academy of 8™™™ j THE GREAT RELIGIOUS MOVEMENT OF 1908-1910 233 



of wild begonia, I think, were planted around some of the buildings. Such actions as these showed the zeal with 

 which the movement inspired them, for in the regulation of their homes such ornamentation is unprecedented. 



(6) An offering stand close to the building. On this were placed offerings of betel nut and drink, which were 

 deemed acceptable to the deities. 



RELIGIOUS RITES 



Several rites, such as that of the conferring of a Magbabdya, I was unable to witness, because 

 up to the time of my departure from the upper Agusan they were not usually performed there, but 

 nearly always over on the Libaganon, Tagum, or Mawab Rivers. The investment of priests and 

 emissaries with Magbabdya spirits did take place a few times in Compostela, but I was not per- 

 mitted to attend, the assigned reason being that my presence might be displeasing to these 

 deities. The ordinary religious performance, however, in honor of Meskinan I witnessed repeat- 

 edly, 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 morn- 

 ing." 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 Libaganon, which was to the effect that Meskinan 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 Magbabaya of Libaganon 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 Meskinan, be announced 

 the request of Meskinan 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 tungud 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 Magbabaya of Libaganon. 



The following morning it was decided to hold a sacrifice in honor of Meskinan, 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 reli- 

 gious dance, the high priest manifested signs of the influence of his Magbabdya, 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 



11 It may be noted here that the Mandaya dance is neither so graceful nor so impressive as the Manobo dance. The feet move faster and there 

 are fewer nexings of the body and no mimetic movements, so characteristic of the Manobo dance. Neither is a woman's skirt worn nor are hand- 

 kerchiefs carried in the hands. 



