Woman wearing LingLing-O earring, 2016

Pencil on paper, 2016

Pencil drawing of a woman with head inclined, wearing a large earring in the Philippine traditional shape of the LingLing-O.

In Philippine culture, especially among the Ifugaos, Kalinga and Bontoc of pre-Hispanic Philippines, the Lingling-o symbols were used as earrings/pendants and were ingrained in their crafts and way of life.

The symbol is also considered an amulet. The most widely known representation of the Lingling-O is that it brings fertility to a woman wearer and virility to a man. The negative space of the symbols is believed to represent the shape of the woman’s uterus or womb. It was also believed to bring good luck, while some believe the symbol housed the ancestral spirits called Anitos.

Today, some consider it a tribute to the culture of Phillippines prior to Hispanic colonialism.