This document is a comprehensive anthropological study detailing the religious life of the Bagobo people, a non-Islamized cultural group residing in the mountainous region of southeastern Mindanao, Philippines. The research was conducted by Laura Watson Benedict through a personal expedition in 1906–1907 , providing an invaluable record of the Bagobo's traditional spiritual practices before their widespread assimilation due to early 20th-century geopolitical and economic pressures, particularly following the American occupation. The work systematically covers the Bagobo polytheistic system, including the hierarchy of gods, the dual nature of the human soul, and the central role of malevolent demons (buso) in daily life. It provides an exhaustive description of major rituals, such as the Ginum festival, which incorporated ceremonial drinking, dancing, and, historically, human sacrifice. Benedict documents the Bagobo's tenacity in retaining their ancient forms of worship despite decades of contact with Moro and Spanish influences. The text is a significant contribution to the study of Philippine ethnology, particularly for its analysis of potential Indo-Iranian influences on Bagobo myth and tradition
A study of Bagobo ceremonial, magic and myth