Songs from the Sky – South America

Songs from the Sky – South America

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pp. 180-192 Gary Urton : "Constructions of the Ritual-Agricultural Calendar in Pacariqtambo, Peru". [Kec^ua]

p. 181, Table 1 single stars and star-to-star constellations

*name*	*meaning*	*identity*
c^>issin c^>aska	evening star	(planet)
cusca tuta c^>aska	midnight star	"
illarimi c^>aska	morning star	"
hatun yuthu	large cross	thorax of Scorpius
huc^>uy yuthu	small cross	Southern Cross
‘mal agu:ero cruz’	bad luck cross	"false cross" in Carina
qolqa	storehouse	Pleiades
‘arado’	plough	sword of Orion
‘cabeza’	head (of ploughman)	Hyades
‘ganados’	cattle	belt of Orion
condor	condor	Ara
llama-canc^a	Corona Australis	llama-corral

p. 181, Table 1 dark cloud (yana phuyu) constellations

*name*	*meaning*	*identity*
llamaq-n~awin	llama’s eyen	a & b Centauri
yuthu-n~awin	partridge’s (tinamou’s) eyen	i Crucis
atoq-n~awin	fox’s eyen	a & b Scutae
hap>atu	toad	(dark spot in south)
mac^>acuay	snake	(dark streak in south)

p. 181, Table 1 spots of little stars

*name*	*meaning*	*identity*
hatun atawa	large coffin	Large Magellanic Cloud
huc^>uy atawa	small coffin	Small Magellanic Cloud

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pp. 193-227 Peter G. Roe : "Aspects of Shipibo and Quechua Ethnoastronomy Compared". [mostly S^ipibo; Kec^wa only on pp. 218-221]

[substituting /k/ for /c/ and for /qu/, /w/ for /hu/, /s^/ for /sh/, /c^/ for /ch/]

p. 195 cosmic stage

p.	*stage*
195a	"stacked ... worlds" : "Each domain has its Spirits, Yoshi, and is held together by a World Tree (Ceiba pentandra) armature with ophidian roots. ... Through these places the shamans (onaya, nishi shamis, literally, "knowers," or "vine drinkers," ie., Banisteriopsis caapi, ayahuasca) shuttle in their hallucinatory voyages to communicate with the spirits and cure/bewitch their patients/victims. The Huistin Jonibo ("Star People") once inhabited the terrestrial plane, like the Moon, ascending to the heavens via a ladder of arrows with Huishmabo, the Pleiades, in beginning time (moatian icani) ... Today the Stars occupy the "high heavens," ... far above the "cloud or sky villages" (nai je:ma) of the Sky Spirits : Nai Ino (Sky Jaguars), the Rainbow and Thunder Clap/Lightning Bolt Yoshi."
195b	Stars’ "twinkling, be:ribe:ri, is ... shivering of ... cold." "Shooting stars ... are harbingers of good luck."

pp. 195-214 asterisms-constellations etc. {please do note the close similarities between the S^ipibo and the European (Hellenic) meanings of these for #s 2, 5a, 23}

p.	#	*name*	*meaning*	*identity*
196a	1	Bari	Sun	"wearing a necklace ..., Sun journeys in a canoe paddled by ... King Vultures {cf. [Aztec] cozca-quauhtli ‘necklace-eagle’} on a celestial river flowing from east to west ... into the Underworld in the west and then ... from west-to-east in the ... Underworld." ["Sun ... is dressed in a cotton tari, a poncho" (196b).]
199b	2	Bari C^ic^i	Sun-Bird (Gull)	constellation Corvus (with as its head the star Gienah) : gavilancillo
200a	3	Kape:ki	Black Cayman’s Mandible	Hyades : Black Cayman (Melanosuchus niger) is stranded and killed when its lake is drained by White Sloth’s spearing of lake’s bottom
			1-legged younger brother	*constellation Orion ["ill-flying Coma, a Tinamou ... the pursuing Cayman bites off his leg." (p. 206a)] [#21]*
200b	4	Tirin-kai	Thunder’s Going	constellation Southern Cross {cf. [Vajra-yana] vis`vavajra (thunderbolt-cross)} [#15]
201a	5	C^as^on-bai	Swamp-Deer’s Path	galaxy [galaxy as "path" is also Karin~a & Trumai` (p. 223a, n. 8)] : " Black Jaguar (Huiso ino; asterism 10 [sic : read "11"] below) had chased a small Chasho, or the Swamp Deer (Blastocerus dichotomos), up into the sky". Deer had leapt as resuscitated being from heart of slain Ahua S^ae: (Giant Anteater Myrmecophaga tridactyla).
	5a		Swamp-Deer’s Eye	star alpha Centauri
201b				? : Tinamou had leapt as resuscitated being from heart of slain Deer "and ascends to the zenith where the Good Inca’s Steel Eagle [Harpia harpuja] overtakes and kills it."
202a	6	C^imapo	fire-dust (ashes)	Small Magellanic Cloud
	7	C^is^ka wistin	Squirrel-Cuckoo stars	? : white-tailed brown omen-bird Piaya cayana
	8	Kos^os^ka wistin	Red Freshwater-Dolphin stars	constellation Scorpius (including red star Antares) : Inia geoffrensis
202b	9	Hobos^ko Ne:bois	Big-Testicles Forest-Medicine	having "a curious trajectory" {thus an inner planet? planet Mercury?} : "old man with such huge, swinging testicles" {cf. [Bauddha] Kumbha-an.d.a-s (huge-testicled)}
	10	Wasa wistin	Squirrel-Monkey stars	constellation Cetus : Saimiri sciureus
203a	11	Wiso Ino	Black Jaguar	"the third major black shape below the "Coal Sack" " (cf. [Caraja` ] "Coal Sack as a Jaguar" – p. 204a) [Iron Black Jaguar = Felis onc,a (p. 201a)]
204b	12	Wis^mabo	Magical Twins	Pleiades : "Magical Twins killing a Tapir" ([Surinam Carib] "tapir was once a snake" -- p. 215b)
209a	13	Iwi wistin	Freshwater-Ray stars	constellation Lupus : Raya nasuta
	14	Manan-hawe:	Land-Tortoise (motelo)	constellation Corona Borealis : "who sticks feathers on his body and tries to fly like a bird ... and he falls to the Earth." {cf. [Hellenic] Ikaros; also cf. [Ibo] flying tortoise}
	15	Ne:te:	World / Day	constellation Southern Cross [same as #4]
209b	16	Ne:te: wistin	World/Day star	male form of planet Venus = Huistin Ani ‘Big Star’ "calling men to a new life after the cataclysm which submerged Cumancaya ("the right partridge" [actually the "Coman tree soul"]); and Shuaya ("itch" [Tsoaya ...])" [variants by P. Roe]
	16a	Yantan wistin [cf. #25]	Night star	star Sirius
		Hobohko Nebois		*female form of planet Venus "as the night star" ["the sister of the Moon ... she ... marks his face with nane:, the blue-black vegetable dye Genipa americana" (p. 214b)]*
210a	17	Niibo	Scorpion	constellation Phoenix
	18	Nonti	Canoe	constellation Perseus : Cayman-canoe of the Twins
	19	Os^e: / Use:	Moon	*"Incestuous Moon Who Seduces his Sister and, Marked by Her With Genipa, Flees to the Sky"*
211a	20	Paiyari wistin	Arawana stars	*constellation Sagittarius : "The Arawana* is ... an armor-headed catfish"**
212a	21	Kis^ioma	calf (shank) muscle, without	Orion : "The hind leg, bit off by the pursuing Cayman Canoe" (Orion is [Tupi] "Old Man With a Walking Stick" – p. 212b)
212b	22	Tsama wistin	Manatee stars	*False Cross = constellations Carina & Vela ["the Fresh-water Manatee (Trechichus inunquis) ... has a breastbone in the shape of a cross." (p. 213a)]*
213a	23	S^e:te: wistin	King-Vulture stars	constellation Aquila (cf. [Caraja`] "Owner of the Stars" – p. 213b) : Sarcoramphus papa
213b	24	Yawis^ wistin	9-Banded Armadillo stars	constellation Delphinus : Dasypus novemcintus ["In beginning time women cargoing heavy burden baskets trying to ascend the ladder from the Earth to the heavens that it broke. The women fell and turned into Armadillos". (p. 214a) {at the fall of the tower of Babel, its builders were transformed (Legends of the Bible, p. 85)}]
214a	24a			*"Giant Armadillo (the Pano`, Priodontes giganteus) ... digging a hole through the sky" {caelestial south pole?}*
214b	25	Yantan wistin	Night star	planet Saturn
	25a	"	"	Regulus (alpha Leonis)

p. 223a, n. 8 rainbow is "the Nahuanbai ("Savage foreigner’s path")."

p. 202b "dipper made in the effigy of an erect penis with prominent testicles. This dipper, or toncoati, the hoboshco toncoati, is used to transfer ... from the large storage jar (ani chomo) ... Since ... the jar is likened to female bodies and its mouth to their vaginas, this act also symbolizes sexual intercourse."

p. 204a [Bakairi] "the Coal Sack is the fire upon which the Magical Twins roasted their Jaguar-grandmother" {dark fire! – cf. "Gehennical Fire" of the alchemists}

p. 207a "In beginning time, the Sun ... caused the river to flow in two directions as once. The river was divided into "upriver" and "downriver" flowing halves!"

p. 218 parallels in the Andes

	S^ipibo		Kec^ua
p.	*constellation*	*identity*	*constellation*	*identity*
218a	Black Jaguar	3^rd major Dark Cloud below Coal Sack	Black Fox	"negative constellation"
	Swamp-Deer	2^nd major Dark Cloud below Coal Sack	Llama	*["black streak, between the Southern Cross and epsilon Scorpii" (p. 219a)]*
	Tinamou	Coal Sack	Tinamou	Coal Sack
	eye of Swamp-Deer	alpha Centauri	eyen of Llama	alpha & beta Centauri
218b	bai ‘path’	galaxy	mayu ‘river’	galaxy

p. 219 the galaxy & Centaurus, according to other South American tropical-forest tribes

p.
219a	*Warao*			*Tupi`*
	*constellation*		*identity*	*constellation*	*identity*
	"where the tapir splashes in the water"		galaxy	"Tapir’s Road"	galaxy

	*S^ipibo*			*Guiana Carib*
	Jaguar (Panthera onc,a) chasing the Swamp-Deer			Bush-Dog (Icticyon venaticus) chasing the Tapir (Tapirus terrestris)

219b	*Gran Chaco*			*Guiana Carib*
	*constellation*	*identity*		*constellation*	*identity*
	[Mataco] 2 Hounds; ([Toba] Twins – p. 220a)	alpha & beta Centauri		2 eyen of Tapir	alpha & beta Centauri
220a	[Toba] 2 hunting-hounds of Twins	alpha & beta Crucis

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pp. 228-235 Joseph Holt Woodside : "Amahuaca Astronomy and Star Lore".

p. 230 = Table 1 asterisms

#	*constellation*	*meaning*	*identity*
1	wis^i Towos	stars Towoos	Pleiades
2	Kapu Kowi>	Cayman Jaw	Hyades
3	wis^i Tuku Maho>	stars Tuku Youthful	Orion
4	wis^i Jindaya>	stars Tailed	Canis Major
5	wis^i Rukun	stars Firebrand	Hydra
6	Wai Howo Toro>	Round-House in Garden Small	Corvus
7	wis^i Rukun Hundi>	stars Firebrand Old	Coma Berenices
8	Riro Wuro>	Douroucoulis (Aotus sp.) Eyen	Scorpius
9	Waka Rako Rusututi>	In Front of a Heap or Crowd	Aquila
10	Waka Rako>	[Heap or Crowd]	Delphinus
11	Niwo>	Scorpion	Aquarius
12	Wai Howo>	Round-House in Garden	Pegasus & Andromeda
13	Yora>	My People	Large Magellanic Cloud
14	Yora> Rawu	My People 2^nd	Small Magellanic Cloud

p. 234 star-myths

p.	*myth*
234a	"In the time of the ancestors, a huge black cayman liven in an oxbow lake. ... One man thought the cayman was a canoe ... and climbed aboard. The cayman bit him and severed his leg. {cf. [Aztec] (yellow-&-black) Tecatli-poca} The man’s brother, Wishi Tukuu, made a long, large wooden lance and used it to kill the cayman by stabbing it in the ... head." "the spirits of the dead leave the Earth and travel through the sky to the Large Magellanic Cloud ... There, an old
234b	grandmother serve the spirit refreshing hospitality drinks of manioc beer and banana gruel before it continues its journey." the galaxy : "a jaguar created it in ancient times by dragging a manatee across the sky." "They call Venus "large star, wife of the Sun," Jupiter "large star, wife of the Moon," and Mars "large star, red-orange eye." "

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pp. 244-263 Edmundo Magan~a : "Tropical Tribal Astronomy". [Carib]

p. 249, Table 1 Kalin~a (Surinam Carib) constellations

*name*	*meaning*	*identity*
Epietembo	one-legged hunter	Orion
Kaitusi-yuman	jaguar	Corona Borealis & Boo:tes
Kutai-yuman	4-eyed fish	Sagitta
Maipuri-yuman	tapir	Hyades
Maliroubana	?	Sirius
Ombatapo	face [head of weir-pilfering mother-in-law (p. 254b)]	Puppis
	[earrings of same mother-in-law (p. 245b)	eta & delta Canis Majoris]
Pakamu-surari^	wooden rack	Corvus
Pakamu-turiri^	torch	Spica
Pakamu-yuman	sucker-catfish	?
Sagasaga-yuman {cf. fuSAGASuGa, Colombia}	kingfisher ([S^ipibo] with C^aras^ ‘kingfisher’ eloped the wife of Land-tortoise – p. 209a)	Delphinus
Sibirisi-yuman	scorpion	?
Sirityo {cf. SIRIOno` of Bolivia}	stars	Pleiades [wife of Epitembo (Epietembo), roasted by him (p. 254b)]
Sirityo-surari^	wooden rack [whereupon Epitembo "had roasted his wife" (p. 254b)]	Pegasus (p. 254b) [-- and (p. 249, Table 1) Andromeda – is this the wife?] {cf. [Skidi] woman on rack as sacrifice to the morning star}
Meli {cf. MELIpilla, Chile}	crab	Cancer
Assinao (= [Island Carib] Wa`nohi`? -- p. 255b)	fish [fish-spirit consulted by son-in-law (p. 254b)? {cf. [Cymry] Taliesin in weir}]	Aquila
Suluiu-yuman	boa [snake who swallowed brethren-in-law (p. 254b) -- cf. Sa`liva myth (p. 257b)]	[Scorpius (p. 257b)]

{with /yuman/ cf. Kec^ua /yum/ ‘father’, Maya /yum/ ‘lord’}

p. 252a Cayenne (French Wayana) Carib

*constellation*	*identity*
s^irik	Pleiades
heron-bird	Ursa Major

p. 254 Surinam Carib star-myths

p.	*Carib*	*comparative*
254a	[Kalin~a] constellation Orion as "hunter" : "His brothers in law ... tied him to a tree to spend a night under the rain (his wife had understood literally what he meant metaphorically).	Odusseus was tied to the wooden mast of his ship; his marriage-bed (the secret whereof was shared with his wife Penelope) was the stump of a tree.
254b	[Maroni river Carib] "mother-in-law goes again to pilfer, and then she is seized by one big fish, and eaten " only her head remains on the bank."	cf. head of Medousa?; [North American Indian myth] woman who became a living, rolling head (stopped by a river)

p. 255b Island [Antilles] Carib star-myth

*constellation*	*identity*
wife of Trois Rois	Aldebaran
Trois Rois (maimed by his mother-in-law)	Orion
severed leg of Trois Rois	Rigel
farting buttocks of mother-in-law Bi`hi / Bi>um	Sirius

p. 257a hiding from mystery-dance

*Kourou, Cayenne*	*Tamanaco Maipure of the Orinoco*
"Everyone was hiding ... They believe that the first person to see the dancers will be unfortunate and will die during that year."	Keti-dance : "a serpent now and then visits the village to dance with the men. The women ... run away when hearing the music which comes from the forest."

{also customary in Colombia, New Guinea, Australia, etc.}

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pp. 264-280 Fabiola Jara : "Arawak Constellations".

constellations

p.	*tribe*	*name*	*meaning*	*identity*
267b	Wayana Arawaks	wIWA	"many things"	Pleiades
	Central Arawaks	wIbAn	turtle’s nest	"
	Was^iro	IWA	" "	"
	Ipurina	aUNAWA / UriNAWA		"
268a	Caraiya	eaUNUA		"
	Manao	YNAUA	year	"
	Campa	Masikinte [Masinkiti on p. 270a]	idle man	"
268b	Taurepan / Taulipan	warara	turtle (Emys amazonica)	"
	ri`o Negro tribes		anaconda	Ophiuchus
269b	Wayana tribes	MAbUKulE (cf. [Cariay] MAUa^KEy -- p. 270b) / Mabekele	(amputee, with missing leg)	Orion
	Wapisiana	Baukur	furious warrior	"
270a	Kapon & Pemon	Tamo:kan	(old powerful shaman)	Pleiades & Hyades & Orion
	Was^iro	pasani`njama	centre of the world	Orion
	"	Patu:naijana	(amputee, with missing arm)	"
	Campa	Porinkari [= Parinkari on p. 268a]	(brother-in-law of Masinkiti )	"
271a	Wayana tribes	kamudi / warubusi	water-boa (Eunectes murinus)	Scorpius & Ophiuchus
	" "		water-boa’s eye	Antares
	Wapisiana	kwarar	boa	Scorpius
	"	oi	red macaw (swallowed by the boa)	Antares
	Palicur		reposing coiled snake	Scorpius & Sagittarius
	"		acoure (agouti) in the boa’s belly	Antares
	Siusi	ke:itapana	boa
	"		prey in boa’s belly	Antares
	Tariana	Pinon	"snake-boy whose body is covered with stars."
	Was^iro	pamu:	(wind)	Antares
	Wayana of Surinam	E:KE:UIhku	anaconda	Corona Borealis & Ophiuchos
	Tareno	E:KE:UIme	anaconda	Corona Borealis & Ophiuchos & Scorpius
271b	Campa	kira[ha]kiri	red inflamation of the eyen	Antares
	Lokono	kosorokuya	4-eyed fish (Anableps anableps)	crown of Scorpius
	Caribs of coastal Surinam	kutai	" "	Scorpius
	Kalina		catfish	crown of Scorpius
	Carib		4-eyed fish	Sagitta
	"		kingfisher	Delphinus
	Lokono	kamatala	tapir’s jaw	Hyades
	Wapisiana	kuduwei	" "	"
272a	S^ipibo		cayman-jaw	Hyades
272b	Wayana tribes		wooden barbecue-rack (of Mabekele)	Pegasus
	Wapisiana	dipeli	barbecue (of Baukur)	"
	Mehinaku	Amairi	manioc-spirit	"
	Wayana tribes	Anulakuya	"heron star-spirit in its canoe"	Ursa Major
	Antilles Arawak	l’ukuni	jabura	" "
	Antilles Carib	sawaku	"	" "
273a	Wayana tribes	hitsi	curassow-bird (Crax alector)	Southern Cross
	" "		wife or helper pursing the curassow	alpha & beta Centauri
	Xingu` tribes	mutum	curassow-bird	Southern Cross
	" "		bird-trap	alpha & beta Centauri
	Ipurina	kazeri	curassow-bird	Southern Cross
	Mbya		one-legged ancestor hunting the rhea-bird	" "
	"		eyen of the rhea	alpha & beta Centauri
	"		body of the rhea	large black spot in galaxy
	Central Arawaks	tadaii	capibara	Aries
273b	coastal Arawaks	kamudi	snake	Perseus
	Central Arawaks		"three men crossing the river of the Death, the Milky Way."	alpha, beta, & zeta Aquilae
	" "	marikmanka	maize-planter	Spica
	Siusi	dzaba	crab	Leo
	"	mamaned-dzaza	larger crab	Corona Borealis & Bootes
	Tukano		crab	Leo
	Wayana of Surinam		crab	Corona Australis & Sagittarius
274a	Wapisiana	wakarasab	great egret	Leo & Gemini ?
	Siusi	kakudzuta`	dance-instrument	Eridanus
	Central Arawaks	sileli	red-breasted kingfisher	Deneb in Cygnus
	" "	Mawakumawea	(river of death)	galaxy
	Wayana tribes	wai e` onnakici abonaha	path of the clay-fetchers	"
	Peressi		path covered by kuta`-fruits (food for tapirs)	"
	Campa	antiaro tambo	great meeting place
	"	iyamore` henokasati	sky-people are closing the river-branch (to fish)
	"	icakamento kirakiri	(tool used in the planting of maize)	dark spot in galaxy nigh Antares
	"	soro`ni	sloth	Magellanic Cloud
275b	Wayana Caribs		stingray	Corona Borealis & Bootes & Draco
	S^ipibo		"	Lupus
276a	Campa	Kito {cf. KITO (Quito), ecuador}	shrimp	?
	Lokono & Kalina		iguana	Corona Australis
	Wayana & Tereno of Surinam		"	Sagitta

pp. 268-269 constellation-names as sibs of the Siusi (on the ri`o Negro)

p.	*sib*	*meaning*	*identity*
267b	Oaliperi	youngsters	Pleiades
269a	Dsuiminamei	jaguar	Cetus
	Maualieuni	snake	Scorpius
	Adsaneni	armadillo	Corona Borealis

star-myths

p.	*tribe*	*myth*
268a	Wayana tribes	"the mythic twins ... decided to ... sending ... illness from the sky. The Sun, seeing this, sent ... kamudukuya (water boa spirit) ... The snake devoured the older brother; the younger of the twins, the Pleiades, was spared by the break of day."
	Taruma	"a woman was the wife of the turtle. As they were picking the fruits of a tree, the wife was seduced by a fruit-eating bird. ... The wife was finally eaten up by the jaguar; two of the woman’s
268b		eggs, however, were spared and from them arose the turtles known in these days."
	[Tariana]	"A water-spirit woman met a jakami-man (trumpeter bird), and from their union two children were born : a girl (... "star fire") who became the Pleiades and a boy, pinon, who became the constellation of the Great Snake."
269b	Wapisiana	*"Baukur* was sent up in the sky by ... the god Tumicar because he had killed his son."**
270a		*"Baukur* ... is incessantly throwing arrows upon the Earth from the sky in the form of ... meteors". {cf. >al-lah throwing meteors (according to the Qur>an)}**
273b	Central Arawaks	"Aquila (Alpha aquilae) has fallen into the river and, since he cannot swim, Beta and Zeta are trying to rescue him."

star-rituals

p.	*tribe*	*ritual*
272b	Waycuru	"heliacal rising of the Pleiades initiated ... a mock fight between men and women".
268a	"	"the specific Pleiades dance {cf. Peruvian "dance of the Pleiades", performed by women} involves a mock fight between women and men in the central plaza of the village and is followed by a race".

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ARCHAEOASTRONOMY : THE JOURNAL OF THE CENTER FOR ARCHAEOASTRONOMY, Vols. XII-XIII = Von Del Chamberlain; John B. Carlson; M. Jame Young (eds.) : Songs from the Sky. Ocarina Books, Bognor Regis (W. Sussex, U.K.), 2005.