Billones: Earthlings

MY OLD folks were veritable earthlings; they were farmers by heart, totally in deference to nature and its mysteries. In fact, they lived by the signs and patterns of the universe.

At the start of the year Nanay would teach us to take note of the tubong. The first twelve days of January represent the months of the year, and the weather condition of each day would be a fair indication of the climatic trend throughout the year. Thus, if it rained on January 5, there was a fair chance that May would be a wet month.

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An indispensable item in the house was the tide calendar, supplemented by the Almanaque La Panayana. No decision was ever made without consulting the calendar and the almanac. Harrowing, planting, harvesting, and even such activities as baptism and house building were done in relation to the phases of the moon and the state of the tides.

Folks looked up to the heavens for signs. A cirrus cloud formation was favorable for breaking the ground and planting root crops. A starry night with a clear view of the balatas (Milky Way) across the sky was an indication of a long dry season. On the other hand, an upside down quarter moon crescent was a sign of rain.

We farm kids had our own game seasons defined by the nature cycles. We looked forward to the full moon to play our games of tubiganay and enter-enter. We would know it was time to stow away the trompos and start making boradors when the winds of March start blowing. At the first rain of May, it was certain that within the next few days we would be shaking trees for labog-labog. And with the opening of classes in June we farm kids would have great fun selling spiders to our city counterparts.

The latter part of the year, more often than not was rainy, if not stormy, season. To while away the gloom, we would take out the sungkaan or played other indoor games like balinsay and bug-oy.

Now all these seem to have been buried in the past. The cycles of nature have been upset. The tubong doesn’t seem to work anymore. The only time we see the balatas clearly is during a power failure when there is no glare, and mostly, in the aftermath of a typhoon when smog has been blown away. The sungka, balinsay, and bug-oy have given way to the PSP, and the labog-labog and spiders are threatened with extinction by insecticides and other toxic chemicals in the atmosphere.

Perhaps we should learn from the earthling view of things. Let us remember that we are but a speck in the totality of the universe, at the mercy of its laws. Everything about man, from the food we eat to the sources of our leisure comes from the earth, the production of which can only be governed by the cycles of nature.

We might have forgotten that human existence pulses and beats with the workings of the universe. Our daily lives are governed by the rising and setting of the sun; we measure our routines in a cycle of 24 hours, which is the amount of time it takes for the earth to rotate around its axis. We measure our year as the length of time it takes the planet to revolve around the sun. The year is further broken down into 28-day periods, during which the moon undergoes a cycle of four phases. That’s why we call them months or bulan. Each month is then divided into four quarters, each of which makes up a week of seven days. (The Gregorian calendar made adjustments to this measurement, giving us four months with 30 days each, seven with 31, and one with 28 with provision for an extra day every four years.)

The earth tilts on its axis four times in a year causing the seasons: summer, autumn, winter, and spring in temperate countries; and the rainy and dry spells in the tropics.

Undeniably these cycles, not to mention natural calamities, have direct impact on life on earth, and therefore profound influence on human life: economics, politics, culture, and ultimately, history. Don’t we find it interesting that our ancient ancestors named the days of the week after heavenly bodies: the moon for Monday, Mars for Tuesday, Mercury for Wednesday, Jupiter for Thursday, Venus for Friday, Saturn for Saturday, and the sun for Sunday?

Somewhere along the line though, man started entertaining the odd notion that he is the master of the universe, and can simply take liberties with its laws. He began to act in misstep and out of tune with the cycles of nature. Now he reaps the fruits of disaster.

It is time we should get rid of the idea that the universe was made for man. In fact, in the totality of things, mankind might just be a momentary passing thought. I cannot help but be troubled by the cry: Save Mother Earth. The earth has been around for millions and millions of years, undergoing catastrophic upheavals and changes. Yet, while its history is littered by the extinction of a lot of species, the earth is still here, as it will be for some time to come, even long after mankind is gone. Supposing we say, “Save ourselves from destruction.” Perhaps this would change the way we look at things altogether: work WITH the earth that humankind might survive, at least for another millennium.

The tubong signs we are seeing now are that of the extinction of the human race. It is time we post our tide calendars on the wall and open our almanaques.

It is time we become earthlings and ponder on the words of the great Teacher: Thy will be done on earth….as it is in heaven.