Interpretion by Alina Schubert

 

M5K Cuaracy Brazil

 

Cuaracy Ra'Angaba is an astronomical clock of the Brazilian indigenous Guarani people, which consists of an arrangement of stones. „Cuaracy“ means „sun“ and „Ra‘angaba“ means „image“. Cuaracy Ra’Angaba therefore is the image of the sun, and the Guarani have the knowledge on how to read the sky through the astronomical clock. In Guarani tradition, the sun is the greatest god and all of nature is connected to its signs. The Cuaracy Ra'Angaba is a sacred symbol of the eternal circle and continuity.

 

The solar and lunar clock is made of one central stone and a circle of stones with rays leading towards the middle. One can read from the clock the seasons (interesting to know is, that the guarani only have two seasons), solstices, moon phases and cardinal points. This way of observing the sky is a very precise and complicated technology and for example can even predict solar eclipses. The object is found with many similarities among other indigenous communities throughout Latin America.

 

For the Guarani people it has a practical meaning that governs village life, such as planting, hunting, and harvesting seasons, and also a spiritual layer that connects with the rituals of each season and time of year. In the Guarani cosmovision, there is no division between spiritual and practical meaning. They believe that everything has a soul, this way of thinking is called animism.