MISCELLANEOUS CASUAL OMENS
The following are a few of the accidental omens that portend ill:
(1) Sneezing when heard by one who is about to leave the house, prognosticates ill luck for him. He must return to the house and wait a few minutes in order to neutralize the bad influence.1
(2) It is an evil portent to see a snake on the trail. The traveler must return and wait till next day, or if that can not be done, recourse must be had to other omens, such as the egg omen, or the suspension omen, in order to determine beyond a doubt what fortune awaits him.
(3) Should a frog, a large lizard, or any other living creature that is a stranger to human habitations, enter a house, the portent is unlucky and means must be taken at once to discover, through divination, the exact significance of the occurrence. In such cases the egg omen is tried, and then the suspension omen, and others until no doubt is entertained as to the significance of the unusual occurrence.
(4) The settling of bees on the gable ornaments of a house, or even in the immediate vicinity of the house, is a sure intimation of the approach of a war party or even of certain death, unless the occurrence has taken place during the rice-planting season and in the new clearing. The fowl-waving ceremony and the blood lustration must be performed immediately and other omens taken at once to determine whether these ceremonies were sufficient to neutralize the threatened danger. I arrived at a house on the upper Karága, shortly after the occurrence of this portent, and took part in the countervailing ceremonies. According to all reports the belief in this omen and the neutralization of it by the above-mentioned ceremonies is common to Manóbos and Mañgguáñgans.
(5) The howling of a dog while asleep portends evil to the owner. This omen is considered very serious and the evil of which it is an intimation must be averted by prompt means. Moreover, the dog must be sold.
(6) The appearance of shooting stars, meteors, and comets prognosticates sickness.
(7) The breaking of a plate or of a pot before an intended trip is of such evil import that the trip is postponed until the following day.
(8) The discovery of blood on an object when no satisfactory explanation of its presence can be found is an omen of very evil import.
(9) The nibbling of clothes by mice is an evil sign, and, though the clothes need not be discarded, neutralizing means must be resorted to.
(10) The finding of a dead animal on the farm is of highly evil import and no means should be left untried toward offsetting the threatened ill.
(11) The crying of birds at night is considered ominous; the sound is thought to be the voice of evil spirits who with intent to do harm have metamorphosed themselves into the form of birds.
1Pan-dú-ut.
DIVINATION BY DREAMS
As already stated, dreams are believed to be pictures of the doings of the soul companions of the Manóbo and in some mystic way are thought to foreshadow his own fate. Should a person yell in his sleep it is a proof that his soul or spirit is in danger, and he must be instantly aroused but not rudely.2 The belief in dreams is strong and abiding and plays no small part in the Manóbo's religious life.
2If not awakened at once he may fall into a condition in which he is said to be pa-ga-tam-ái-un, a term that I have failed to learn the meaning of.
The interpretation of them, however, is so variable and so involved in apparent contradictions that I have obtained little definite and reliable information. In cases where Manóbo experts differ, and where other forms of divination have to be employed to determine whether a dream is to be considered ominous or otherwise, it is not suprising[sic] that a stranger should have received little enlightenment on the subject.