Chapter Eleventh

Which treats of the rites and ceremonies observed by the Moros in the vicinity of Manilla, and of their social conditions

The god Batala.  According to the religion formerly observed by these Moros, they worshiped a deity called among them Batala, which properly means “God.”  They said that they adored this Batala because he was the Lord of all, and had created human beings and villages.  They said that this Batala had many agents under him, whom he sent to this world to produce, in behalf of men, what is yielded here.  These beings were called anitos, and each anito had a special office.  Some of them were for the fields, and some for those who journey by sea; some for those who went to war, and some for diseases.  Each anito was therefore named for his office; there was, for instance, the anito of the fields, and the anito of the rain.  To these anitos the people offered sacrifices, when they desired anything—­to each one according to his office.  The mode of sacrifice was like that of the Pintados.  They summoned a catalonan, which is the same as the vaylan among the Pintados, that is, a priest.  He offered the sacrifice, requesting from the anito whatever the people desired him to ask, and heaping up great quantities of rice, meat, and fish.  His invocations lasted until the demon entered his body, when the catalonan fell into a swoon, foaming at the mouth.  The Indians sang, drank, and feasted until the catalonan came to himself, and told them the answer that the anito had given to him.  If the sacrifice was in behalf of a sick person, they offered many golden chains and ornaments, saying that they were paying a ransom for the sick person’s health.  This invocation of the anito continued as long as the sickness lasted.

When the natives were asked why the sacrifices were offered to the anito, and not to the Batala, they answered that the Batala was a great lord, and no one could speak to him.  He lived in the sky; but the anito, who was of such a nature that he came down here to talk with men, was to the Batala as a minister, and interceded for them.  In some places and especially in the mountain districts, when the father, mother, or other relative dies, the people unite in making a small wooden idol, and preserve it.  Accordingly there is a house which contains one hundred or two hundred of these idols.  These images also are called anitos; for they say that when people die, they go to serve the Batala.  Therefore they make sacrifices to these anitos, offering them food, wine, and gold ornaments; and request them to be intercessors for them before the Batala, whom they regard as God.