Agusan Manobo Possession-Ritual, 1-2

[The translated texts of se’ances of spirit-possession largely consist of jokery, and especially of "teasing", on the part of the possessing-spirits.]

Contents

#

Cap.

PP.

1.

Rivers of exchange

1-29

2.

Kalibutan (Manobo cosmos)

31-83

3.

Pantheon of Manobo supernaturals

85-146

4.

Burning speech

147-241

5.

Personal songs

243-78

6.

Reluctance & shame

279-345

7.

Song & sacrificing

347-61

p. xix phonemes

ae

as in Old English

q

glottal (/>/) "In mid-positiom, the glottal stop is represented by - ... between two consecutive vowels".

pp. 31-33, 40, 43, 90-91, 246-247, 269-270 terminology

p.

term

meaning

31

sugilen

narrative

32

tineg

voice

33

uwaegin

epic

 

baylanen

spirit-medium

40

didaja

upriver

 

dagat

sea

 

sugilen

myth

 

yumbiya

sago-palm tree

43

pendag

flute

 

gimbae

drum

90

jatut

spirit / deity

 

ginhawa

life

91

kumitan

black magic

 

yumey

potion

124

sinug

fire

149

panubad-tubad

dedication

151

kapu-un

clan

246

uyu

head

 

dageha

heart

 

giheb

diaphragm

 

atey

liver

247

hena-henaq

thought

 

bu-et

will

 

bantug

charisma

 

gahem

power

269

tampudaq

pact

 

kalitukan

song

 

ikagihenen

words

 

tulungun

music

270

lisag

rhythm

358

sikew

ashamed

 

pamalibad

reluctant

pp. 3, 6-7 Manobo sub-tribes

p. 3

"Mamanwa-Manobos in Agusan del Norte"

p. 6

"Banwa-en, "Manobos" of lower Agusan River (in areas around the town of Esperanza) which are culturally closely related to the "Higa-enen" of Misamis Oiental and Bukidnon provinces"

 

"Mandayas in Upper Agusan in Davao" [cf. p. 365, n. 1:16]

 

"Bukidnon in the mountains, west of the area."

p. 7

"Manobos ... claim to be the original inhabitants (tumandek)".

[p. 365, n. 1:17 : "In Visayan-Cebuano, "lumad," a term now used to refer to all original non-Moslem inhabitants"]

pp. 13-14 land tenure; Butu-an

p. 13

"the Manobo system, where only spirits are believed to own lands. These are "borrowed" from them in a ritual that asks for permission to use land (ba-id). Within this system, lands are distributed collectively".

p. 14

"Butu-an City used to be part of a region in Mindanao called "Caraga" and had strong associations with the Maluku or the "spice islands"".

pp. 13, 15 place-names

p.

place

meaning

13

Butu-an

to open, display, show

15

Talacogon

full of cogon-grass

 

Saban

juncture (of rivers)

pp. 36-39 myth of origin of people

p.

myth

38

"Dagye-an, a male warrior, and his old wife, Dehunajen ... were a couple who became crocodiles {cf. the Maya primaeval pair of crocodiles (as mentioned in the Books of Chilam Balam)} after being struck by the supernatural force of lightning (anit). Presumably incest relations caused this because anit is associated with such acts." {however, in the Books of Chilam Balam the transformation is a result (not of incest but) homosexuality between the crocodiles – which is perhaps repraesentative of the fact that crocodiles of engendred having indeterminate gendre.}

39

"Dagye-an had been the uncle (anggam), the sago maker who fostered, but mistreated, young orphaned siblings (mag-atebay) ... . ... The habitation (ugpa-an) emerges out of the mountain (bubungan) that splits {cf. Aztec myth of splitting a mountain} and melts {"mountains melted" (Thilli^m 97:5)}, ... creating

snails (susuq) {like the mountains, is "the snail which melteth" (Thilli^m 58:9)},

lizards (ibid),

chicken or birds (manuk), and

turtles (ba-u-u)."

36

"One touched ..., since the old woman coughs. ...

37

Suddenly the earth split. ["That is Tagabayew, who love to dance with her skirt up to here. One can see this slit in her ass." (p. 233) – "she had a Tagabayew "flirtatious" spirit that made her dance with exposed genitals." (p. 237)] You can see the snails. {Aztec goddess "Ilamatecuhtli wears a skirt with dangling shells known as a star skirt and is depicted with a fleshless mouth." (AG) – Is the "fleshless mouth" symbolic of her coughing?} You can see the "deer" [p. 372, n. 2:22 : "usa"] limping there (near) the sago makers ... . ...

Then the old woman ... became a maiden indeed. ...

Then the two ..., ,,, the warrior and (his) wife, ... were made into the Dinagye-an [p. 372, n. 2:26 : "Dagye-an is a shortened form of the crocodile’s name ... Dinageye-an or Dinagye-an."] and Dehunajen ... (of) this Umajam. ... The (flute music is the ) crying of

38

Dehunajen ... . ... Dehunajen (longing for) this husband of hers ... kept on crying ... for a long time ... . [p. 372, n. 2:24 : there is "a related story among the Northern Kalingga of Luzon Island" in cap. 1 of MPGE.] ... Dagye-an ... (... continued ) ... floating (further down) the Umayam river, (he reached the place where) bamboos grow there on the body of the crocodile Tikgon." {cf. the tree depicted growing on the Aztec crocodile-god.}

AG = http://aztecgods.blogspot.com/

MPGE = Felicidad Prudente : "Musical Process in the Gasumbi Epic of the Buwaya Kalingga". PhD diss, U of MI, 1984.

pp. 55-57, 61, 63 myth of origin of spirit-possession

p.

myth

61

"the supernatural in the form of a young maiden owns the pig that trespasses on Ujahay’s ... garden. This pig strangely emerges from the underworld ... . ... Further, the young maiden from the mountain also gives Ujahay the single miraculous rice grain that multiplies when cooked --- so much that they could not consume all the rice".

54

A "gold" maiden was found by Taegoy ["Taegoy" was "name of Ujahay’s dog." (374, n. 2:67)] ["the spirit maiden didn’t want the dog to move." (p. 374, n. 2:57)]

55

"Then she vanished, the maiden. ... Listen to the rumbling sounds of a drum there in the maiden’s house. ...

 

Ujahay walked on this wooden bridge. ... Ujahay ... was offered the areca nut which transformed his body as if (this was) in a different world since ..., (he’s) a spirit."

57

"that rich (brother Ubuk who) was ... eaten by evil {avarice} ... didn’t go to the skyworld".

63

"Ubuk ... does ... recognize his tie with his most immediately kin, saying that he and Ujahay have the same number of fingers."

p. 63 "(In ritual, mediums feel the weight of spirit possession on their bodies.")"

CURRENT RESEARCH IN ETHNOMUSICOLOGY, Vol. 4 = Jose` S. Buenconsejo : Songs and Gifts at the Frontier : Person and Exchange in the Agusan Manobo Possession Ritual. Philippines. Routledge, NY & London, 2002.