304 The Tinguian 



Such occurrences make a deep impression on the mind of the 

 people, and strengthen their belief in the spirit world ; but, so far as 

 could be observed, the prestige of the medium was in nowise enhanced. 



Since most of the ceremonies are held to keep the family or in- 

 dividual in good health, the medium takes the place of a physician. 

 She often makes use of simple herbs and medicinal plants, but always 

 with the idea that the treatment is distasteful to the being, who has 

 caused the trouble, and not with any idea of its curative properties. 

 Since magic and religion are practically the same in this society, the 

 medium is the one who usually conducts or orders the magic rites ; 

 and for the same reason she, better than all others, can read the signs 

 and omens sent by members of the spirit world. 



Magic and Omens. — The folk-tales are filled with accounts of 

 magical acts, performed by "the people of the first times." They an- 

 nihilated time and space, commanded inanimate objects to do their 

 will, created human beings from pieces of betel-nut, and caused the 

 magical increase of food and drink. Those days have passed, yet 

 magical acts still pervade all the ceremonies; nature is overcome, 

 while the power to work evil by other than human means is a recognized 

 fact of daily life. In the detailed accounts of the ceremonies will be 

 found many examples of these magical acts, but the few here men- 

 tioned will give a good idea of all. 



In one ceremony, a blanket is placed over the family, and on their 

 heads a coconut is cut in two, and the halves are allowed to fall ; for, 

 "as they drop to the ground, so does sickness and evil fall away 

 from the people." A bound pig is placed in the center of the floor, 

 and water is poured into its ear that, "as it shakes out the water, 

 so may evil spirits and sickness be thrown out of the place." At one 

 point in the Tangpap ceremony, a boy takes the sacrificial blood and 

 rice from a large dish, and puts it in a number of smaller ones, then 

 returns it again to the first; for, "when the spirits make a man sick, 

 they take a part of his life. When they make him well, they put it 

 back, just as the boy takes away a part of the food, gives it to the 

 spirits, and then replaces it." The same idea appears in the dance 

 which follows. The boy and the medium take hold of a winnower, 

 raise it in the air, and dance half way around a rice-mortar; then 

 return, as they came, and replace it, "just as the spirits took away a 

 part of the patient's life, but now will put it back." 



The whole life of a child can be determined, or at least largely 

 influenced, by the treatment given the afterbirth, while the use of 



