SPIRITUAL EXISTENCES 7 



Tenangan. The following was given us as an 

 example, ** Oh ! Dok Tenangan, have pity upon me ; 

 I am ill — make me strong to-morrow and able to 

 find my food." 



The Kayans are not clear whether Laki 

 Tenangan is the creator of the world. He does 

 not figure in the Kayan creation myth.^ There 

 seems to be no doubt about his supremacy over 

 the other gods ; these are sometimes asked by 

 Kayans to intercede with him on their behalf.^ 



As regards the minor departmental gods, it is 

 difficult to draw the line between them and the 

 spirits of the third class distinguished above. All 

 of them are approached at times with prayers and 

 with rites similar to those used in addressing Laki 

 Tenangan. Several wooden posts, very roughly 

 carved to indicate the head and limbs of a human 

 form, stand before every Kayan house. When the 

 gods are addressed on behalf of the whole house- 

 hold, as before or after an important expedition, 

 the ceremony usually takes place before one of 

 these rudely carved posts.^ But the post cannot 

 be called an idol. It is more of the nature of an 

 altar. No importance attaches to the mere posts, 

 which are often allowed to fall away and decay and 

 are renewed as required. A similar post may be 

 hastily fashioned and set up on the bank of the 

 river, if a party at a distance from home has special 

 occasion for supplication. 



An altar of a rather different kind is also used in 

 communicating with the gods. It seems to be 

 used especially in returning thanks for recovery of 

 health after severe illness. It consists of a bamboo 

 some four or five feet in length fixed upright in the 

 ground. The upper end is split by two cuts at 



^ See vol. ii., p. 137. 



^ For the views of an individual Kayan on Laki Tenangan, see vol. ii., 

 p. 74- ^ See vol. ii., p. 53. 



VOL. II B 



