Several rites, such as that of the conferring of a Magbabáya, I was unable to witness, because up to the time of my departure from the upper Agúsan they were not usually performed there, but nearly always over on the Libagánon, Tágum, or Mawab Rivers. The investment of priests and emissaries with Magbabáya spirits did take place a few times in Compostela, but I was not permitted to attend, the assigned reason being that my presence might be displeasing to these deities. The ordinary religious performance, however, in honor of Meskínan I witnessed repeatedly, and will now describe a typical one.
The ceremony was performed at a settlement on the central Kati'il. The high priest and his assistants were my guide and carriers who had taken advantage of my trip to earn a little and at the same time to spread the new religion.
Upon our approach to the settlement one of the assistant priests went ahead to announce our arrival. The first building we reached was the religious house. Before ascending the notched pole that served for a stairs the high priest gave a grand wave of his arm and asked in a loud voice: "Art thou here already, perchance?" In answer I heard a distinct whistle proceeding, as I thought, from the building. The priest went on: "When dids't thou get here?" This was answered by several low whistling sounds which the priest interpreted to mean "early this morning." The dialogue was continued in a similar strain for several minutes, the responses always being in the form of low prolonged whistling or low sharp chirps, and always proceeding, as it seemed to me, from the building, though to others the sound appeared to come from the opposite direction or from the sky, so they said. I questioned the priest and he pointed his hand in a diametrically opposite direction to that from which the sounds appeared to me to come.
When we went up into the building we found nearly the whole settlement assembled. The high priest gave the latest report from Libagánon, which was to the effect that Meskínan had determined not to overthrow the world for three months more in order to give the settlements that had not yet joined the movement an opportunity to do so and thereby to save themselves. The high priest went on to tell the listeners how the Magbabáya of Libagánon had departed to the underworld and had taken up his abode near the pillars of the earth; how he had been engaged in weaving a piece of cloth and had only 1 yard to finish, upon the completion of which the world would be destroyed. After having convinced the audience of the necessity of making known these particulars to neighboring clans and of complying with the orders of Meskínan, he announced the request of Meskínan that a certain number of lances be donated from each settlement. When he had concluded his narration, which was substantiated by his assistants, it was proposed by the assembled people that he perform the túñgud services, whereupon he and his assistants danced and chanted for about an hour, the tenor of the chants being, according to the interpretation given to me, the latest doings and orders of the great Magbabáya of Libagánon.
The following morning it was decided to hold a sacrifice in honor of Meskínan, so the chief of the settlement with great difficulty procured a pig. All being ready and the pig being in position on the sacrificial table with the usual fronds, the ceremony began. Even while vesting himself in a woman's skirt, according to the customs adopted in the performance of the religious dance, the high priest manifested signs of the influence of his Magbabáya, for he trembled noticeably. One feature of the dance was different from those of the ordinary religious dance in that the priest carried a small shield in one hand and a dagger in the other, though he did not make any pretense of performing the dagger dance as described in a previous part of this monograph.14 The use of this shield was enjoined as part of the new ritual and was intended to remind the congregation that faithful male followers would be saved by means of their shields when the world toppled over.
14It may be noted here that the Mandáya dance is neither so graceful nor so impressive as the Manóbo dance. The feet move faster and there are fewer flexings of the body and no mimetic movements, so characteristic of the Manóbo dance. Neither is a woman's skirt worn nor are handkerchiefs carried in the hands.
The high priest danced only about two minutes, because his spirit came upon him, and he fell down upon one knee, unable to rise. I never saw a more gruesome spectacle. A bright unnatural light gleamed in his eyes, his countenance became livid, the eyeballs protruded, a copious perspiration streamed from his body, the muscles of his face twitched, and his whole frame shook more and more vehemently as the intensity of the paroxysm increased. Fearing an utter collapse, I assisted him to his feet and left him resting against the wall.
As soon as the high priest fell under the spell of his spirit, one of the assistants broke forth into a loud chant, which ever and anon he interrupted with a loud coughlike sound followed by the words, "túñgud, túñgud, tagáan." This chant, as well as the subsequent ones, was taken up by several of the assistants successively and, according to the interpretation furnished me, dealt with the wondrous doings of Meskínan in the underworld and described in detail the end of the world as announced by Meskínan. In succession each of the priests, including the local ones, danced and fell under the influence of their deities, but not with such vehemence as the high priest whose spirit was declared to be "very big."
An important point to be noted in the dance was the removal by the dancer at some part of the dance of his sacred headdress,15 the emblem of his new priesthood. This was a kerchief which was supposed to have been given personally by Meskínan to everyone upon whom he had conferred a Magbabáya. Removing his handkerchief the priest waved it over the heads of the congregation and finally over or near any object that he desired. This was an intimation that such object became consecrated and thereby the property of the great Magbabáya of Libagánon. A refusal to surrender it was tantamount to perdition when the end should come. Such was the doctrine universally preached and as uniformly believed and practiced.
15Mo-sá.