DIVINATION BY SUSPENSION AND OTHER METHODS
THE SUSPENSION OMEN
The ordinary manner of divining future events by this method is to suspend a bolo or a dagger that has been consecrated to a deity and from its movement, or from the absence of movement, obtain the desired information. In case of emergency such a common-place object as an old smoking pipe may be used.
The object is suspended, preferably in front of a sacrificial tray, or table, and then questioned just as if it were a thing of life. The answers are somewhat limited, being confined to "yes" and "no," and are expressed by the faint and silent movement or by the utter quietude of the object suspended. Movement denotes an affirmative response to the question, quietude or lack of movement a negative answer.
I was often struck with the childlike simplicity displayed by the taker of the oracle In the particular case wherein a pipe was employed, the party wished to discover whether it would be safe for him to proceed on a journey the following day. The pipe by a slight gyratory motion at once intimated its assent. He then besought it to make no mistake, and, after carefully stilling the movement of his oracle, repeated the question two different times, receiving each time an affirmative answer. The consultation was made within a heavy hempen mosquito net of abaká fiber, and, as the pipe had been suspended in a position where the heated air from the candle could affect it, it is not surprising that it displayed a tendency to be in constant movement.
THE OMEN FROM EGGS12
12Ti-maí-ya to a-tá-yug.
A fresh egg, or one that is known still to be in good condition, is broken in two and the contents gently emptied into a plate or bowl. If the white and the yoke remain separated, the omen is favorable but if they should mix, it is of ominous import. Should the egg prove to be rotten, the omen is thought to be evil in the extreme. I never in a single instance witnessed the failure of this omen. I was informed, however, that on occasions it has proved unfavorable.