The Wild Tribes of Davao District, Mindanao - The R. F. Cummings Philippine Expedition by Fay-Cooper Cole
page 22 of 211 (10%)
page 22 of 211 (10%)
![]() | ![]() |
|
exacting punishment unless proper offerings and other tokens of respect
are accorded them. Below them is a horde of low, mean spirits who delight to annoy mankind with mischievous pranks, or even to bring sickness and disaster to them. To this class generally belong the spirits who inhabit mountains, cliffs, rooks, trees, rivers, and springs. Standing between these two types are the shades of the dead who, after they have departed from this life, continue to exercise considerable influence, for good or bad, over the living. We have still to mention a powerful class of supernatural beings who, in strength and importance, are removed only a little from the Creator. These are the patron spirits. Guarding the warriors are two powerful beings, Mandarangan and his wife, Darago, who are popularly supposed to make their home in the crater of the volcano. They bring success in battle and give to the victors loot and slaves. In return for these favors they demand, at certain times, the sacrifice of a slave. Dissentions[sic], disasters, and death will be sure to visit the people should they fail to make the offering. Each year in the month of December the people are reminded of their obligation by the appearance in the sky of a constellation known as _Balatik_,[9] and soon thereafter a human sacrifice doubtless takes place in some one or more of the Bagobo settlements. [9] Orion. A man to come under the protection of these two deities must first have taken at least two human lives. He is then entitled to wear a peculiar chocolate-colored kerchief with white patterns in it. When he has killed four he may wear blood-red trousers, and when his score has reached six |
|