Snakes, rats, crows, falling stones,
crumbling earth, and the small reddish-brown omen bird, i'-chu,
all warn the Igorot of pending evil.
Exorcist
Since the anito is the cause of all bodily afflictions the chief
function of the person who battles for the health of the afflicted
is that of the exorcist, rather than that of the therapeutist.
Many old men and women, known as "in-sup-ak'," are considered more or
less successful in urging the offending anito to leave the sick. Their
formula is simple. They place themselves near the afflicted part,
usually with the hand stroking it, or at least touching it, and say,
"Anito, who makes this person sick, go away." This they repeat over
and over again, mumbling low, and frequently exhaling the breath to
assist the departure of the anito -- just as, they say, one blows
away the dust; but the exhalation is an open-mouthed outbreathing,
and not a forceful blowing. One of our house boys came home from
a trip to a neighboring pueblo with a bad stone bruise for which
an anito was responsible. For four days he faithfully submitted to
flaxseed poultices, but on the fifth day we found a woman in-sup-ak'
at her professional task in the kitchen.
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