woman, who are then called Iwaginán and Gimbagon [62], represent the
good spirits and are defended by the people when evil spirits try to
dispossess them of their property. This is the only instance I have
observed in which the names of any of these characters of the tales
appear in the ceremonies, while a list of more than one hundred and
fifty spirits known to the Tinguian fails to reveal more.

While in the practice of magic, and in their communication with nature,
celestial bodies, and spirits, these "people of the first times"
far excelled the present Tinguian, they had a material culture and
ceremonial life much like that still found in Abra.

It seems then that these people, about whom the stories cluster, are
not to be identified as celestial beings or spirits [63]. They appear
rather as generalized heroes whose life and deeds represent that of
an earlier period, magnified and extolled by succeeding generations.


Ritualistic and Explanatory Myths

The second division of the tales now assumes a position of importance
to us, for in it we find present day ideas and beliefs of the people
strongly brought out, and are thus in a position to contrast them
with the tenets of the people in "the first times".

The influence of custom is exceedingly strong among the Tinguian of
to-day. The fact that the ancestors did so and so is sufficient
justification for performing any act for which they have no
definite explanation. Nowhere is this influence greater than in the
ceremonies. These, which accompany all the important happenings in