70 ANNALS NEW YORK ACADEMY OF SCIENCES 



held in the homes and in the fields of individuals ; still other reli- 

 gious rites, as, for instance, purification ceremonies and marriage, 

 take place at the border of a river or in the bed of a shallow 

 stream ; while the rite of human sacrifice is ordinarily performed 

 in a retired place in the forest, or on the sea-beach. But. whatever 

 the place chosen for a ceremony, the immediate spot where the 

 priest must stand or sit for the recitation of prayers and the offering- 

 of gifts is before an altar of recognized type - - a subject which 

 will be discussed in some detail in a later section. 



The religious rites of the Bagobo are typically exoteric in char- 

 acter, for the ceremonial and the doctrine are the common property 

 of the people. Not only are the young and the old of both sexes 

 present in large numbers at practically all of the ceremonies, but 

 set parts in any performance belong regularly to different social 

 classes as determined by sex, by age, or by position in the family 

 of the person giving the festival. 



The distribution of the leading ritual parts is briefly as follows. 

 Old men offer the sacred food and drink to the gods at the main 

 altar and perform accompanying rites; they cut the ceremonial 

 bamboo poles, and afterward, while holding the poles, recount their 

 exploits; they make arrangements for a human sacrifice; they 

 perform those magical rites which are associated with the carving 

 of wooden figures and the planting of medicinal branches for the 

 exorcism of evil spirits; they control the entire ceremonial. 



The old women perform the altar rites at harvest, and make 

 devotional recitations at certain other times; they make offerings 

 of betel at wayside shrines to the buso and to spirits of the 

 dead and repeat the accompanying prayers; they summon the anito 

 and most frequently act as mediums; they direct many ceremonial 

 details, and are often called into consultation with the old men ; 

 they exercise a general supervision over the religious behavior of 

 the young people. Such priestly acts as the pouring of water over 

 candidates ;it the bathing ceremony, the performing of a marriage 

 rite, and the dedication to the gods of manufactured articles brought 

 by the people, may be done by an old person of either sex who 

 is a recognized official. 



It is the duty of young men to cut and shape bamboo for cere- 

 monial vessels; to mix the ingredients of the sacred f 1 and cook 



it in bamboo joints; to assist the old men at the altar in such 

 matters as handing utensils, clearing away dishes, and elevating the 



