THEIR GENERAL CHARACTER
The bailán1 is a man or woman who has become an object of special predilection to one or more of those supernatural friendly beings known among the Manóbos as diuáta. This will explain why the word diuatahán is frequently used, especially by the mountain people, instead of bailán. I was frequently told by priests that this special predilection of the deities for them is due to the fact that they happened to be born at the same time as their divine protectors. This belief, however, is not general.
1Bai-lán is probably a transformation of the Malay word be-li-an, a medicine man. (Mandáya, Bagóbo, and Subánun, ba-li-án.)
As a result of the favor in which the supernatural beings hold him, the priest becomes the favorite and familiar of spirits with whom he can commune and from whom he can ask favors and protection both for himself and for his friends. Hence he is regarded by his fellow tribesmen in the light of a mediator through whom they transact all their business with the other world. In the hour of danger the bailán is consulted, and after a brief communion with his spirit Mends he explains the measures to be adopted, in accordance with the injunctions of his tutelary deities. Should a baléte tree have to be removed from the newly selected forest patch, who else could coax its spirit dwellers not to molest the tiller of the soil, if not the bailán? Should a tribesman have a monstrous dream and no one of all the dream experts succeed in giving a satisfactory interpretation, the bailán is called in to consult the powers above and ascertains that the dream forebodes, perhaps, an impending sickness and that an offering of a white fowl must be made to Manáug, the protector of the sick. And should this offering prove unavailing, he has recourse to his supernal friends again and discovers that a greater oblation must be made to save the patient. And if there is a very unfavorable conjunction to omens, who else but the bailán could learn through his divine friends the significance thereof and whether the home must be abandoned or the project relinquished?
At every turn of life, whether the deities have to be invoked, conciliated, or appeased, the Manóbo calls upon the priest to intercede for himself, for his relatives, and for his friends.
The office of priest may be said to be hereditary. I found that with few exceptions it had remained within the immediate circle of the bailán's relatives. Toward the evening of life the aged priest selects his successor, recommending his choice to the diuáta. In one instance that I know of the mother, a bailán, instructed her daughter in the varieties of herbs which she had found to be acceptable to her familiars, and I was told that such is the usual procedure when the priest himself has a personal concern in the succession.
But no matter how proficient the bailán-elect may be in the sacred rites and legendary songs of the order, he is not recognized by his fellow tribesmen until he falls into the condition of what is known as dundan, a state of mental and physical exaltation which is considered to be an unmistakable proof of the presence and operation of some supernal power within him. This exaltation manifests itself by a violent trembling accompanied by loud belching, copious sweating, foaming at the mouth, protruding of the eyeballs, and in some cases that I have seen, apparent temporary loss of sight and unconsciousness. These symptoms are considered to be an infallible sign of divine influence, and the novice is accordingly recognized as a full-fledged priest ready to begin his ministrations under the protection of his spiritual friends. I know of one case on the lower Lamlíñga River, a tributary of the Kasilaían, where a certain individual2 became a bailán without previous premonition and without any aspirations on his part. He was a person of little guile and one who had never had any previous training in the practices of his order.
2Báya (or Bório) is the young man referred to.
When he receives a familiar deity the new priest becomes endowed with five more spirits or soul companions, for his greater protection and for the prolongation of his life. It is evident that his duties as mediator create a deadly hate on the part of the evil spirits toward him; hence the need of greater protection, such as is said to be afforded by the increase in number of spirit companions. It is generally believed that, due also to this special protection, the priests are more long-lived than ordinary men. I was informed by some that with the increase of each familiar there was an addition of five more souls or spirit companions, but I did not find this to be the common belief.