magani stands ready to sacrifice a chicken.  He allows some of the blood from the offering to drip onto the poles, at the same time begging the spirits not to let the people fight or quarrel during the GinEm, “for blood is now being offered.”  In at least two recent offerings the datu urged the spirits to be content with this offering of a fowl, since it was impossible for them to kill a man.  At this time, it is said, the skulls of enemies should be attached to the patan’nan.  As the leader finishes his offering, the men and boys gather about the poles and yell lustily, then sit quietly down and amuse themselves by chewing betel nut until the chicken, just killed, and the other food has been prepared for eating.  Old dishes are placed in the center of the floor and in them food is offered for all the spirits, but in the exact center of all is a large plate of white food for the supreme being.  A second large dish of food is placed in a tambara at the corner of the room as an offering to the warrior deities “so that they will not eat anyone during the fiesta.”  Again the spirits are besought to give them a good year, with abundant crops, health, and success in war.  Going to the patan’nan each magani, beginning with the datu or his son, takes hold of the poles, and in a loud voice, begins to confess all his warlike deeds.  He relates how and when he killed his victims, the number of sacrifices he has participated in, the towns he has sacked and the slaves he has captured.  In short, he tells of all the manly deeds he has performed in order to gain the right to wear his red suit and be known as magani.  When all have confessed, the men and boys eat the chicken which was sacrificed before the poles, and from then until near midnight, all the people may dance to the music of the agongs or may indulge in feasting and drinking.  From the middle of the night until daybreak they chant songs or poems, many words of which are now obsolete so that they are not fully understood.[1]

[1] Mr. Gohn informs me that at midnight during the last GinEm made by Datu Ali in Santa Cruz, a gun was fired, and the datu said that a sacrifice should have taken place at that time.

The festival may last one or more days.  The last held in Cibolan (1909) extended through two days and nights.  At that time no offerings were made to the spirits on the second day, but the people feasted and drank while the datu gathered a little apart and held a council.

In Malilla the second day of this ceremony is called EgbikbEgaybe and is given over almost entirely to the women.  Two tambara are erected in the house, and young betel nut buds and women’s skirts are hung on them.  The women and some men form a line and dance in a circle around the offerings, keeping time to music furnished by beating small gongs, or by pounding on a board resting on a rice mortar.[2]