The Cycle of Life 271 



In the mountain village of Likuan, a man who wears a very large 

 hat takes the child to a nearby saloko. As he returns, he is sprinkled 

 by a medium, who says, "You are wet from the rain ; in what place 

 did you get wet ?" He replies, "Yes, we are wet from the rain ; we 

 were wet in Inakban (a town of the spirits) ;" then placing two small 

 baskets in the saloko, he carries the child into the dwelling. Soon the 

 father appears and goes about inquiring for his wife and child ; 

 suddenly spying the baskets, he seizes them and takes them into the 

 house, saying, "Here are the mother and the child." 



The following morning, the women place rice cakes and betel-nuts, 

 ready to chew, in leaves, and tie them to a bamboo stalk with many 

 branches. This is then planted beside the spring, "so that the child 

 will grow and be strong like the bamboo." The sight of all these good 

 things is also pleasing to the spirits, and they will thus be inclined to 

 grant to the child many favors. 



When the women return to the house, they carry with them a 

 coconut shell filled with water, and with this they wash the infant's 

 face "to keep it from crying, and to keep it well." This done, they 

 tie a knot of banana leaves to the house ladder as a sign that no 

 person may enter the dwelling until after its removal the next day. 1 



A ceremony, not witnessed by the writer, is said to take place 

 when evil spirits have persistently annoyed the mother and the child, 

 when the delivery is long overdue, or when an anito child 2 has been 

 born to a human mother. The husband and his friends arm themselves 

 with long knives or head-axes, and enter the dwelling, where they 

 kill a rooster. The blood is mixed with rice ; and this, together with 

 nine coconut shells filled with basi, is placed beneath the house for 

 the anitos to eat. While the spirits are busy with this repast, the 

 mother, wrapped in a blanket, is secretly passed out a window and 

 taken to another house. Then the men begin shouting, and at the 

 same time slash right and left against the house-posts with their 

 weapons. In this way the evil spirits are not only kept from noticing 

 the absence of the mother, but are also driven to a distance. This 

 procedure is repeated under nine houses, after which they return to 

 the dwelling with the woman. As soon as they reach the top of the 

 ladder, an old woman throws down ashes "to blind the eyes of the 



1 Such a taboo sign is here known as kanyau. It is not always used at the 

 conclusion of this ceremony, but is strictly observed following the cutting of the 

 first rice. 



* That is, a premature child. 



