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| Google image (4/8/2016): Shooting Star |
About a week ago I observed a fast streaking light that only lasted a few seconds travelling south above the sky. The name for shooting star in my language suddenly appeared in my thoughts. In Kuanua (Kabakada dialect) it is "tulungen na virua" and translated to English as "spirit of the dead". The phrase translated word by word to English: tulungen = spirit; na = of the; virua = dead.
Tolai folklore on shooting star varies slightly or differently from one area to another but what is common is that a shooting star is the spririt of the dead travelling to its resting place. The name may also vary according to dialect.
Soon after my observation of the shooting star i posted on it on Facebook and received two comments, from two Tolai Facebook friends. The first from Gideon Kakabin and the second from Doreen Samm Howes and here are their comments.
1. Also known as a gaugau na tup. If a shooting star appeared after a burial, than that person went unto tingana tabaran, our heaven..
2. Few times I heard my parents named a shooting star that disappeared towards Duke of York Islands,the sea ,as a good and brave spirit.A melem.A shooting star that didn't disappear towards the sea was a Kaloata, would drown in the sea. Was a bit confused about shooting stars.
And for the star gazers, this is the time of the year when we observe more of these 'tulungen na virua' up in the sky.
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