academy of sciences] prt ESTS> THEIR PREROGATIVES AND FUNCTIONS 203 



No. 1] 



These rites are the following: 



(1) The betel-nut offering. 6 



(2) The burning of incense. 7 



(3) Ceremonial omen taking. 8 



(4) Prophylactic fowl waving.' 



(5) The death feast. 10 



(6) The sacrifice of a fowl or of a pig " to his own tutelaries in the event of sickness or in the hour of 

 impending danger. 



(7) The offering of a fowl or of a pig to Taphagan, the goddess of grain during the season of rice culture. 



(8) The harvest ceremonies in honor of Haki&dan for the purpose of securing an abundant crop and of 

 protecting the rice from sundry insidious enemies and dangers. 



(9) The birth ceremony in honor of Mandait for the protection of the recently born babe. 



(10) Conciliatory offerings to the demons during epidemics, as also in cases where the power of the evil 

 spirits is thought to predominate over that of the kindly deities. Madness and inordinate sexual passion, as 

 also the continuance of an epidemic after incessant efforts have failed to secure the aid of the friendly spirits 

 are illustrations of the power of the evil spirits. 



(11) Lustration 12 either by anointing with blood or by aspersion with water. 



(12) The betel-nut omen. 13 



(13) The invocation of the diu&la with the sacred chant. 14 



THE BAGANI OR PRIESTS OF WAR AND BLOOD 



The bagdni or warrior priests are under the protection of preternatural beings called tagbusau, 

 whose bloodthirsty cravings they must satisfy. 



This peculiar priesthood is not hereditary, but is a pure gift from warlike spirits, who select 

 certain mortals for favorites, constantly guard them against the attacks of their enemies, teach 

 them the use of various secret herbs whereby to render themselves invisible and invulnerable, 

 bestow upon them an additional number of soul companions that in some indefinable way protect 

 them against the ire of the resentful slain, and in general afford them an immunity from all 

 dangers, material and spiritual. 



It is believed that when the warrior priest dies his soul companions return to the war spirits 

 from whom they proceeded, and with whom they take up their eternal abode upon the far-off 

 mountain heights. Upon their return to these heights it is said that they are pursued by a 

 monstrous crowd of inexorable demons and vexed spirits of those that have fallen victims to 

 their arm, but that, owing to the power and vigilance of the mighty gods of war, they reach 

 their last home unscathed. 



Like the priest, a war chief is recognized as a priest when he falls into that state of paroxysm 

 that is considered to be of preternatural origin. This condition is usually the result of a wild 

 fight, in which, after slashing down one or more of the enemy, he eats the heart and liver of one 

 of the slain and dances around in ungovernable fury. I have been frequently informed that the 

 companions of a man thus possessed cautiously withdraw while he is under this influence, as he 

 might do something rash. I witnessed the actions of several bagdni during ceremonial perfor- 

 mances to the tagbusau, and I felt no little fear as to what might be the outcome of the warrior 

 chief's fury. 



What has been said of the sincerity of the ordinary priest and of his disinterestedness and 

 freedom from mercenary motives applies equally to the war chief in his position as war priest. 



In return for the protection accorded to his select ones the gods of war require frequent 

 supplies of blood and other delicacies, the denial of which would render the favorite liable to 

 constant plaguing by his protectors in their efforts to make him mindful of their needs. In 

 another chapter we shall see the means whereby the bagdni keeps himself in the good graces of 

 his inexorable deities. 15 



• PaQ-a-pug. u Hin-aHa to ka-hi-md-nan. 



' Pag-pa-li-na. » Pai-at. 



8 Ti~mai~i/a. I3 Ti-mai-a to man-6-on. 



' Ku-yab to ma^nuk. " Tud-um. 



10 Ka-ta-pii-tan. " For a full description of the rites peculiar to the warrior chief as priest the reader is referred to Chapter XXVI. 



