PART IV. RELIGION
CHAPTER XXII
GENERAL PRINCIPLES OF MANÓBO RELIGION AND NATURE AND CLASSIFICATION OF MANÓBO DEITIES
INTRODUCTORY
The matter of Manóbo religious belief is so difficult of investigation, and withal so important, that I feel a certain amount of timidity in taking up the subject. The natural suspiciousness of the Manóbo and his inclination not to answer questions truthfully until he has assured himself of his interrogator's motives in asking it are the principal sources of this difficulty. Then again his fear of offending the divinities, coupled with his absolute subjection in spiritual affairs to his priests, do not render the undertaking easier. And finally his primitive, untutored mind is not capable of setting forth in a satisfactory manner the intricacies, and not infrequently, the numerous variations and apparent contradictions that arise at every step in the investigation. However, my sojourn among, and intimate dealings with, both laymen and priests give me hope that the following is in its essentials a true interpretation of this primitive religion.
GENERAL PRINCIPLES OF RELIGION
SINCERITY OF BELIEF
The life of a Manóbo is as deep an expression of his religious beliefs as that of any man I know. Belief in the supernatural seems to be instinctive with him. He undertakes no action out of the ordinary routine without consulting the powers above, and when he has assured himself of their disapprobation, he refrains most sacredly from his intended project, even if it should be one so cherished as vengeance on an enemy. But if these higher powers manifest their approbation he carries out his project with full assurance of success.
To the Manóbo his deities and demons, spirits, giants, ghouls, and goblins are as real as his own existence, and his belief in them seems to him entirely rational and well founded, because for authority he has tradition and revelation--tradition handed down from generation to generation, revelation imparted to priests while manifesting all the indications of what he considers supernatural influence.