338 The Tinguian 



touched the head of each person with a lead sinker, while his 

 companion spirit waved a bundle of rice and a firebrand over them, 

 "To take away the sickness which they had sent." Six other spirits 

 came long enough to drink, then Bisangolan occupied the attention of 

 all for a time. He is an old man, a giant who lives- near the river, and 

 with his head-axe keeps the trees and driftwood from jamming, and 

 thus prevents floods. For quite a time he chatted about himself, then 

 finally blew smoke over the people, at the same time assuring them that 

 the sickness would now vanish like the smoke. Just before departing 

 he informed the family that a spirit named Imalbi had caused the 

 trouble in the patient's eyes, and' that on the next morning they must 

 build a little house, called balitang, among the banana trees, and place 

 in it a live chicken. 



Gayangayan, a female spirit from Lagayan, followed, rubbed the 

 head of each person, blew smoke over them, and then announced thus : 

 "The people of Layogan 1 must not close their doors when it rains, or 

 it will stop." 



The attitude of the people toward the weaker and less important 

 spirits was well shown when Ambayau, a wild female spirit, arrived. 

 She demanded to know where she could secure heads, and immediately 

 the people began to tell her all sorts of impossible places, and made jests 

 about her and her family. Finally they told her to take the head of a 

 certain Christianized native; but she refused, since she had short hair, 

 and it would be hard for her to carry the skull. While she was still 

 talking, the men started to carry the pig from the room, but she 

 detained them, to explain that the people cut the meat into too large 

 pieces, for "we spirits eat only so much," indicating a pinch. The 

 spirit Soyau came for a drink, and then all the people went out to the 

 tangpap, where the pig was killed, singed, and cut up. A small pig was 

 laid beside the pala-an, and for a time was guarded by the son of the 

 sick woman, who for this event had placed the notched chicken-feathers 

 in his hair, and had put on bracelets of boar's tusks. As soon as she 

 had finished at the tangpap, the medium came to the pala-an, and 

 having recited the proper diam over the pig lying there, ordered it 

 killed in the manner already described for this structure (cf. p. 329). 

 Both animals were then cooked, and soon all the guests were eating, 

 drinking and jesting. 



Late in the afternoon, the spirit mat was spread in the yard near to 

 the tangpap, and the mediums began summoning the spirits. The 



1 The site of the old village of Bukay. 



