346 The Tinguian 



the fire in the yard. The fourth and fifth nights are known as ginltbEt 

 ("dark"), for then no fires are lighted, and the mediums dance alone. 

 It is supposed that the black spirits, those who are deformed, or who 

 are too shy to appear before the people, will come out at this time and 

 enjoy the ceremony. 



Beginning with the sixth day the women pound rice in the early 

 morning. Starting with ten bundles, they increase the number by ten 

 each day until on the thirteenth morning they pound out eighty bundles. 

 A fire is lighted in the yard on the sixth day, and is kept burning con- 

 tinuously through the eighth, but the ninth and tenth are nights of 

 darkness. When the fire is burning, it is a sign for all who wish, to 

 come and dance, and each evening finds a jolly party of young people 

 gathered in the yard, where they take part in the festivities, or watch 

 the mediums, as they offer rice to the superior beings. 



On the eleventh day, a long white blanket (tabing) is stretched 

 across one corner of the room, making a private compartment for the 

 use of visiting spirits. That evening, as it grows dark, a jar of basi is 

 carried up into the house. All lights are extinguished both in the yard 

 and the dwelling, so that the guests have to grope their way about. 

 After the liquor is consumed, they go down into the yard, where, in 

 darkness, they join the medium in dancing da-eng. The twelfth day is 

 known as Pasa-ad — "the building." During the preliminary days, the 

 men have been bringing materials for use in constructing the great 

 spirit-house called balaua, and on this morning the actual work is 

 started. In form the balaua resembles the kalangan, but it is large 

 enough to accommodate a dozen or more people, and the supporting 

 posts are trunks of small trees (Plate XXI). After the framework 

 is complete, one side of the roof is covered with cogon grass, but the 

 other is left incomplete. Meanwhile the women gather near by and 

 pound rice in the ceremonial manner described in the Pala-an cere- 

 mony (cf. p. 329). 



As soon as the building is over for the day, a jar of basi is carried 

 into the structure, a little of the liquor is poured into bamboo tubes 

 and tied to each of the corner poles. The balance of the liquor is then 

 served to the men who sit in the balaua and play on copper gongs. 

 Next, a bound pig is brought in, and is tied to a post decorated with 

 leaves and vines. Soon the medium appears, and after placing prepared 

 betel-nut and lime on the animal, she squats beside it, dips her fingers 

 into coconut oil, and strokes its side, then later dips a miniature head- 

 axe into the oil, and again strokes the animal, while she repeats a diam. 

 This is a recital of how in ancient times Kadaklan and AgEmEn in- 



