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Updated: June 26, 2025
Gohn, a planter of Santa Cruz who has witnessed a number of these ceremonies, says that with the Bagobo of that place it was customary for the datu to baptize the women prior to the day of GinEm. On the second day, a mabalian provided a long palm leaf, and a number of betel nut buds which, she said, represented streams, rivers, tribes, and individuals.
A divorced woman may remarry, but unless the sum originally paid for her has been returned, the new groom must pay such an amount to the first husband. In case of illness a mabalian administers some simple remedy without any call on the spirits.
A few old men, makating, are thought to be able to address the spirits with greater probability of success than the others; but they do not stand in the same relation to the spirit world as do the mabalian of the Bagobo. The nearest approach to that class is a group of women known as lokEs , who act as midwives and make use of roots and herbs in curing sickness.
Aside from the gimokod the Bagobo believe that there exists a great company of powerful spirits who make their homes in the sky above, in the space beneath the world, or in the sea, in streams, cliffs, mountains, or trees. The following is the list related by Datu Tongkaling, a number of mabalian, and others supposed to have special knowledge concerning these superior beings.
It seems to be the belief that, at times during the ceremonies, the mabalian may be possessed by a spirit and that she then speaks not as a mortal but as the spirit itself.
When all is thus prepared the people place offerings of beautiful clothing, knives, and other costly gifts on the mat. Two mabalian, a man and a woman call upon the spirits, urging them to look with favor on the offering made by the people, to grant them a good year with health and plentiful harvests, to let their journeys be without mishap, and to keep them all under their constant care.
The preparation of this concoction was taught by friendly spirits, and it is supposed to insure an easy delivery. Still another mabalian spreads a mat in the middle of the room, and on it places valuable cloths, weapons, and gongs, which she offers to the spirits; praying that they will make the birth easy and give good health to the infant.
In a previous paragraph we mentioned the unorganized priesthood, the members of which are known as mabalian. Men are not barred from this profession, but the greater number of its members are old, or middle-aged, women.
The ceremonies which art performed at the critical periods of life are conducted by these mabalian, and they also direct the offerings associated with planting and harvesting. They are generally the ones who erect the little shrines seen along the trails or in the forests, and it is they who put offerings in the "spirit boxes" in the houses.
Before they retired for the night the mabalian combed their hair, then, having directed the groom to precede his bride to their sleeping place, she secured a child and placed it on the mat between the pair. This, she explained, was an old custom, and was done so that the girl might not be ashamed, for she was not the first to sleep there.
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