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By December first this constellation rises straight above and it is then time to plant. This is further confirmed by the appearance of a star known as sabak. If any have delayed their planting until the middle of December they are given a last warning when the stars forming Bayatik appear. This is the same as balatik, page 62.
Less frequently, large animals are secured by means of rope loops which hang from trees past which the game is accustomed to pass. Until recent years the balatik, a trap which when sprung throws an arrow with great force against the animal which releases it, was much used but so many domestic animals have been killed by it that this sort of trap is now in disfavor.
It is also customary for a man who wishes to buy anything or to make a trade, first to make an offering of betel-nut to the spirit of some rich man, and to ask his help in the venture. Some new clearings are cut in the jungle each year, after the constellation Balatik has risen out of the sea.
The greatest of all Bagobo ceremonies the GinEm may be given by the datu within three or four months after the appearance of the constellation Balatik, when the moon is new or full.
We have previously stated that the incursion of the cogon grass into the fields makes necessary some new clearings each year. In the month of December a constellation known as Balatik appears in the sky.
He further insists that neither Balatik nor any other constellation governs the time of an offering, nor does such a ceremony insure better crops or success in war. He describes the sacrifice following the death of Datu Kalayan, his father, as follows: "A Bila-an slave was purchased for one agong and preparations made for a sacrifice.
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, and soon thereafter a human sacrifice doubtless takes place in some one or more of the Bagobo settlements. Orion. A man to come under the protection of these two deities must first have taken at least two human lives.
It seems also to have been closely associated with the yearly sacrifice, for it was never made until after the appearance of the constellation Balatik, and without doubt a sacrifice frequently did take place during the first day of the ceremony, at the time the decorated poles were raised.
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