Filipino Ethnoastronomy How did our ancestors see the stars? What did they associate them with? How

Filipino Ethnoastronomy

How did our ancestors see the stars? What did they associate them with? How did they use them to mark the changing of the seasons?

Two prominent stars were Orion and Pleiades. While, some Spanish terms for the stars, such as Tres Maria or Tatlong Maria, used to refer to Orions Belt, and Rosaryo, for Pleiades to refer to the rosary, are more commonly known today, our ancestors had native terms and beliefs in these stars.

They used the movement of the stars, sun, and moon to know when the seasons changed from the wet and dry season, to when to start planting or clearing the fields based on kaingin farming. They saw images of hunting traps, crabs, coconut trees, ripples or bubbles in the water, a weaving loom, and more.

⭐ One of the most well known astronomers & known as the father of Filipino Ethnoastronomy, was Dante Lacsamana Ambrosio.

He paved the way to relearning about how our ancestors saw the stars and did fieldwork to collecting names and beliefs of different stars throughout the Philippines. He made several articles talking about Filipino Ethnoastronomy and also published his book, Balatik: Katutubong Bituin ng mga Pilipino. He unfortunately passed away in 2011.

➡️What about you? Do you know any local names and beliefs of stars in your language or hometown that you’d like to share?

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