AT THE ALTAR OF OUR ANCESTORS

Someone asked me to serialize a few articles on the offerings done by the Kalanguya, Igorots of the bygone era though some are still doing them until now. So TM, here you go. I could have emailed it to you but that's making it too easy for you. After all, you should be the one doing your own research, cheat! :) Be warned that I just copied it from a paper on Cultural vs. Biblical Keyterms presented at the International Translation Conference 2006 held in Horsleys Green, High Wycombe, Bucks., England. Besides, wala na rin akong maisulat muna.

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4 Types of Sacrifice/ Offering in Kalanguya Culture
The Kalanguya sacrifices are collectively known as keleng but to the wider Filipino society, these sacrifices are called Cañao[1] [kan’yaw], a collective name referring to the Kalanguya sacrifices. I have categorized the types of keleng according to the purpose for which such sacrifices are performed. They are performed to achieve either social, physiological, or spiritual outcomes.
The Kalanguya is very concerned with his economic situation. A respectable status in the community is ensured by wealth. Rich people sacrifice annually because of their belief that their gods and ancestors will bless them even more for so doing. People of average or lower economic status sacrifice in order to become rich.

4.1 Padit (Wealth Sacrifice)
This is the feast where a number of pigs are offered to the gods and ancestral spirits. All the people in the village as well as those from nearby villages are invited to this feast. If it is the first time for a particular family to do this, the family is required to produce three male pigs aged not less than 13 months with no obvious bony prominences, meaning the pigs should be fattened first. These pigs are corralled in a circular pig pen. On the evening before the actual commencement of the feast, they will kill a young pig – not one of the three already mentioned - and dance over and around it, before they butcher and cook it, and then invite everybody present to eat.

On the first day of the feast, male attendants are called to go inside the pigpen to catch the pigs. After subduing the pigs, they will call the mabaki (spirit medium) and he will recite all the necessary ministrations and incantations. He will invoke the names of the ancestors of the person sponsoring the sacrifice from as far back as he can remember. After this, within sight of everybody, they will kill the animals by sticking a sharpened stick in each pig’s neck and collecting the blood in a wooden basin. The mabaki will then take a stalk of cogon grass, dip it in the blood collected in a wooden basin and touch the leaf on the forehead of every member of the family. The mabaki will then pour rice wine into a cup and drink it. Afterwards, he will give the cup to the head of the family. Only after this can the females start cooking the sacks of rice and baskets of sweet potato that will go with the meat.

When the cooking has commenced, the celebrations begin with tayaw ni makaabong (dance of the family sponsoring the sacrifice). This is a dance where the head of the family and his wife, followed by their adult children will go to the center of the ceremony and do a number of tribal dances. The length of the dances depend on the endurance of the men beating the gongs. After the dances and after all the people have eaten, the mabaki will take his place in the center of the floor and start his chanting.

This wealth sacrifice costs a lot. A person who is sacrificing needs to slaughter three pigs. The gall bladder of the sacrificial pig should not be full of bile nor should it be too small. If either of these is the case, the makaabong (household sponsoring the sacrifice) must slaughter another pig, and maybe a third, until the mabaki pronounces the sacrificial animal as perfect.

This padit sacrifice is not a one-off sacrifice. It is believed that in order for blessings or riches to continue flowing to the family, they are required to complete each of the eleven phases of the padit sacrifice. Phases of the padit are usually a year or two apart and go in pairs. For example, the second phase of the padit is identical to the first. On the third phase, the person sponsoring the padit sacrifice is required to produce five pigs. Similarly with the fourth. On the fifth and sixth phases, six pigs are required; on the seventh and eighth phases, eight pigs are sacrificed; and on the ninth and tenth phase, ten pigs are butchered.

When a man reaches the tenth phase, he and his family are regarded as among the richest of the whole Kalanguya tribe. After the tenth phase, a person must sponsor his last padit sacrifice - the eleventh phase - where the number of pigs to be slaughtered should not be less than eleven. It is believed that in order for a person to ensure wealth for his family down to his descendants, he should complete the sacrifice up to the eleventh phase. After the eleventh phase, a Kalanguya man is now free from his sacrificial obligations, but at the time of his death, his family is required to slaughter every pig and cow he owns because this is the corresponding portion of the pair representing the eleventh phase of his padit sacrifice.

4.2 Kiyad (Middle-Class Wealth Sacrifice)
This is a one-time ceremony which is similar in ritual procedure to the padit except that it does not last as long since the animals that are offered are different. A water buffalo (Filipino: carabao) or a cow is required to be slaughtered on the first day. This carabao or cow is offered to the Iha-pat (the god who is from the upper parts [of the world/universe]). It is accompanied by one fattened pig which is offered to the bibiyaw (spirits other than spirits of ancestors that live in cliffs or caves in the mountains). Most Kalanguya who are not considered rich opt to do this sacrifice rather than undergo the phases of padit.

4.3 Boton (War/Conflict Sacrifice)
This sacrifice is performed to find out if one has enemies or during a tribal war. The usual sacrifice is a chicken.

4.4 Hangbo (Luck Sacrifice)
A hangbo sacrifice is performed when someone has dreamt of a dead relative or when a snake has entered one’s house. Either the person who had the dream or someone else in his family calls the mabaki (spirit medium) to perform the hangbo sacrifice to find out what the ancestor wants. The mabaki talks to the spirit of the ancestor and asks what his/her requests are. It is believed that the spirit of the ancestor will tell the mabaki how many animals he needs. After this, the mabaki will tell the person who dreamt or the family what their ancestor needs and instruct them how many animals they must prepare for the keleng sacrifice (see keleng in section 4.1.2.1.5 below ). It is believed that if one fails to offer a hangbo sacrifice, an unfortunate event or a disaster will befall the person or his family. This disaster is believed to be a punishment inflicted by the spirits of ancestors who might have been asking for help when they appeared in a dream.

In the case of a snake entering a person’s house, it is believed that snakes bring either wealth or bad luck. If the owner of the house which the snake entered fails to offer a hangbo sacrifice, and also fails to offer the subsequent keleng sacrifice that the mabaki (spirit medium) is sure to prescribe, wealth will elude him and he will have no luck in all his endeavors unless a snake enters his house again and he offers a hangbo sacrifice.

4.5 Pangahawa (Wedding Sacrifice)
Kalanguya are very apprehensive when it comes to wedding, lest disaster strike. If something goes wrong during the wedding celebrations, for example, if the place where the meat has been stored were to fall or if the stone where they put the cooking pot were to crack, then the newly married couple cannot sleep together until they perform the pangahawa (the wedding sacrifice). For this pangahawa they need to sacrifice an equal number of animals to what was slaughtered during their wedding ceremonies. All animals for these sacrifices must be healthy and fat.

4.6 Pahang (Sacrifice to ensure safe delivery)
This sacrifice is done for women who are pregnant. The family of a pregnant woman needs to sacrifice a chicken to ensure her safe delivery. The pahang is also performed for barren women with the hope that they would bear children after the sacrifice.

4.7 Anap (Diagnostic Sacrifice)
When a mabaki (spirit medium) is performing his role as a diviner/healer, he is called a maanap[2] (lit. one who seeks, finds out). When he performs this function, he performs the anap (to seek, find out) sacrificial ritual. After the anap sacrifice has been completed using a chicken, the maanap will tell the family what sacrificial animals are required for the keleng that should be performed by the family of the sick person or the sick person himself. After the maanap has found the causes of sickness or has identified the cause of the problem that needed a blood-sacrifice to reveal what the ancestors were looking for, the blood from the sacrificial animal will be cooked together with the meat. In this sacrifice all parts of the animal are eaten.

4.8 Keleng (Kalanguya Sacrificial Rituals )
Keleng is a general term for a variety of ceremonies done for various purposes. It includes all the other types of sacrifices mentioned previously except for the padit feast and the anap (diagnostic sacrifice). Hence, it includes all the ceremonies which are performed for the purpose of healing the sick (the sacrifice conducted after the anap has been done), fortune seeking or dream interpretation (hangbo), burial (danglih), marriage (pangahawa), birth (pahang) and others. Alternately, a keleng may be done solely for the celebration of a good harvest and/or to ensure productive livestock.

4.9 Danglih (Death Sacrifice)
Danglih is the sacrifice done when a person dies. At death, as part of the danglih ceremonies, all the animals owned by the dead person are to be butchered. If the dead person had siblings, they are each also obliged to donate one pig for the danglih of their sibling.

On the first day, the people will slaughter 2 pigs. When cooked, the mabaki (spirit medium) will take the liver and offer it to the kaapoan (spirits of dead ancestors) cut it and set it aside. Then a man from the family of the deceased will take a pot of rice wine. All the members of the family of the dead person will then eat a piece of the offered liver and drink from the bowl of rice wine. Each member will say a madmad (a prayer) to the silver bangle produced by the mabaki. (All mabaki have a silver bangle which is used for a variety of purposes. This silver bangle represents the spirit of the dead person.)

This procedure is repeated each day until the deceased is buried. On the last day, all the animals of the deceased will be slaughtered and served to all the people. One day after the burial, the family of the deceased will offer an animal sacrifice to the spirits of the dead ancestors again and then they will collect all the things owned by the dead member of their family. Then the mabaki will call the name of the dead person so that he will take with him the linawa (spirit/soul) of all the things he owned while he was alive. They do this because Kalanguya people believe that the dead person will need the things that he was accustomed to using when he was still alive. Another reason for this practice is so that the dead person can share the linawa (spirit/soul) of his possessions with other dead people.

4.10 Aphol (Soul Sacrifice)
A person who is suffering from a severe headache after hunting is believed to have inadvertently caught a spirit during his hunt in the forest. In order to return the spirit which had been inadvertently caught to its forest home, the hunter needs to offer a chicken for the aphol sacrifice. When his headache has gone, it means that the spirit has returned to where it came from.

4.11 Tayaban (Sacrifice for the return of a soul)
Tayaban is the Kalanguya god that flies up high in the heavens. The Kalanguya believe that the tayaban swallows the linawa (spirit/soul) of people who are living on earth. When a tayaban swallows a linawa (spirit/soul), the person whose linawa (spirit/soul) was swallowed will eventually die if he or his family does not do something to ensure that his linawa (spirit/soul) will be returned. In order to persuade the tayaban to spit out the linawa (spirit/soul) it swallowed, he or his family need to offer a tayaban sacrifice.

The family of the person whose linawa (spirit/soul) was swallowed will slaughter a pig and put the blood of the pig in his mouth and he will spit it out little by little. After doing this, it is believed that the tayaban will spit out the linawa (spirit/soul) that it has swallowed. (The tayaban is actually what we now know as a shooting star.)

[1] Cañao and keleng are used interchangeably. Cañao is the name non-Kalanguya speakers use in referring to the whole range of Kalanguya sacrifices. The generic word for sacrifice used by Kalanguya tribal people is keleng.
[2] A maanap is sometimes called mabeknew or maho-dong depending on the instruments and procedure that they use in the proceedings of the anap sacrifice.

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TM, I know you are supposed to research the general sacrificial practices of the Igorots (not only the Kalanguyas) so please get up and do some info hunting. :-)