The Manóbos of Mindanáo / Memoirs of the National Academy of Sciences, Volume XXIII, First Memoir

by John M. Garvan

¹²Paí-as.

¹³Ti-maí-a to man-ó-on.

¹⁴Túd-um.

THE BAGÁNI OR PRIESTS OF WAR AND BLOOD

The bagáni or warrior priests are under the protection of preternatural beings called tagbúsau, whose bloodthirsty cravings they must satisfy.

This peculiar priesthood is not hereditary, but is a pure gift from warlike spirits, who select certain mortals for favorites, constantly guard them against the attacks of their enemies, teach them the use of various secret herbs whereby to render themselves invisible and invulnerable, bestow upon them an additional number of soul companions that in some indefinable way protect them against the ire of the resentful slain, and in general afford them an immunity from all dangers, material and spiritual.

It is believed that when the warrior priest dies his soul companions return to the war spirits from whom they proceeded, and with whom they take up their eternal abode upon the far-off mountain heights. Upon their return to these heights it is said that they are pursued by a monstrous crowd of inexorable demons and vexed spirits of those that have fallen victims to their arm, but that, owing to the power and vigilance of the mighty gods of war, they reach their last home unscathed.

Like the priest, a war chief is recognized as a priest when he falls into that state of paroxysm that is considered to be of preternatural origin. This condition is usually the result of a wild fight, in which, after slashing down one or more of the enemy, he eats the heart and liver of one of the slain and dances around in ungovernable fury. I have been frequently informed that the companions of a man thus possessed cautiously withdraw while he is under this influence, as he might do something rash. I witnessed the actions of several bagáni during ceremonial performances to the tagbúsau, and I felt no little fear as to what might be the outcome of the warrior chiefs fury.

What has been said of the sincerity of the ordinary priest and of his disinterestedness and freedom from mercenary motives applies equally to the war chief in his position as war priest.