressed against each person in the room, as a protection against illness. At first he refused to drink the liquor which was offered to him, for it was new and raw; but when he learned that no other could be obtained, he drank, and then addressed the patient. “You ate something forbidden. It is easy to cure you if the spirits have made you ill; but if some one is practising magic, perhaps you will die.” With this cheering message the spirit departed, and Ayaonwán appeared. He directed an old woman to feed rice and water to the patient, and then, without further advice, he said, “The other spirits do not like me very well, so I cannot go to their places. I went to their places, but they said many bad words to me. I offered them basi, but they did not wish to take; so I asked the way, and they showed me to the other spirits' place. I was poor, and had nothing to eat for noon or night. When I was in the road, I met many long snakes, and I had to push them apart so I could walk. And I met many eels, and asked of them the road; but the eels bit me, and took me into their stomachs, and carried me to Luluaganan to the well there; then I died. The people, who go to the well, say, ‘Why is Ayaonwán dead? We have a bad odor now;’ and the eels say, ‘Whose son is this?’ and they rubbed my dead spirit, and I received life again. Then I took blood and rice with me to the sky to the other eels to make Sayang. The eels gave me gold for my wrists; the monkeys gave me gold for my teeth and hair; the wild pig gave me bracelets. There is much more I can tell you, but now I must go.” The spirit departed, and a new one was summoned. This spirit took the spear in his hand, and after chanting about the illness of the woman, he drank basi out of a dish, sitting on the head-axe. Then singing again he Page 317dipped the spear in the oil, and allowed it to fall drop by drop on the stomach of the sick woman; later he touched the heads of all present with the spear, saying, “You will not be sick any more,” and departed.
Pīnáing or Pináding (Plate [XXX]).—At the gate or entrance of nearly every village will be found a number of peculiarly shaped, water-worn stones, either beneath a small shelter, or nestling among the roots of some great tree. These are the “guardian stones,” and in them lives Apdel (“the spirit who guards the town”). Many stories cluster about these pīnáing,[4] but all agree that, if proper offerings are made to them at the beginning of a great ceremony; when the men are about to undertake a raid; or, when sickness is in a nearby village, the resident spirit will protect the people under his care. Thus it happens that several times each year a group of people may be seen early in the morning, gathered at the stones. They anoint the head of each one with oil, put new bark bands on their “necks,” after which they kill a small pig. The medium mixes the blood of the slain animal with rice, and scatters it on the ground while she recites the story of their origin. Then she bids the spirits from near and far to come and eat, and to be kindly disposed.
In Bakaok and some other villages it is customary for the medium to summon several spirits at this time, and this is followed by the dancing of tadek. The people of Luluno always hold a ceremony at the pīnáing before the planting of the rice and after the harvest.
Following this ceremony in the village of San Juan, a miniature raft (taltalabong) was loaded with food and other presents, and was set afloat, to carry provisions to any spirit, who might have been prevented from enjoying the feast.
These stones are of particular interest, in that they present one of the few instances in which the Tinguian associates supernatural beings with natural objects.
Saloko (Plate [XXV]).—Besides the houses, in the fields, and at the gate of many villages, one often sees long bamboo poles with one end converted into a basket-like receptacle. Offerings of food and betel-nut are now found in them; but, according to some of the older men, these were, until recently, used to hold the heads of slain enemies, as is still the case among the neighboring Apayao.
The ritual of the Saloko ceremony seems, in part, to bear out this claim; yet the folk-tales and equally good informants assure us that the heads were placed on sharpened bamboo poles, which passed Page 318through the foramen magnum. It is probable that both methods of exhibiting skulls were employed in the Tinguian belt.
Nowadays the saloko found near to the villages are usually erected, during a short ceremony of the same name, as a cure for headache. A medium is summoned; and, after securing a chicken, she strokes it, as she chants:
“You spirits of the sagang,[5] who live above.
“You spirits of the sagang, who live on the level ground.
“You spirits of the sagang, who live in the east.
“You spirits of the sagang, who live in the west.
“You Lalaman[6] above.
“You Lalaman on the wooded hill.
“You Lalaman in the west.
“If you took the head of the sick man,
“You must now grant him health, as you please.”
The fowl is killed; and its blood, together with rice and some other gift, is placed in the saloko, and is planted near the house or gate. Oftentimes a string of feathers runs from the pole to the dwelling, or to the opposite side of the gate. The family cooks and eats the chicken, and the affected member is expected to recover at once. Should the trouble persist, a more elaborate ceremony, probably Dawak, will follow.