THE THEORY OF DEATH
Except in the case of a warrior chief, or a priest, or one who has met his end at the hands of an enemy, death is ordinarily attributed to the maleficence of the inimical spirits. The latter are believed to be relentless, insatiable demons "seeking whom they may devour." In some mysterious manner they are said to waylay a poor defenseless soul, and ruthlessly hold it in captivity till such time as it suits their whims, when they actually devour it. Notwithstanding the numerous explanations given to me throughout the Agúsan Valley, I have never been able to satisfy myself as to the various circumstances of time, place, and manner in which the capture and consumption of the soul takes place. Suffice it to say, however, that in its essential points this is the universal belief: One of the soul companions is seized, and the owner falls sick. Every available means is tried to effect a cure. When everything fails the priest declares that the ailment is due, not to any natural infirmity, but to the capture or wounding of one of the souls of the patient by inimical spirits. Sacrifices are ordered, during which usually a large number (from four to eight) of priests of both sexes invoke their various divinities and beseech them to rescue the spirit companion of the patient. During these ceremonies the priests describe minutely how the capture was effected. In lengthy chants they set forth the efforts of their deities to find the missing soul; they describe how they travel to the ends of the sky, seeking the cruel captors and vowing vengence[sic] upon their heads. They are said to make use of an espiho25 to discover the whereabouts of the enemy and of the captive. The recapture of the soul and frequently the mighty encounter between the good and bad spirits is chanted out at length by the priests. I was told that in some cases the rescued soul is taken to the home of the deities and there consoled with feast and dance and song before its return to its earthly companion.
25This es-pi-ho (from Spanish espejo, a looking-glass) is some kind of a wonderful telescope by which objects can be described at the farther extremities of the firmament. No lurking place is so remote or so secret as to be hidden from its marvelous power.
FEAR OF THE DEAD AND OF THE DEATH SPIRITS
The utter fear, not only of the malignant spirits but also of the person of the dead and of his soul, is one of the most peculiar features of Manóbo culture. In the death chamber and hovering around the resting place of the dead there is a certain noxious influence26 by the infection of which one is liable to become an object of attraction to the dark-visaged, hungry, soul ghouls that, lured by the odor, stalk to the death house and await an opportunity to secure a victim.
26Bá-ho.
Then, again, the envious spirits of the dead are feared, for they, in their eagerness to participate in the farewell and final death feast, avail themselves of every occasion to injure the living in some mysterious but material way. Sickness, especially one in which the only symptoms are emaciation and debility, are attributed to their noxious influence. Failure of the crops, bodily accidents, want of success in important undertakings--these and a thousand and one other things--are attributed to a lack of proper attention to the envious dead. "You have been affected by an umagad,"27 is a common saying to express the peculiar effect that the departed may cause on the living. To avert this unkindly feeling and thereby prevent the evil consequences of it, it is not an infrequent thing to see propitiatory offerings made to the departed in the shape of betel nut, chickens, and other things. In one instance the father of a child that had died, presumptively from eating new rice, imposed upon himself an abstinence from that article for a period of several months.
27In-um-a-gád ka.
As another evidence of fear of the departed souls may be cited the unwillingness of the Manóbo to use anything that belonged to the dead, such as clothes. An exception, however, is made in the case of weapons and other heirlooms,28 all of which have been consecrated and are supposed not to retain the odor or evil influence of death.