BENEDICT, BAGOBO CEREMONIAL, MAGIC AND MYTH 195 



mental susceptibility and of unstable equilibrium that would invite 

 the slipping off into a trance or an ecstasy ; yet, outside of the 

 manganito, I never saw her show any sign of emotional excite- 

 ment. Much of the time she kept by herself; she rarely spoke; 

 for an hour or two before the meetings, one might see her crouch- 

 ing alone in some dusky corner where, in her mental isolation 

 from the rest, she was dreaming and meditating. 



Another person acts as leader of the manganito meetings, in the 

 capacity of receiving directly the divine instructions and of seeing 

 that they are followed out. She answers the anito's questions, and 

 stimulates the medium when her utterances begin to lag. At Talun 

 this official was always Oleng's sister, Miyanda, a woman of dominating 

 personality, with a sonorous voice and persuasively kind intonations. 

 It was she who gave the order for the torches to be extinguished, 

 as the room must be profoundly dark for the visitation of the anito. 

 If a mere flicker of flame starts up from the embers of the hearth, 

 somebody runs to put it out. 



The time may be any hour of night, after the evening meal has 

 been eaten, this last and most substantial meal of the day being 

 served at about nine o'clock. The place may be any Bagobo home, 

 but preferably the house of the datu or the Long House. All of 

 the night meetings that I attended in Talun were held in the 

 Long House. 



On account of the deep darkness, the facial expression of Singan 

 and her exact posture could not be observed ; but she would either 

 sit on the floor, or squat on her feet in the customary Malay manner. 

 When the possession began to come upon her, she grew cold and 

 shivered, whereupon she would give a shout, followed by a series 

 of harsh velar sounds, such as, "Groh! gifsson! ugh!" Gradually, 

 then, she would swing into a slow chant or an intoning of words 

 that she felt herself inspired to utter. Brokenly and with great 

 difficulty the divine messages came at first, but soon a clearer tone, 

 a more sustained utterance and a greater confidence became apparent 

 in her delivery of the oracle. Between the songs, the priestess 

 talked along, witb intervals of gasping, of dry coughing and clear- 

 ing of her throat. One means of emotional discharge to which 

 she frequently gave vent was a violent expulsion of air through 

 the lips, in sharp, labial surds — "Upfi!" — and semi-vowels thrown 

 out explosively — Mluwa!" When the utterances lagged, Miyanda 

 was always ready with an encouraging word, "Una!" — a coaxing 



