The Igorot do not say how long an a-ni'-to lives, and they
have not tried to answer the question of the final disposition of
a-ni'-to, but in various ceremonials a-ni'-to of several generations
of ancestors are invited to the family feast, so the Igorot does not
believe that the a-ni'-to ceases, as an a-ni'-to, in what would be
the lifetime of a person.
When an a-ni'-to dies or changes its form it may become a snake --
and the Igorot never kills a snake, except if it bothers about his
dwelling; or it may become a rock -- there is one such a-ni'-to rock
on the mountain horizon north of Bontoc; but the most common form for
a dead a-ni'-to to take is li'-fa, the phosphorescent glow in the
dead wood of the mountains. Why or how these various changes occur
the Igorot does not understand.
In many respects the dreamer has seen the a-ni'-to world in great
detail. He has seen that a-ni'-to are rich or poor, old or young,
as were the persons at death, and yet there is progression, such
as birth, marriage, old age, and death. Each man seems to know in
what part of the mountains his a-ni'-to will dwell, because some one
of his ancestors is known to inhabit a particular place, and where
one ancestor is there the children go to be with him.
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