Philippine Myths

By: Norida B. Manginsay

The Myth of Lumawig

In the beginning there were no people on earth. Lumawig the Great Spirit, came down from the sky and cut many reeds. He divided these into pairs which he placed in different

parts of the world, and then he commanded them them to

speak. Immediately the reeds became people and each place was a man and a woman who

could talk.

Then Lumawig saw that there were so many things which

the people needed to use, so he set to work to supply them.

He created salt and told the inhabitants of one place to boil

it down and sell it to their neighbors. He gave it to the

people of a place called Mayinit. Lumawig went to the

people of Samoki and told them to get clay and make

pots.

Then the Great Spirit saw that they were fit owners of the pottery

and told them that they should always

make many jars to sell. In this way, Lumawig taught the people and brought to them all the things which they now

have.

Custom Elicited

Salt making in Mayinit and

pottery making in

Samoki is still practised.

The Myth of Maria Makiling

A man was hunting a wild boar in the mountain and pursued it all the way to

Maria’s hut. Although, she admonished him for

harassing the boar, which was one of her creatures, she allowed him to come

inside to rest and eat.

Later, as he was leaving, she gave him a salakot full of ginger

to bring home to his wife for cooking. As the man was walking

down the mountain, the hat seemed to grow heavier and

heavier; so he took out most of the ginger and threw them away.

But once he got home, he discovered that the remaining pieces of ginger had turned to solid gold. No matter how he

searched, he never could find the other pieces that he had thrown

away.

Custom Elicited

Maria Makiling is a favorite theme of Filipino artists. She forms an important feature of the Seal

of the Municipality of Los Baños, Laguna. Disappearance of people is sometimes attributed

to her.

The Myth of Two Eels

Manama, the creator of all things, became fond of two

enermous eels, respectively.

With instructions from a golden oriole, Eeele and Aeele went in a quest to

reach the sea. Eeele though larger, was not as clever as

his sister and has not listened carefully to the bird.

He did not notice that the river was branching out.

He turned to the left instead of the right which was towards the sun as instructed. It

was too late when Eeele noticed that

he was going straight to a great

waterfall.He fell head first to the rocks in the rapids that caused his death. When Manama looked for his fond pets, he only found Aeele happily

swimming in the sea.

He found the lifeless body of Eeele being washed away by the river. Believing that other eels might also meet the same fate of Eeele, Manama turned the dead eel’s body into a mountain range so that they can see it as a sign and take heed where

they swim.The highest peak of

the range is now Mount Apo, the

country’s highest point.

Moral Lesson Elicited

Listen to instructions and be attentive to

avoid sad consequences.

The Myth on Why the Sky is High

In the olden days the sky was so low. It’s so low

that it could be reached by a stick of ordinary length. The people in

those days said that God had created the sky in

such a way that he could hear his people when

they called to him

In turn, God could send his blessings to earth as soon as mankind needed them.

Because of this close connection between God and His subjects, the people were

provided for and they did not need to work.

One day one of the chiefs, Abing by name, held a feast. Many people came to enjoy it. A

sayao or native war dance was given in honor of the men

belonging to the chief and it was acted by men brandishing spears. While acting, one of the actors, who was drunk, tried to show his skill, but he forgot that

the sky was so low. When he darted his spear, he happened

to pierce the sky, and one of the gods was wounded. This

angered God the Father: so he raised the sky as we have it

today far from the earth.

Custom Elicited

The religious fervor of the Visayan people could be seen in the story. Christianity has already been incorporated in

the story like the story of Adam and Eve as well as the

concept of God the Father: One could also see influences of pre- Spanish roots like the

“sayao”. The story is still told to Hiligaynon children until

now.

The Myth of Creation

When the world first began there was no land, but only the sea and the sky and between them was a kite. One day, the bird, which has nowhere to light, grew tired of flying about. So she stirred up the sea

until it threw its waters against the sky.

The sky in order to restrain the sea, showered upon it many islands until it could no longer rise, but ran back and forth. Then the sky ordered the kite to light on one of the islands to build her nest and to leave

the sea and the sky in peace.

Now, at this time, the land breeze and the sea breeze were married and they had a child which

was a bamboo. One day when this bamboo was floating about on the

water, it struck the feet of the kite which was on the beach.

The bird, angry that anything

should strike it, pecked at the

bamboo.

Out of one section came

a golden- bronze

colored man, named

Malakas (strong one), and from the

other half came a

similarly hued

woman, named

Maganda (beautiful

one).

Origin Elicited

The Philippine has so many islands

and is inhabited by different ethnic

groups, even the creation vary from region to region,

but specific elements remain

the same.

A huge bird splits a bamboo where “Malakas and

Maganda” emerge from the halves. Filipinos consider

women to be Maganda

(beautiful) and men Malakas

(strong).

End …..Thank you!!!