Among the pagan mountain peoples, with which this paper will chiefly deal, there are no written myths except those which have been recorded by Europeans in modern times. Some of the myths are sung or chanted only, while others are repeated in the form of stories. In nearly every case, the repeating of the myths forms an important part of the religious ceremonies of the people. Many different grades of culture are represented among these mountain peoples, and we find a correspondingly unequal development of their mythologies. All classes are represented: primitive, such as the beliefs of the Man͠gyans of Mindoro, the Tagbanwas of Palawan, and the Ilongots of northern Luzon; mediocre, as the beliefs of the pagan tribes of Mindanao; and highly developed, such as the elaborate polytheisms of the Ifugaos, Igorots, Kalingas, and the other peoples of the Mountain Province in Luzon.
Most of the myths and legends recorded here were collected by men well acquainted with the dialect of the people from whom the myth or legend was obtained; they are, therefore, of much greater value than if they had been secured through interpreters.
I shall next discuss a few myths from each of the classes just mentioned.
Primitive Beliefs
Our knowledge of the more primitive tribes of the Philippines is very limited and is chiefly confined to the material culture, together with a few of the more obvious social traits. Nothing like a complete study of any one of these tribes has ever been made. Of the Ilongots, most of our knowledge[2] is contained in the records of the early Spanish missionaries of the first part of the 18th century, at which time an extensive exploration of the Ilongot country was made.[3] There are two modern sources of information: a paper by Worcester,[4] which deals chiefly with the material culture, and the notes of Dr. William Jones, who was killed while studying the ethnology of this people. Dr. Jones’ notes are now in the possession of the Field Museum, Chicago, and have not yet been published. Relating to the Man͠gyans, there are three important papers by Worcester,[5] Gardner,[6] and Miller,[7] but these likewise deal chiefly with the material and general social culture, and give only fragmentary notes regarding the religious beliefs. Two papers, one by Worcester[8] and one by Venturello,[9] relate to the Tagbanwas. The religion of these people is interesting, although primitive. The general character of their beliefs may be seen by the following quotation from Worcester:[10]
I was especially interested in their views as to a future life. They scouted the idea of a home in the skies, urging that it would be inaccessible. Their notion was that when a Tagbanua died he entered a cave, from which a road led down into the bowels of the earth. After passing along this road for some time, he came suddenly into the presence of one Taliákood, a man of gigantic stature, who tended a fire which burned forever between two tree-trunks without consuming them. Taliákood inquired of the new arrival whether he had led a good or a bad life in the world above. The answer came, not from the individual himself, but from a louse on his body.
I asked what would happen should the man not chance to possess any of these interesting arthropoda, and was informed that such an occurrence was unprecedented! The louse was the witness, and would always be found, even on the body of a little dead child.
According to the answer of this singular arbiter, the fate of the deceased person was decided. If he was adjudged to have been a bad man, Taliákood pitched him into the fire, where he was promptly and completely burned up. If the verdict was in his favour, he was allowed to pass on, and soon found himself in a happy place, where the crops were always abundant and the hunting was good. A house awaited him. If he had died before his wife, he married again, selecting a partner from among the wives who had preceded their husbands; but if husband and wife chanced to die at the same time, they remarried in the world below. Every one was well off in this happy underground abode, but those who had been wealthy on earth were less comfortable than those who had been poor. In the course of time sickness and death again overtook one. In fact, one died seven times in all, going ever deeper into the earth and improving his surroundings with each successive inward migration, without running a second risk of getting into Taliákood’s fire.
I could not persuade the Tagbanuas to advance any theories as to the nature or origin of the sun, moon, and stars. Clouds they called “the breath of the wind.”