CHAPTER XIII

THE “MANANG,” OR WITCH-DOCTOR

_Manangs_ supposed to possess mysterious powers over evil spirits—Dyak theory of disease—Treatment of disease—_Lupong_, or box of charms—_Batu Ilau_—_Manang_ performances—_Pagar Api_—Catching the soul—Sixteen different _manang_ ceremonies—Killing the demon _Buyu_—_Saut_—Salampandai—Deceit of _manangs_—Story of a schoolboy—Smallpox and cholera—Three ceremonies of initiation—Different ranks of _manangs_.

Among the lower races of mankind there is always to be found the witch-doctor, who claims to have mysterious powers, and to be able to hold communication with the spirit-world. Where there is ignorance as to the cause of disease, and the effects that different medicines have on the human body, magical ceremonies and pretensions to supernatural powers are allowed full sway. Fear and anxiety in cases of illness make men eager to believe in any suggested remedy, however absurd it may be. The Dyaks are no exception to the rule. They have their _manangs_, or witch-doctors.

The peculiar attribute of the _manang_ is the possession of mysterious powers over the spirits, rather than any special knowledge of medicines. There is often some small idea of the use of certain simple herbal remedies, but it is not on this knowledge that his importance depends. The great function of the _manang_ is to defeat and drive away the malignant spirits which cause sickness and death. All maladies are supposed to be inflicted by the passing or the touch of demons, who are enemies to mankind. The Dyak description of most diseases is _pansa utai_, literally “something passed him.” A spirit passed him and struck him. In accordance with this idea of disease, the only person who can cure the sick man is the one who can cope with the unseen evil spirit. The _manang_ claims to be able to do this. He can charm or persuade or kill the evil spirit and rescue the departing soul from his cruel clutches. When called in to attend a patient, he, in company with other medicine-men, goes through a performance called _Pelian_. There are different varieties of this ceremony, according to the disease and the amount of the fees paid.

_Manangs_ are generally called to their profession by a revelation made to them in dreams by some spirit. Each _manang_, therefore, claims to have a familiar spirit, whom he can call to his aid when necessary. When a person receives a call from the spirit, he bids adieu for a while to his relatives, abandons his former occupations, and attaches himself to some other experienced _manang_, who, for a consideration, will take him in hand and instruct him in the incantations, a knowledge of which is necessary for his calling.

The _manang_ looks upon a sick person as in the power of an evil spirit. As long as that spirit remains in possession, the patient cannot recover. He bids it depart. If it be obstinate and will not go, he summons his own familiar spirit to his aid. If the evil spirit still refuse to go, then the _manang_ admits his inability to deal with the case alone, and several other _manangs_ are called to his aid.

Whether the patient live or die, the _manang_ is rewarded for his trouble. He makes sure of this before he undertakes a case, as he is put to considerable inconvenience by being fetched away from his own home and his own work. He takes up his abode with the patient, and has his meals with the family, and in other ways makes himself at home. If a cure be effected, he receives a present in addition to his regular fee. Herbal remedies are often administered internally or applied outwardly by him, but, in addition to these, spells are muttered and incantations made to exorcize the evil spirit that is tormenting the man.

Every _manang_ consults his familiar spirit as to what is best to be done for the case. When a person complains of pain in his body, the familiar is said to suggest that some mischievous spirit has put something into him to cause the pain. The _manang_ will then manipulate the part, and pretend to draw something out—a small piece of wood or a stone, or whatever it may chance to be—and exhibit it as the cause of the pain in the body. This he has by his magical power been able to remove from the body without even leaving a mark on the skin!

The _manang_ always possesses a _lupong_, or medicine-box (see p. 184), generally made of the bark of a tree, and this is filled with charms consisting of scraps of wood or bark, curiously twisted roots, pebbles, and fragments of quartz. These medicinal charms are either inherited, or have been revealed by the spirits in dreams to their owners. One important and necessary charm is the _Batu Ilau_ (“stone of light”)—a bit of quartz crystal which every _manang_ possesses.

The _manang_ never carries his own box of charms; the people who fetch him must carry it for him. He arrives at the house of the sick man generally at sunset, for he never performs in daylight, unless the case is very serious and he is paid extra for doing so. It is difficult and dangerous work, he says, to have any dealings with the spirits in the daytime. Sitting down by the patient, after some inquiries, he produces out of his medicine-box a boar’s tusk or pebble, or some other charm, and gently strokes the body with it. If there be several medicine-men called in, the leader undertakes the preliminary examination, the rest giving their assent.

The _manang_ now produces his _Batu Ilau_ (“stone of light”), and gravely looks into it to diagnose the character of the disease, and to see where the soul is, and to discover what is the proper ceremony necessary for the case in question. Where there is serious illness the witch-doctor affirms that the spirit of the afflicted person has already left the body and is on its way to the next world, but that he may be able to overtake it and bring it back, and restore it to the person to whom it belongs. He pretends to converse with the spirit that troubles the sick man, repeating aloud the answers that the spirit is supposed to make.

There are many different ceremonies resorted to in cases of illness, but the following is what is common to all _manang_ performances.

In the public hall of the Dyak house a long-handled spear is fixed blade upwards, with a few leaves tied round it, and at its foot are placed the medicine-boxes of all the witch-doctors who take part in the ceremony. This is called the _Pagar Api_ (“fence of fire”). Why it is called by this curious name is not clear. The _manangs_ all squat on the floor, and the leader begins a long monotonous drawl, the rest either singing in concert or joining in the choruses or singing antiphonally with him. After a tiresome period of this dull drawling, they stand up and march with slow and solemn step in single file round the _Pagar Api_. The monotonous chant sometimes slackens, sometimes quickens, as they march round and round the whole night through, with only one interval for food in the middle of the night. The patient simply lies on his mat and listens.

Most of what is chanted is unintelligible, and consists of meaningless sounds, it being supposed that what is not understood by man is intelligible to the spirits. But some parts of it, though expressed in very prolix and ornate language, can be understood by the careful listener.

The witch-doctors call upon the sickness to be off to the ends of the earth, and return to the unseen regions from whence it came. They invoke the aid of spirits and of ancient worthies and unworthies down to their own immediate ancestors, and spin the invocation out to a sufficient length to last till early morning. Then comes the climax to which all this has been leading—the truant soul has to be caught and brought back again to the body of the sick man.

If the patient be in a dangerous state they pretend his soul has escaped far away. Perhaps they give out that it has escaped to the river, and they will wave about a garment or a piece of woven cloth to imitate the action of throwing a casting net to enclose it as a fish is caught. Or else they say that it has escaped into the jungle, and they will rush out of the house to secure it there. Or perhaps they say that it has been carried over the sea to unknown lands, and they all sit down and imitate the action of paddling a boat to follow it. But this is only done in special cases, and I have often been told by Dyaks who have been present at a particular _manang_ performance: “The man was very ill indeed. His _samengat_ (soul) had gone so far away that the _manangs_ had great difficulty in finding it. They paddled over the sea, they threw a net into the water, and did many other things before they ultimately succeeded in catching it.”

Generally the next thing they do is to move faster and faster, till they rush round the _Pagar Api_ as hard as they can, still singing their incantation. One of their number suddenly falls to the floor and remains motionless. The others sit down round him. The motionless _manang_ is covered over with a blanket, and all wait while his spirit is supposed to hurry away to the other world to find the wandering soul and bring it back. Presently he revives, and looks vacantly round like a man just waking out of sleep. Then he raises his right hand, clenched as if holding something. That hand contains the soul, and he proceeds to the patient and solemnly returns it to the body of the sick man through the crown of his head, muttering at the same time more words of incantation. This “catching of the soul” (_nangkap samengat_) is the great end to which all that has preceded leads up. One function remains to complete the cure. A live fowl must be waved over the patient, and as he does so, the leader sings a special invocation of great length. The animal is afterwards killed as an offering to the spirits, and eaten by the _manangs_.

I have given a general account of all _Pelian_ or _manang_ performances. There are different kinds of ceremonies, according to the advice of the _manang_ or the fee the patient is prepared to pay. In the following list are the names of the principal _Pelian_. If a patient fail to recover after one kind of ceremony, the _manangs_ often recommend another and more expensive one.

1. _Betepas_ (“sweeping”): At the time of the birth of each individual, a plant is supposed to grow up in the other world. If this plant continues to grow well, then the man enjoys good and robust health; if it droops, the man’s health suffers. When a man, therefore, has bad dreams or feels slightly unwell for a few days, his plant in Hades is said to be in a bad condition, and the _manang_ is called to weed and sweep around it, and by doing so improve the condition of the plant, and consequently the health of the man. This is the first and cheapest function of the _manang_. In this he does not “catch the soul,” as is done in the other ceremonies. All he does is to mutter some incantation and wave a fowl over the person.

2. _Berenchah_ (“making an assault”): The door between the private room and the public veranda is thrown open, and the _manangs_ march backwards and forwards between room and veranda. Each _manang_ carries two swords, one in each hand, and he beats these against each other, and they rush at the patient as if to attack him. This is supposed to be making an assault against the evil spirits and scattering them on all sides.

3. _Berua_ (“swinging”): A swing is hung up outside the door of the sick person’s room. The _manang_ sits in this swing, with the double object of catching the man’s soul, if it leave his body, and also of frightening any evil spirit that may come near to hurt the man.

4. _Betanam pentik_ (“planting a _pentik_”): A _pentik_ is a roughly carved wooden representation of a man. The _manang_ rushes through the house three times with this figure, and then plants it in the ground at the foot of the ladder of the house, and near it is put a winnowing-basket, a cooking-pot, and the piece of wood used in weaving to press the threads together. The figure is planted in the ground in the evening. If it remain till the morning in an upright position, recovery is certain; but if it be inclined either to the right or left, it is an omen of death.

5. _Bepancha_ (“making a _pancha_”): A _pancha_ is a swing erected on the tanju, or open-air platform, of the house. In this swing the _manang_ sits, and by the movement of his feet “kicks away” the disease. While seated in this swing he “catches the soul” of the patient.

6. _Ngelembayan_ (“taking a long sight”): A number of planks are laid about in the public veranda, and the _manangs_ walk upon them, chanting their incantations. Then one of their number pretends to swoon, and is supposed to sail over rivers and seas to find the soul and bring it back.

7. _Bebayak_ (“making a _bayak_, or iguana”): Some cooked rice is moulded into the shape of an iguana, and is covered over with cloths. This figure is supposed to eat up the evil spirits which cause the disease.

8. _Nemuai Ka Sabayan_ (“making a journey to Hades”): The _manangs_, with hats on their heads, march up and down the house singing their incantations. While their bodies are doing this, their souls are supposed to speed away to Hades and bring back all manner of medicinal charms and talismans, as well as the wandering soul of the sick man.

9. _Betiang garong_ (“making a post for departed souls”): A piece of bamboo is hung up to the roof-ridge, and an offering is put on the ridge. A swing is erected up there for the _manang_, and he makes his incantations and “catches the soul.”

10. _Begiling lantai_ (“rolled up in the flooring”): In this ceremony, when the _manang_ feigns to swoon, his body is rolled up in part of the flooring, and certain miniature articles are put by his side, just as a dead man’s possessions are put by his body, and the _manang_ is taken out of the house as if to be buried.

11. _Beburong raia_ (“making or acting the adjutant bird”): The _manangs_ walk up and down the house seven times, imitating the actions of the adjutant bird. They are covered with native sheets, put over their bodies like cloaks, and they pretend to personate the bird.

12. _Bebaju besi_ (“wearing an iron coat”): Each _manang_ fastens two choppers on his back and two in front, and carries one in each hand. Thus equipped, they walk round and “catch the soul.”

13. _Bebandong Api_ (“displaying fire”): The patient is laid out in the public part of the house, and several small fires are made round him. The _manangs_ pretend to dissect his body, and fan the flames towards him to drive away the sickness.

14. _Betiti tendai_ (“walking on the _tendai_”): The _tendai_ is the bar on which cotton is placed when being spun. This bar is oiled and placed in the middle of the public veranda, and the _manang_, armed with a chopper in each hand, walks on it in order to “catch the soul” of the patient.

15. _Beremaung_ (“acting the tiger”): In the middle of each family’s portion of the public veranda is placed a wooden mortar, and the _manang_ prowls round them to “catch the soul” of the patient.

16. _Betukup rarong_ (“to split open the coffin”): A _manang_ is put in a coffin, and by his side are put miniature articles, supposed to represent the utensils used in daily life. The other _manangs_ walk round, and attempt to “catch the soul” of the sick man. When they have succeeded in doing this, the coffin is split open and the _manang_ gets out.

These are the different kinds of _manang_ ceremonies known, but only the first four are in common use. The others are rarely resorted to nowadays.

In addition to these must be mentioned the _Munoh Antu_, or _Bepantap Buyu_ (“killing the demon,” or “wounding Buyu”). Buyu is the name of the evil spirit who brings many diseases and causes miscarriage in women. When there is some unusual or obstinate disease, or when a woman has had miscarriage, the _manangs_ declare that Buyu is the cause of the trouble, and must be killed. A large number of witch-doctors are called together, and the feat is performed in this way: The patient is taken out of the room, and laid on the common veranda, and covered with a net. In the room is placed an offering of food, and the _manangs_ walk in procession up and down the whole length of the house, chanting their incantations, and inviting the evil spirit to come to his victim, and also to partake of the sumptuous repast that is prepared for him. This occupies some time, for the spirit may be far away, on a journey, or fishing, or hunting. All lights are extinguished, and in the darkness the _manangs_ walk up and down the public hall of the Dyak house. At intervals one of them peeps in at the door to see if the spirit has arrived. In due time the demon comes, and then the _manangs_ themselves enter the darkened room. Presently sounds of scuffling, of clashing of weapons, and of shouting are heard by the Dyaks outside. Soon after the door is thrown open, and the demon said to be dead. He was cheated into coming to torment his prey, and instead of a weak and helpless victim he met the crafty and mighty _manangs_, who have done what ordinary mortals cannot do—attacked and killed him. As a proof of the reality of the deed lights are brought in, and the _manangs_ point to spots of blood on the floor, and occasionally to the corpse itself in the shape of a dead monkey or snake, which they say was the form the spirit took for the occasion. The trick is a very simple one. Some time in the day the _manangs_ procure blood from a fowl or some other animal, or it may be from their own bodies, mix it with water in a bamboo to prevent congealing, smuggle it into the room, and scatter it on the floor in the dark. This can safely be done, as no one but the _manangs_ themselves are in the room. Neither lights nor outsiders are admitted, on the plea that under such circumstances the demon could not be enticed to enter. The trick has often been detected and the performers openly accused of imposture; consequently, it is not now practised so often as in former times. When this victory over the spirit is won, the _Pelian_ goes on in the usual way till the morning hours.

In addition to these _Pelian_, there is another _manang_ ceremony which is often performed, and known by the name of _Saut_. A feast is always given in the house where this ceremony takes place, so it is the occasion of the gathering of friends from many different Dyak houses. The reasons for having this ceremony are various. If they have had a series of bad harvests, or if one or more people in the house are ill, or if they wish the future of one child or many to be bright and prosperous, then the _manangs_ are called in to perform the _Saut_.

The principal god or deity invoked in this ceremony is Selampandai, the god who fashions mankind out of clay by hammering them out on an anvil. As in other performances of the _manangs_, there is a _Pagar Api_ put up in the open veranda. The ceremony begins at dusk, when three offerings of food are made. The first is to the gods of the women, and this is thrown out of the window of the room to the ground; the second offering is made to the gods of the men, and is thrown out to the ground from the unroofed veranda in front of the house; the third offering is to Selampandai, and this is put in the loft over the _Pagar Api_.

Areca-nut blossoms are placed ready for use on a little shelf, and three plates of rice are put near them as offerings to the spirits. A large valuable jar (_tajau_) filled with native spirit (_tuak_) is placed in the public veranda of the house. If there be a sick man to be cured, he sits on a brass gong (_chanang_) by the _Pagar Api_. The _manangs_ march up and down singing their incantations. After doing this for some time, each of them takes a bunch of areca-blossom in his hands, and they strike each other with these until the blossoms are broken and strew the ground. Then the _manangs_ walk slowly round the jar, bowing to it at each step. After this they join hands, and rush round the jar as fast as they can go, until they are quite exhausted.

During this the guests who have been invited to the feast are seated about eating and drinking, or chatting to each other. Later on in the evening, when the _manangs_ have completed their ceremony, the _tuak_ in the jar is handed round in cups for the guests to drink. As usual at feasts, when a cup of spirit is given to a man, he drinks the contents and keeps the cup, and it is no unusual thing to see a man returning from a feast with twenty or thirty cups in his possession.

There is a good deal of deceit and humbug and a little clumsy sleight-of-hand on the part of the _manang_, and an unlimited amount of faith on the part of the patient. The _manang_ must be conscious of his own deceit, but he believes that his incantations do good, and I have often known cases of _manangs_ having these ceremonies for members of their own family who are ill. But as a rule a _manang_ is not a truthful man at all. He is not above telling any number of lies to increase his importance. He always pretends to have had previous knowledge of what is going to happen, and often says, when he is called in to a case, that he knew some time previously that his patient would be ill and come to him for help.

There can be no doubt that the average Dyak knows that there is a great deal of deceit connected with the _manang’s_ profession, but he also knows he must submit to that deceit if he wishes to have his help, and he believes that in some way the incantations and remarkable actions of the _manangs_ help to scare away the evil spirit which is the cause of the disease.

I remember that one of my schoolboys was on a visit to his relatives in Saribas. His sister was ill, and his parents sent for the _manangs_ to cure her. The boy protested. He said they were Christians, and ought not to make incantations to the spirits. But no notice was taken of what he said. The _manang_ went through the usual farce of “catching the soul” and restoring it to the girl. The boy looked on, and when it was over said to him:

“You are a fraud. You know you cannot ‘catch the soul,’ and you only pretend to do so, and get paid for it.”

The _manang_ was no doubt disgusted at being thus reproved by a little boy, and replied:

“I am able to catch the soul and restore it. I will catch your soul if you like.”

“Do so,” said the boy. “I would like you very much to do it.”

The foolish _manang_ pretended to faint; then he woke up in the orthodox manner with one hand clenched, and when he opened it, lo and behold! there was something there which he declared was the boy’s soul.

The boy sat and looked on while all this went on.

“Here is your soul,” the _manang_ said, “which I have succeeded in catching after much troubled. Let me restore it to you, so that you may be in good health.”

“Call that my soul?” said the boy. “I make a present of it to you. I do not want it. You can keep it. I have a soul which you cannot touch.”

The _manang_ was puzzled. He had never known such a thing as anyone daring to refuse to have his own soul. He spoke to the parents, and said that something terrible would happen to the boy if he persisted in not having his soul returned to his body. The parents wished the boy to do what the _manang_ desired, but he was determined, and did what all Dyak boys do when they are disobedient—ran off into the jungle, where he knew he would not easily be found.

When this boy came back to my school, he told me all about it, and later on, when he and I went to his people, they spoke about it. As the boy was in very good health, they all had a laugh at the _manang’s_ expense. If, however, anything had happened to the boy, no doubt the _manang_ would have made much capital out of it.

I have sometimes argued with a _manang_ that if the soul has already left the body of the patient when he is called in, then the man ought to be dead. The answer to this is that a man has more than one soul. It is only when _all_ his souls leave the body that the man dies. Some Dyaks assert that a man has three souls, and others seven. Their ideas on this matter do not agree.

Though the _manang_ is supposed to be able to defeat the evil spirits which cause disease, there are some diseases which are too terrible for even his mystical powers. The epidemic scourges of cholera and smallpox are said to be caused by the direct influence of evil spirits. Smallpox is said to be caused by the King of Evil Spirits, because it is such a terrible disease. The name by which it is known among the Dyaks is _Sakit Rajah_ (the sickness of, or caused by, the King of Evil Spirits). But the _manangs_ will not go near a case of either. Probably a consciousness of their own powerlessness, combined with a fear of infection, has made them assert that those diseases do not come within reach of their powers. Other means, such as propitiatory sacrifices and offerings, must be resorted to.

To qualify a man to take part in this mixed system of symbolism and deceit, a form of initiative ceremony is gone through by other witch-doctors, in the course of which he is supposed to learn the secrets of his mystic calling. The aspirant to the office of _manang_ must first commit to memory a certain amount of Dyak traditional lore, to enable him to take part in the incantations in company with other witch-doctors. But in addition to this, before he can accomplish the more important parts, such as pretending to catch the soul of a sick man, he must be publicly initiated by one or more of the following ceremonies:

1. The first is called _Besudi_, which means “feeling,” or “touching.” The aspirant sits in the veranda of the Dyak house, and a number of witch-doctors walk round him singing incantations the whole night. The ceremony performed over him is the same as that done for a sick man (_Pelian_). This is supposed to endow him with the power to touch and feel the maladies of the body, and apply the requisite cure. It admits to the lowest grade, called _manang mata_ (unripe _manang_), and is obtainable for the lowest fees.

2. If a _manang_ wishes to attain a higher grade, he goes through a second ceremony, which is called _Bekliti_, or “opening.” A whole night’s incantation is again gone through by the other _manangs_, and in the early morning the great function of initiation is carried out. The witch-doctors lead the aspirant into an apartment curtained off from public gaze by large sheets of native woven cloth. There they assert they cut his head open, and take out his brains and wash and restore them. This is to give him a clear mind to penetrate into the mysteries of disease and to circumvent the wiles of the unseen spirits. They insert gold-dust into his eyes to give him keenness and strength of sight, so that he may be able to see the soul wherever it may have wandered. They plant barbed hooks in the tips of his fingers to enable him to seize the struggling soul and hold it fast, and, lastly, they pierce his heart with an arrow to make him tender-hearted and full of sympathy with the sick and suffering. Needless to say, none of these things are done. A few symbolic actions representing them are all that are gone through. A cocoanut is placed on the head of the man and split open instead of the head, and so on. After this second ceremony the man is a fully-qualified _manang_—a _manang mansau_ (a ripe _manang_)—competent to practise all parts of his deceitful craft.

3. There is, however, a third and highest grade, which is attainable only by ambitious candidates who are rich enough to make the necessary outlay. They may become _manang bangun_, _manang enjun_ (_manangs_ waved upon, _manangs_ trampled upon). As in other cases, this involves a whole night’s ceremony, in which many of the older witch-doctors take part. They begin by walking round and round the aspirant to this high honour, and wave over him bunches of betel-nut blossom. This is the _bangun_ (the waving upon). Then in the middle of the veranda a large jar is placed having a short ladder fastened on each side and connected at the top. At various intervals during the night the _manangs_, leading the new candidate, march him up one ladder and down the other, but what this is supposed to symbolize is not clear. As a finish to this play at mysteries, the man lays himself flat on the floor and the others walk over him and trample upon him. In some mysterious way this action is supposed to impart to him the supernatural power they themselves possess. This is the _enjun_, the “trampling upon.” The fees necessary to obtain this highest grade among witch-doctors are high, and therefore few are able to afford it. One who has been through this ceremony will often be heard to boast that he is no ordinary spirit-controller or soul-catcher, but something far superior—a _manang bangun, manang enjun_.

There is a yet higher grade which some _manangs_ attain to—that is, when he becomes a _manang bali_. _Bali_ means “changed,” and a _manang bali_ is one who is supposed to have changed his sex, and become a woman.

Sometimes a male _manang_ assumes female attire. He does this, it is said, because he has had a supernatural command conveyed to him in dreams on three separate occasions. To disregard such a command would mean death. He prepares a feast, and sacrifices a pig or two to avert evil consequences to the tribe, and then assumes female costume. Thenceforth he is treated like a woman, and occupies himself in female pursuits. His chief aim in life is to copy female manners and habits as accurately as possible.

A _manang bali_ is paid much higher fees than an ordinary _manang_, and is often called in when others have been unable to effect a cure. I do not think there is ever a case of a young man becoming a _manang bali_. Generally it is an old and childless man who uses this means of earning a livelihood.

The only occasion on which I have met a _manang bali_ was in the upper part of the Krian River. He seemed a poor sort of creature, and appeared to me to be looked down upon by the Dyaks, though they were glad enough to ask his help in cases of illness. He had a “husband,” a lazy good-for-nothing, who lived on the earnings of the _manang bali_.

Women as well as men may become _manangs_, though it is not usual to meet many such nowadays. I have only come across one woman _manang_, and that was at Temudok, though I have heard of several others in different parts of the country.

The fact that the _manang_ claims to be able to hold communion with the spirit-world would lead one to suppose that he is the priest of the Dyak system of worship. But in practice the _manang_ is more a doctor than a priest. His aid is always called in case of illness, but not necessarily at the great religious functions of the Dyaks—the sacrifice of propitiation to Pulang Gana, the god of the earth, or the sacrificial feast to Singalang Burong, the god of war. Generally, other Dyaks are the officiating ministers on these occasions, the only requisite qualification being the ability to chant the invocation and incantations which accompany the offering and ceremonies. Also at marriages or at burials the _manang_ is not the officiant, but some old man of standing, who has a reputation for being fortunate in his undertakings. A _manang_ may be the officiant, not by virtue of his office, but for other reasons.