In return for the protection accorded to his select ones the gods of war require frequent supplies of blood and other delicacies, the denial of which would render the favorite liable to constant plaguing by his protectors in their efforts to make him mindful of their needs. In another chapter we shall see the means whereby the bagáni keeps himself in the good graces of his inexorable deities.15
15For a full description of the rites peculiar to the warrior chief as priest the reader is referred to Chapter XXVI.
CHAPTER XXV
CEREMONIAL ACCESSORIES AND RELIGIOUS RITES
GENERAL REMARKS
The differences which I observed in the performance of ceremonies in different localities appear to be due to the vagaries and idiosyncrasies of the individual performers and not to any established system. But in the main these variations are not essential. For example, in certain localities the blood of the pig as it issues forth from the lance wound is sucked from the wound, while in others it is caught in convenient receptacles and then drank. In the following pages I will attempt to give a description of the accessories, the sacrifices, and their associated ceremonies which may be considered general for the Manóbos of the middle and upper Agúsan.