It is safe to say that one feast
is held daily in Bontoc by some family to appease or win the good
will of some a-ni'-to.
At death the spirit of a beheaded person, the pin-teng', goes above
to chayya, the sky. The old men are very emphatic in this belief. They
always point to the surrounding mountains as the home of the a-ni'-to,
but straight above to chayya, the sky, as the home of the spirit of the
beheaded. The old men say the pin-teng' has a head of flames. There
in the sky the pin-teng' repeat the life of those living in the
pueblo. They till the soil and they marry, but the society is exclusive
-- there are none there except those who lost their heads to the enemy.
The pin-teng' is responsible for the death of every person who
loses his head. He puts murder in the minds of all men who are to
be successful in taking heads. He also sees the outrages of warfare,
and visits vengeance on those who kill babes and small children.
In his relations with the unseen spirit world the Igorot has certain
visible, material friends that assist him by warnings of good and
evil. When a chicken is killed its gall is examined, and, if found to
be dark colored, all is well; if it is light, he is warned of some
pending evil in spirit form.
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