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Updated: June 25, 2025
Except for these few, they are not worshiped, and no offerings are made to them, after the period of mourning is past. The members of the first class cover a wide range, from Kadaklan, the great spirit who resides above, to Kaboniyan, the teacher and helper, to those resident in the guardian stones, to the half human, half bird-like alan, to the low, mean spirits who delight to annoy mortals.
Thus, in the mountain village of Baay the sky is considered as a male spirit the husband of the earth, and father of sun and moon. Again, in Lagangilang and Abang, the thunderbolt is identified as Kadaklan the most powerful of all spirits who "often eats the ground and releases his wife Agemem."
The alan discovers their hiding place by seeing their reflection in the water. She climbs up, feet first, but they cut the vine on which she is ascending, and she is killed. They go to her house and secure a jar of beads and a jar of gold. The flat earth is made by the spirit Kadaklan. He also makes the moon and sun, which chase each other through the sky.
Certain mediums are visited only by low, mean spirits; others, by both good and bad; while still others may be possessed even by Kadaklan, the greatest of all. It is customary for the spirit of a deceased mortal to enter the body of a medium, just before the corpse is to be buried, to give messages to the family; but he seldom comes again in this manner.
In Manabo, a town influenced both by the Igorot of the Upit River valley and the Christianized Ilocano of San Jose, the spirit is said to go at once to the great spirit Kadaklan, and then to continue on "to the town where it lives." "It is like a person, but is so light that it can be carried along by the wind when it blows."
At some appointed place, rice, eggs, betel-nuts, and a large pig have been assembled, and to this spot the mediums go to conduct the rite known as Dawak. Before its conclusion a diam is recited over the pig, which is then killed and prepared for food. Meanwhile the chief medium beseeches the supreme being Kadaklan to enter her body.
For this you must prepare a different pig, for this is for the sons and servants of Kadaklan." After the departure of these beings, ten other spirits came in quick succession. Two of the latter claimed to be Igorot spirits, and both talked with the peculiar stacatto accent of the people who live along the Kalinga-Igorot border.
The purpose of this offering is to supply food to any spirits who may be unable to attend the ceremony. Early the next morning, the man who has been designated by Kadaklan to perform the Padiam makes ready, at his own expense, a large pig and cooked rice, and carries these to the fields.
In the village of Manabo, thunder is known as Kidol; in Likuan and Bakaok, as Kido-ol; and in each place he is recognized as a powerful spirit. In Ba-ay, two types of lightning are known to be spirits. The flash from the sky is Salit, that "from the ground" is Kilawit. Here thunder is Kadaklan, but the sun is the all powerful being.
Agemem is the wife of Kadaklan. She lives in the ground. Little is known of her except that she has given birth to two sons, whose chief duty is to see that the commands of their father are obeyed. Adám and Baliyen are the sons of Kadaklan. The name of the first boy is suggestive of Christian influence, but there are no traditions or further details to link him with the Biblical character.
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