The Ceremonies 333 



for the third, a rice winnower was set with eight coconut shells, a small 

 dish, and a gourd dipper. 



During a considerable portion of the time that these articles were 

 being prepared, several men sat in the yard and played on the 

 tongdtong, but when the mediums finally gave the signal that every- 

 thing was in readiness, they moved their instrument up on the porch 

 of the dwelling, where they continued playing softly. 



One of the mediums took her place in the mat in the middle of the 

 room, and raising a Chinese plate above her head, began to strike 

 against it with her shells, in order to notify the spirits that the 

 ceremony was about to begin. Next she placed two dishes on the mat 

 in front of her, and as she sang a monotonous chant, she touched each 

 one with a small stick. The host was then ordered to shuffle his feet 

 between the lines of dishes and to step over each one. As soon as he 

 did so, the medium pulled the mat from beneath them, rolled it up, 

 and used it as a whip with which she struck the head of each member 

 of the family. The spirit who had caused the woman's illness was 

 supposed to be near by, and after he witnessed this whipping, he would 

 be afraid to remain longer. As a promise of future reward to the well- 

 disposed immortals, a bound pig was then placed beside the door of 

 the dwelling. 



Going to the hearth, the medium withdrew burning sticks, and 

 placed them in a jar, and held this over the head of the sick woman, 

 for "a spirit has made her sick, but the fire will frighten him away, 

 and she will get well." After she had made the circuit of the family, 

 she held a bundle of rice above the flames, and with it again went to 

 each person in the room ; then she did the same thing with broken rice 

 and with the atihvag vine. 



Two mediums then seated themselves on the mat, and covering 

 their faces with their hands, began to chant and wail, beseeching the 

 spirits to enter their bodies. One after another the spirits came and 

 possesed the mediums, so that they were no longer regarded as human 

 beings, but as the spirits themselves. First came Kakalonan, also 

 known as Boboyonan, a friendly being whose chief duty it is to find 

 the cause of troubles. Addressing the sick woman, he said, "Now you 

 make this ceremony, and I come to make friends and to tell you the 

 cause of your trouble. I do not think it was necessary for you to hold 

 this ceremony now, for you built your balaua only two years ago ; yet 

 it is best that you do so, for you can do nothing else. You are not like 

 the spirits. If we die, we come to life again ; if you die, you do not." 

 At this point an old man interrupted, and offered him a drink of bast. 



