Almanacs

PINOY KASI


Almanacs
By Michael Tan
Inquirer

Last updated 00:53am (Mla time) 03/14/2007

Ever heard of Don Honorio Lopez’s “Kalendariong Tagalog”? It’s an almanac that comes out annually, the 2007 edition being its 109th. A slim newsprint pamphlet of about 40 pages, it’s a treasure trove of assorted information and, for social scientists, a way of looking into local culture.

Before doing the cultural analysis, let me walk you through the almanac’s contents. The almanac’s main section is the calendar. Looking at March 14 for example, we find out it’s the feast day of Saints Leuvino, Florentina and Matilde.

The almanac also tells us that the previous day was the waning quarter moon (pagliit sa alakdan) and that by March 19, you’ll have a new moon. March 19, as many of you already know, is the feast of San Jose (the Virgin Mary’s Saint Joseph). The almanac also tells us that the day is the fiesta for San Jose del Monte, Bulakan; Baras, Rizal; Polilyo, Tayabas; Balanga and Kabkabin in Bataan.

Agrarian origins

If I may return to March 13, high tide today will be at 4:04 p.m. Are you thinking of agricultural activities? You may have to wait. March 11 would have been a good day for planting, while March 18 is your next good day for plowing the fields. (I take it “pag-araro” [plowing] is meant strictly in its agricultural sense, although it can also have other, less land-based meanings.)

The list of auspicious days for planting and plowing are said to apply as well to fishing, meaning if you want to seed your fishponds, you look for the good days for planting.

This almanac, like so many of its counterparts in other countries, clearly has its roots in agriculture. Other countries’ almanacs are much more elaborate, predicting the weather, suggesting what crops to plant and how they should be planted.

The Chinese probably have the most elaborate almanacs, which they call “Tong Shu” (the “everything book”). The books follow both the sun and the moon and the way they usher in different parts of the seasons (for example, beginning of the spring, beginning of the small frost, beginning of the great frost). These descriptions help to guide farmers with their planting activities.

The Chinese almanacs also have extensive advice on what you can or can’t do on a certain day, from opening a new business, to getting a haircut, to cleaning the grave sites of relatives. It also tells you if the day will be good, or bad, for certain people, depending on their year of birth (e.g., the year of the dog).

As if all that were not enough, “Tong Shu” has amulets printed inside, which you can use to deflect bad feng shui, or attract good luck.

The Chinese almanacs are taken fairly seriously, with thousands upon thousands of copies, produced by different people, being sold each year. Even the television channels in Hong Kong and Taiwan will feature Tong Shu advice for the day and, in a modern twist, that will include whether it’s a good day to buy stocks or not.

Heroes, jerks

Almanacs clearly work on the psyche. On one hand, it helps to give some certainty to an uncertain world. Some people just need to be able to feel they’re setting out in the right direction for the day. One can understand why this was so important for farmers, given nature’s vagaries. Simply knowing the movements from one season’s phase to another probably gives order and meaning to farmers’ lives.

One would have expected that with all the advances of technology today, almanacs would have gone out of fashion, but for the Chinese at least, even the most modernized, the almanacs are still important. I suspect the most avid followers are business people, given the high risks that they take. And I worry, at times, about how people develop a dependency on the almanacs, to the point of paranoia about possible misfortune.

“Kalendariong Tagalog” [Tagalog Calendar] is more restrained, but it still reflects our need for some degree of control over nature, over our lives. The lunar cycles and the high tides are clearly for agriculture and fisheries. But in addition, there’s a strong dose of Western astrology in here. Thus, before the entry for Feb. 21, “Kalendariong Tagalog” tells us we are entering Pisces. Males born on this date, the almanac predicts, will be happy and hard-working, and will get rich in their old age. In their being daring and in their loquaciousness, they will have more than their share of ill feelings (presumably generated in others). After that long discussion of the Pisces male, we find that a Pisces female should just harbor pleasant (“magandang”) feelings and thoughts toward her spouse.

There’s more. The almanac has a whole section preparing women for their husbands, depending on what their astrological sign is. I learned, I hope not belatedly, that male Geminis need to feel free and unshackled. And advice for women who marry such creatures? Just consider them friends, take good care of them and remain faithful.

Gender-sensitive the almanac is not. There is no section describing women by their astrological signs, and what their husbands need to do to keep their marriage happy. Presumably, women have to adjust to the jerks they married.

But I have to say the almanac sort of redeems itself by being nationalistic. Besides listing saints and fiestas, they have some historical information as well. The cover of the almanac, in fact, has a kind of secular pantheon of Filipino heroes: I was able to identify Rizal at the center, surrounded by Burgos (the priest), Del Pilar, Bonifacio, Mabini and Lopez-Jaena.

Yes, all male. But hey, you can’t be perfect here. I did appreciate Don Honorio’s nationalism. For March 19, we find this citation: “When Magallanes arrived in the Archipelago we had our own government, faith, laws, etc. 1521.” Not bad, huh? (A recent lecture from historian Zeus Salazar was a bit blunter: What did Magellan do in 1521 except to get himself killed by Lapu-lapu?)

For those who are interested, you’ll find birthdays of national heroes and of presidents. Note how I separated the two categories.

It would be wonderful if we could see expanded almanacs. Maybe when I retire, I’ll work on one. It will have lists upon lists, of Filipino inventions and discoveries, of the arcane and the strange (like that bridge in Bohol province that they kept building until they realized it was going to run into a church), and of course it will have all kinds of practical information, including recipes upon recipes for medicinal plants.

Where to get the almanac? You can buy them direct from the publishers at 152 Scout Gandia Street in Kamuning, Quezon City, or pick up one in Quiapo from the amulet vendors. While you’re in Quiapo, you might as well ask the vendors for their amazing spells and charms for dealing with feckless good-for-nothing husbands or partners. Enough with suffering women having to be the ones to look up the time when high tide comes in.