The Cycle of Life 267 



If a former child has died, it is possible that the infant will receive 

 its name, but if so, it will be renamed within a few days. In this 

 manner, respect is shown both for the deceased child and the ancestor 

 for which it was named ; yet the newborn is not forced to bear a title 

 which is apparently displeasing to the spirits. Continued sickness 

 may also result in the giving of a new name. 1 In such a case a small 

 plot of rice is planted as an offering to the spirits, which have caused 

 the illness. 



According to Reyes, the child to be named is carried to a tree, and 

 the medium says, "Your name is — ;" at the same time she strikes the 

 tree with a knife. If the tree "sweats," the name is satisfactory; 

 otherwise, other names are mentioned until a favorable sign is 

 obtained. 2 The writer found no trace of such procedure in any part 

 of the Tinguian belt. 



For a month succeeding the birth, the mother must follow a very 

 strict set of rules. Each day she is bathed with water in which certain 

 herbs and leaves, distasteful to evil spirits, are boiled. 3 Beginning 

 with the second day and until the tenth she must add one bath each day, 

 at least one of which is in cold water. From the tenth to the twenty- 

 fourth day she takes one hot and one cold bath, and from then to the 

 end of the month she continues the one hot bath. Until these are 

 completed, the family must keep a strip of ayabong bark burning 

 beneath the house, in order to protect the baby from evil spirits. As 

 an additional defence, a miniature bow and arrow, and a bamboo 

 shield, with a leaf attached, as hung above the infant's head 

 (Fig. 4, No. 1). 



On the fifth day the mother makes a ring out of old cloth, rice 

 stalks, and a vine, and puts it on her head ; over her shoulders is an 

 old blanket, while in one hand she holds a reed staff, which "helps 

 her in her weakness, and protects her from evil beings." She carries 

 a coconut shell filled with ashes, a basket and a jar, and thus equipped 

 she goes to the village spring. Arriving there, she cleans the dishes 

 "as a sign that her weakness has passed, and that she can now care 

 for herself ;" then she sets fire to a piece of bark, and leaves it burning 

 beside the water, as a further sign of her recovery. When she returns 

 to the dwelling, the cleansed dishes and the staff are placed above the 

 spot, where she and the baby sleep. 



1 In Selangor, a sick infant is re-named (Skeat, op. cit., p. 341). 



1 Reyes, Filipinas articulos varios, 1st ed., pp. 144-5 (Manila, 1887). 



* The Malay of the Peninsula bathe both mother and child morning and 

 evening, in hot water to which certain leaves and blossoms are added. It is here 

 described as an act of purification (Skeat, op. cit., pp. 334 _ 5). 



