Note 66 — Ritualistic and Explanatory Myths

Myths 55 to 62 at first glance to not appear to be explanatory at all, but seem rather to be a series of stories dealing with the relations between certain persons and the natural spirits or those of the dead. However, Page 28it is the intent and use rather than the form of these stories which has caused them to be included in this division, for they give the people authority for certain beliefs and conceptions which they hold. Tale 56 gives us a glimpse of the prevalent idea of the abode of the dead, where the spirits lead much the same sort of life as they did while alive, but we secure quite a different picture of this realm from the Baluga66 tale, in which the home of the deceased is said to be in the ground while the “life” of the dead woman is kept in a bamboo cup. This last account was heard in Manabo, a town near to the Igorot settlements of the Upit river, and may be influenced by the beliefs held in that section.67