238 THE MANOBOS OF MINDANAO— GARVAN lM '"°ivo?xxn£ 



Some priests made use of small bamboo contrivances and some used their little hawk bells 

 to produce the voice of their spirits. In one case the use of a small jingle bell elicited expres- 

 sions of great admiration for the softness and sweetness of the supposed deity's voice. "Oh, 

 what a melodious voice," one would say, while another would respond, "Yes; it is like a tiny 

 flute." 



Seances of this kind were of constant occurrence and yielded the priest a harvest of donations. 

 Those who desired to acquire definite knowledge concerning any subject of importance had to 

 ask a priest to consult his deity, and after the consultation they were expected to make a suit- 

 able offering. I once called upon a priest to find out for me the name of the individual who had 

 stolen my scissors. The deity did not respond at the first call, for the reason that, as the priest 

 informed me, he had gone on a trip to Libaganon, so we postponed the consultation in order 

 to afford him time to recall the absent divinity. I can not say what means he was supposed to 

 have taken to bring about the return of the spirit, but the extra service cost me a trifle more. 

 Not long after, when the fire did not cast such a glare and the light had been extinguished, 

 there was a fairly audible chirp proceeding, as all those present said, from the camote clearing. 

 "Ah! he is here," they all said. The priest then accosted the deity in this manner: "Why 

 dids't thou delay, Magbabdya?" and then went on to find out the name of the stealer of my 

 scissors. The supposed deity, however, would not reveal the actual name lest I should quarrel 

 with the individual — a proceeding that would be in violation of a current taboo — but he vouch- 

 safed me the information that it was a female that was guilty. As it turned out subsequently 

 the supposed divinity erred on this point, so as a matter of policy I claimed the restitution of 

 what I had paid the priest for the consultation. 



PRETENDED CHASTITY AND AUSTERITY 



Chastity and austerity also were means calculated to promote faith in the sincerity of the 

 priest, and consequently in the truth of their assertions and divine interpretations. The 

 abstention from sexual intercourse was strictly enjoined on all who had received a Magbdbdya, 

 and observance of the restriction was rigid apparently. The priests and their wives slept in 

 the religious building, but did not cohabit, the men sleeping in one place and the women in 

 another. But, as I was told by one high priest before my departure that he had observed the 

 injunction only in appearance, I am inclined to think that the same was true of all the other 

 priests. 



Abstinence from food was also enjoined by the decrees of the great Magbabdya of Libaganon. 

 Hence priests pretended to abstain from all food when in their own settlements but during their 

 religious tours ate and drank on the plea that the spirits had forbidden them to abstain, as such 

 abstinence might cause offense because of the laws of hospitality, which require a visitor not 

 to refuse the bounty of his host. The customs as to abstinence were not uniform. One priest 

 maintained that his deity required from him total abstinence while be was in his own settle- 

 ment. Another asserted that only partial abstinence was required of him, as, for example, 

 from rice, or from chicken, or from drink, and he observed the rule rigidly. Total abstinence, 

 however, was only a pretense. I had occasion to verify this fact in the case of a priest who 

 maintained emphatically that he had not eaten a morsel for three whole days. I went to his 

 house and found him eating inside the mosquito-bar. Of course I was fined for my curiosity. 



The doctrine of the withdrawal of the ancient tribal divinities and the substitution for 

 them of the new-fangled ones at a time of such common peril was well calculated to arouse 

 the inherent religious fanaticism and fear of these primitive peoples. Let us review the princi- 

 pal points of the creed. The ancient deities had abandoned the world in disgust and decreed 

 its downfall. The great Magbabdya of Libaganon had gone down to the pillars of the world 

 and was prepared to shake the earth to its very foundations until it toppled over. He and the 

 spirits with whom he communicated were powerful deities, able and disposed to rescue their 

 worshipers not only in the awful moment of dissolution when the earth would become a vast 

 charnel house full of darkness and desolation, but also in all the concerns of life up to the very end. 



