SYNOPSIS:
Among the Badjaos is a pioneering study of the Badjaos of Tawi-Tawi, who are often mistakenly classified as Muslims or animists. It presents the system of thought and belief that lies behind the people's religious praxis - the variations as well as degradations of their religious observances and rituals. Much of Badjao ritual, exemplified by the central Pag-umboh ceremony, revolves around the sun and is therefore set at "the fullness of time" when sunlight first emerges from the eastern horizon and when the sun is at its peak in the heavens - hence the book's title.
Celebrations with the Sun demonstrates that the Badjaos have their own unique religion and that what outsiders refer to as superstitious practices are in fact manifestations of a set of beliefs where Tuhan is the creator and supreme spirit and Umboh the venerated first ancestor. Here is a picture of a people of deep faith steeped in cosmic symbols that point to the sacred - a faith that gives a glimpse of the origins of the more complex world religions
288 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1998