BENEDICT, BAGOBO CEBEMONIAL, MAGIC AND MYTH 57 



Bagobo children 11 -) go at once to Mebuyan, 113 who welcomes them 

 and gives milk to all; for not merely her breasts, but her arms 

 and her whole body, are plentifully supplied with milk glands. 

 Under her protection, the babies remain until they cease to be 

 parasites and can shift for themselves, when they are sent to join 

 their own families in the main banua of Gimokudan. 



A special region, called Kag-btinoan, 11 * is reserved for those 

 who are slain by sword or spear, and it is said to be situated at 

 some distance from the other divisions of the country of the dead. 

 In Kag-biinoan there are everywhere suggestions of blood, or of 

 death by violence ; for example, all the plants are of 'a blood-red 

 color, and the spiritual bodies of the inhabitants retain the scars 

 of their wounds. All occupations, however, go on just as in the 

 other parts of Gimokudan. 



The Great Country, that is to say, Dakul Banua proper, forms 

 the most extensive section of Gimokudan, since it is intended for 

 all people, good and bad, who die from disease, or from sickness 

 in any form. Hither, too, come trooping all the children who are 

 old enough to leave the fostering care of Mebuyan. Pale in color, 

 or pure white, are all the plants and trees here. 



111 A Bagobo mother does not wean her child, but suckles it as long as it wants to 

 come to her, even when it grows old enough to run about. There comes a day when the 

 child, intent on play, forgets to run to the mother's breast for food. In such case, she 

 does not call her child, but by and by gives it a little rice, and thus the change is 

 gently accomplished. 



113 Mebuyan's position in the spirit world suggests the worship of the "Great Mothers" 

 in northern India. See W. Crooke: The popular religion and folk-lore of northern India, 

 vol. 1, pp. 111—117. 1896. Cf. "Bagobo mvths." Jour. Am. Folk-lore, vol. 26, pp. 

 20—21. 1913. 



1 * * From biino, "to thrust, to spear." 



The concept that different colors characterize diiferent localities in the land of the 

 dead appears in the north of the Philippines , and it is found among the pagan tribes of 

 Malaysia. In the "Relation of the Filipinas Islands," 1640, supposed to have been written 

 by Fr. Diego de Bobadilla, occurs the following passage, referring, apparently, to both 

 Tagal and Visayan groups: "They believed that when the soul left the body, it went to 

 an island, where the trees, birds, waters, and all other things were black; that it passed 

 thence to another island, where all things were of different colors; and that finally it 

 arrived at one where everything was white." Blair and Robertson, vol. 29, p. 283. 1905. 

 Of the Mintera, Professor Martin writes as follows, quoting from Logan: "Als Gegensatz 

 zum Himmel treffen wir bei den Mintera auf die Vorstellung einer 'Roten Erde' (Tanah 

 Merah), d.h. auf ein verlassenes und elendes Land, in das die Seelen derjenigen Menschen 

 eingehen, die eines blutigen Todes gestorben sind." Op. cit., p. 953 (taken from J. R. Logan: 

 "The Superstitions of the Miutira." Journal of the Indian Archipelago and Eastern Asia, 

 vol. 1, p. 326. 1847). 



