When a person is seriously ill a _ballyan_ is summoned and she, after
securing prepared rice, betel-nuts, and a live chicken, enters into
communication with the spirits. First she converses with the dead father
or other deceased relative of the sick person and requests his aid in
effecting a cure, next she presents food to Diwata and implores his aid,
and finally calls upon the _asuang_ to whom she offers the live fowl on
the condition that they will cease trying to injure the patient. Having
thus done all in her power to influence the spirits she may administer
some simple remedy, after which she begins to dance contra-clockwise,
around a bamboo pole on which leaves and betel-nut have been hung.[137]
[137] This ceremony usually takes place in the house, but if the man was
taken ill in the forest or in his field it may be conducted there.
If this treatment proves to be of no avail and the patient dies his body
is placed in the center of the house and for two days and nights is
guarded by relatives and friends. During the time that the body remains
in the dwelling the family is required to fast and all the people of the
settlement are prohibited from playing on agongs, from singing or
indulging in other signs of merriment. Finally, the body is wrapped in a
mat and is buried in the forest.[138]
[138] Maxey gives the following account of burial near Cateel: "The dead
person is dressed in his best clothes, wrapped in a piece of _abaca_
cloth, and placed in a coffin of bamboo poles, or one hewn from a solid
log, if the person was one of means, and buried. If of the poorer class
he is merely wrapped in a piece of matting-, and either buried or
covered over with stones, sticks, and the like. If of high rank, the
body is not buried, but after preparation is taken into the forest and
placed in a small hut under a _balete_ tree. Food, spears, bolos, hats,
shields, and some articles of furniture are placed on the graves to
placate the spirits who might otherwise bring harm to the surviving
members of the clan or family. There is no fixed period of mourning, but
the members of the family must wear black for some time after the death.
The sick are never abandoned prior to death, but slaves nearing death
are sometimes killed to stop their sufferings. The owner, however, must
first consult with others of the clan."
Returning from the burial all the people partake of a feast and then set
fire to the dwelling "because we do not like the _asuang_ which killed
the man in that house." During the ensuing nine days the spouse of the
dead dresses in black and for a month following, or until they can
purchase a slave, the whole family is barred from merry-making. Two
reasons for the purchase of this slave were advanced by members of the
tribe. One was that the family could be happy if they were still rich
enough to purchase a slave. The second, that they thus replaced the dead
man with another, "for the slaves are like members of our own family."