The ceremony is performed only before an expedition, with a view to securing the good will of souls of the enemies who may be slain in the intended fray. As was set forth before, souls, or departed spirits, seem to have a grievance against the living, and are wont to plague them in diverse ways. Now, in order to avoid such ill will as might follow the separation of these spirits from their corporal companions, a ceremony is performed by the warrior priest in the following way: He orders an offering of rice to be set out upon the river bank, or on the trail over which the spirits are expected to wing their way, and hastens to invite them to a conference. Then a number of pieces of betel leaf are set out on a shield, so that each soul or spirit has his portion of betel leaf, his little slice of betel nut, and his bit of lime. Then the warrior chief, or some one else at his bidding, addresses the souls without making it known that an attack6 is soon to be made. It is then explained to these spirits that they are invited to partake of the offering in good will and peace, that the warrior priest's party has a grievance against their enemies, and that some day they may be obliged to redress the matter in a bloody way. The souls next are urged to forego their displeasure, should it become necessary at any time to redress the wrongs by force and possibly slay the authors of them. The invisible souls are then supposed to partake of the offering and to depart in peace as if they understood the whole situation.
6I was informed that a sometime friend or distant relative of the enemy is generally selected for this task.
There is an incident, which is said to occur during the above ceremony, that deserves special mention, as it illustrates very pointedly the spirit in which the ceremony is performed. All arms are said to be placed upon the ground and carefully covered with the shields in such a way that the spirit guests will be unable to detect their presence on their arrival. The betel-nut portions are placed upon one of the upper shields.
VARIOUS FORMS OF DIVINATION
The betel-nut cast.7--This form of divination is never omitted, according to all accounts. In the instance which I witnessed the procedure was as follows: The leader of the expedition invoked the tagbúsau, informing him that each of the quids represented one of the enemy, and beseeching him (or them) to indicate by the position of these symbols after the ceremony the fate of the enemy. The warrior priest or his representative, lifting up the shield with one hand under it, and one hand above it, turned it upside down with a rapid movement, thus precipitating the quids on the floor. Now those that fell vertically under the shield represented the number of the enemy who would fall into their clutches, while those that lay without the pale of the shield represented the individuals who would escape, and to whose slaughter accordingly they must devote every energy. There are numerous little details in this, as in most other forms of divination, each one of which has an interpretation, subject, it would appear, to the vagaries of each individual augur.
7Ba-lís-kad to ma-má-on.
Divination from the báguñg vine.--Before leaving the point from which it has been decided to begin the march two pieces of green rattan, the length of the middle finger and about 1 centimeter thick, are laid upon the ground parallel to each other and about 2.5 centimeters apart. One of these stands for the enemy and the other for the attacking party. A firebrand is then held over the two until the heat causes one of them to warp and twist to one side or the other. Thus if the strip that represents the enemy were to begin to twist over toward that of the aggressors, while that of the latter twists away from the former, the omen would be bad, for it would denote the flight of the assaulting party. Should, however, the rattan of the aggressors twist over and fall on the other, the omen would be auspicious and the march might be entered upon.