Kamatayan, the Iron Serpent

History and Legends
According to local legend, the earliest inhabitants of Puthawanan did not know death. Their bodies, immortal as the Arimaonga mountains, never grew feeble with age. But one day, the Lion Celestial Eater’s play unearthed a new tunnel that led deep into the mountains. Curious islanders entered it to mine what they thought were veins of ore. Instead, they had been hammering away at the scales of the sleeping Kamatayan. The incensed spirit took vengeance upon the intruders by conjuring lightning bolts that fell from the sky. The miners were struck with such force that their bodies crumbled to dust and they died where they stood.

Their grieving families followed the serpent as she snaked her way to the sea and pleaded with her to give back their kin. After nine days and nights of prayer and offerings, the spirit took pity on the islanders. In exchange for their reverence, they would gain the opportunity to meet their loved ones once again. Since then, the people of Puthawanan have worshipped the Iron Serpent, who gives the deceased a new life after death.Kamatayan dwells deep beneath the ocean waves, returning to their communities each year. Each of her white scales is a lustrous shell that contains an ancestor’s spirit. Her form is ever-growing to accommodate her new residents.

Where the Iron Serpent entered the ocean now stands the seaside town of Agusan, founded by those who first spoke with her and now populated by their descendants.

Relationship with the Islanders
Simple shrines dedicated to Kamatayan can be found along the coastline and near ancestral burial sites, raised on wooden posts or carved into the mountainside. Several dot the banks of rivers, for the rushing water helps carry one’s prayers to the ocean where the spirit dwells. Limestone carvings and coiled metal figures that represent the Iron Serpent are usually placed upon these altars along with tree resins that are burned as incense.

In Agusan, some locals wear jewelry made from snake bones. These anting-anting act as wards against lightning by invoking the Iron Serpent’s protection and are popular with fishermen and traders who must traverse the open sea.

Locals and visitors alike might visit a mambabatok to have snakeskin tattooed on their chest or arms. Often seen on datus, babaylan and warriors, these lifelong talismans safeguard the wearer from harm, whether it be from one’s enemies in war or from malevolent magic. Ritual designs must only be given to the truly devout, for those who abandon the spirit while bearing these patterns are cursed with early death.

Funerary Rites
Surviving family members cleanse the body of the deceased with saltwater, dress it with herbs, then seat it in a death chair. Members of the community come to pay their respects for nine days, culminating in a mountain cave burial. After the funeral, all who came in contact with the deceased must bathe in river water to wash away the smell of death, lest Kamatayan come for them, too.

Failure to practice the proper rites can bring disease and misfortune, which can only be rectified with animal offerings. To appease the spirit, babaylan sacrifice chickens, cutting open each bird to look at its liver. If it is white, the ritual was a success and the spirit is satisfied.

Important Festivals
There are three annual celebrations held to invoke the Iron Serpent: one for the beginning of the trade season, another for luck in war, and the last to venerate ancestors. In anticipation of the Amihan, traders and travelers gather to chant on the docks, asking the spirit for safe passage. They wash the nearby shrines with seawater while the scent of burning incense helps their voices reach the spirit.

The stormy Habagat winds help carry warships to the northern isles, where raids are launched at dawn. Clouded and moonless nights provide ideal cover, and it is under these conditions that Puthawanans sing prayers to Kamatayan for protection from enemy blows and potential dangers at sea.

When they return home, they set a portion of their plunder aside for the Iron Serpent and send it out with the tides on bamboo rafts. If these do not return, then they know that the spirit has accepted their offering.

The beginning of harvest season is when the islanders most wish to share their bounty with their loved ones, and is marked by extravagant feasts meant to invite Kamatayan to return with the spirits of the deceased. For nine days and nights, tuba flows freely while ancestors temporarily enter the bodies of the living, eating and drinking through them. Grilled fish, smoked pork, and hearty root vegetable stews are served with rice to the whole community outdoors.

Lively festival music featuring bamboo flutes, zithers, and stamping tubes serenade the visiting ancestors and encourage people to dance in groups with graceful, synchronized movements. Metal gongs, the handles of which are made from the jawbones of enemies, are said to distract malevolent spirits during the celebrations.