Moreover, the fact that the priest incurs comparatively heavy expenses is another evidence of his sincerity, for, in order to keep his tutelary spirits supplied with the delicacies they desire, he must offer constant oblations of pig and fowl, since he believes that when these spirits are hungry they lose their good humor and are liable to permit some evil spirit to work malice on him or on some of his relatives. Of course his relatives and friends help to keep them supplied, but at the same time he probably undergoes more expense himself than any other individual.
Finally, as further proof of the absence of mercenary motives, it may be stated that the priest is not entitled to any share of the sacrificial victim except that which he eats in company with those who attend the sacrifice and the subsequent consumption of the victim.
THEIR INFLUENCE
The priest has no political influence as a rule. I am acquainted with none and have heard of very few priests, who have attained the chieftainship of a settlement, even among the conquistas, or Christianized Manóbos, who live within the pale of the established government. But in matters that pertain to the religious side of life their influence is paramount, for it is chiefly due to them that tribal customs and conditions are unflinchingly maintained. The following incident is an illustration of this influence:
During a visit which I made to the Lamiñga River, a western tributary of the Kasilaían River, I met Mandahanán, a warrior chief. Among other matters I referred to the ridiculously low price, 0.50 per sack, at which Manóbos were wont to sell rice to the Bisáya peddlers who at that time were swarming in the district. I suggested that they dispose of their rice at the current Bisáya rate of P2.50 per sack. He replied that he had been of that opinion for some time, but that the four priests of his following had decided that an increase of the customary value of rice would entail a mysterious lessening of the present crop and a partial or even total loss of that of next year, the reason assigned by them being that such an action would be displeasing to Hakiádan, the goddess of rice, and to Tagamáling, the protector of other crops. These deities, he assured me, were very capricious, and when they took umbrage at anything, they either caused the rice in the granaries to diminish mysteriously, or brought about a failure in the following year's crop.5
5The killing of Mr. Ickis, of the Bureau of Science, according to an account that I received, also demonstrates the influence exerted by the priests.
To the priests may be ascribed the rigid adherence to tribal practices and the opposition to modern innovations, even when the change confessedly would be beneficial to them.