fortune.

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.

The pay of a medium is small, usually a portion of a sacrificed
animal, a few bundles of rice, and some beads; but this payment is
more than offset by the restrictions placed on her. At no time may
she eat of carabao, wild pig, wild chicken, or shrimp; nor may she
touch peppers--all prized articles of food.

The inducements for a person to enter this vocation are so few that a
candidate begins her training with reluctance; but, once accepted by
the spirits, the medium yields herself fully and sincerely to their
wishes. When possessed by a spirit, her own personality is submerged,
and she does many things of which she is apparently ignorant, when
she emerges from the spell. Oftentimes, as she squats by the mat,
summoning the spirits, her eyes take on a far-away stare; the veins
of her face and neck stand out prominently, while the muscles of
her arms and legs are tense; then, as she is possessed, she assumes
the character and habits of the superior being. If it is a spirit
supposed to dwell in Igorot or Kalinga land, she speaks in a dialect
unfamiliar to her hearers, orders them to dance in Igorot fashion,
and then instructs them in dances, which she or her townspeople could
never have seen. [124] At times she carries on sleight-of-hand tricks,
as when she places beads in a dish of oil, and dances with it high
above her head, until the beads vanish. A day or two later she will
recover them from the hair of some participant in the ceremony. Most
of her acts are in accordance with a set procedure; yet at times she
goes further, and does things which seem quite inexplainable.

One evening, in the village of Manabo, we were attending a
ceremony. Spirit after spirit had appeared, and at their order dances
and other acts had taken place. About ten o'clock a brilliant flash
of lightning occurred, although it was not a stormy evening. The body
of the medium was at that time possessed by Amangau, a head-hunting
spirit. He at once stopped his dance, and announced that he had
just taken the head of a boy from Luluno, and that the people of
his village were even then