[158] It appears that the natives called anito a tutelary genius, either of the family, or extraneous to it. Now, with their new religious ideas, the Tagáls apply the term anito to any superstition, false worship, idol, etc.—Rizal.
[159] Others besides Morga mention oratories in caves, where the idols were kept, and where aromatics were burned in small brasiers. Chirino found small temples in Taitay adjoining the principal houses. [See Vol. XII. of this series, chapter xxi.] It appears that temples were never dedicated to bathala maykapal, nor was sacrifice ever offered him. The temples dedicated to the anito were called ulañgo.—Rizal.
[160] San Agustín says that hell was called solad, and paradise, kalualhatian (a name still in existence), and in poetical language, ulugan. The blest abodes of the inhabitants of Panay were in the mountain of Madias.—Rizal.
[161] Cf. the "wake" of the Celtic and Gaelic peasants. Cf. also the North-American Indian burial ceremonies, and reverence paid to the dead, in Jesuit Relations, i, p. 215; ii, pp. 21, 149; viii, p. 21; x, pp. 169, 247, 283-285, 293; xiii, 259; xxi, 199; xxiii, 31; lxv, 141; etc.
In the Filipino burials, there were mourners who composed panegyrics in honor of the dead, like those made today. "To the sound of this sad music the corpse was washed, and perfumed with storax, gum-resin, or other perfumes made from tree gums, which are found in all these woods. Then the corpse was shrouded, being wrapped in more or less cloth according to the rank of the deceased. The bodies of the more wealthy were anointed and embalmed in the manner of the Hebrews, with aromatic liquors, which preserved them from decay…. The burial-place of the poor was in pits dug in the ground under their own houses. After the bodies of the rich and powerful were kept and bewailed for three days, they were placed in a chest or coffin of incorruptible wood, adorned with rich jewels, and with small sheets of gold in the mouth and over the eyes. The coffin was all in one piece, and the lid was so adjusted that no air could enter. Because of these precautions the bodies have been found after many years, still uncorrupted. These coffins were deposited in one of three places, according to the inclination and arrangement of the deceased, either on top of the house among the treasures … or underneath it, but raised from the ground; or in the ground itself, in an open hole surrounded with a small railing … nearby they were wont to place another box filled with the best clothes of the deceased; and at meal-time they set various articles of food there in dishes. Beside the men were laid their weapons, and beside the women their looms or other implements of work" (Colin).—Rizal.
[162] Kasis. This is another instance of the misapplication of this Arabic term, which means exclusively a Christian priest.—Stanley.
[163] This custom has not fallen into disuse among the Filipinos, even among the Catholics.—Rizal.
Lieutenant Charles Norton Barney, of the medical department of the U. S. Army, has an article in Journal of the Association of Military Surgeons for September, 1903, on "Circumcision and Flagellation among the Filipinos." In regard to circumcision he states that it "is a very ancient custom among the Philippine indios, and so generalized that at least seventy or eighty per cent of males in the Tagál country have undergone the operation." Those uncircumcised at the age of puberty are taunted by their fellows, and such are called "suput," a word formerly meaning "constricted" or "tight," but now being extended to mean "one who cannot easily gain entrance in sexual intercourse." The "operation has no religious significance," nor is it done for cleanliness, "but from custom and disinclination to be ridiculed," probably [as Morga proves] having been learned from the Moros. The friars were unable to check the custom. Among the Tagáls the operation is called "tuli," and the method of circumcising is described at length. The author derives his information from a mestizo and a full-blooded native. The custom is mentioned by Foreman.
[164] Appellation given to their ecclesiastical sages by Mahometans.
[165] See the king's decree granting this coat-of-arms, in Vol. IX, pp. 211-215, with two representations of the coat-of-arms.