selected philippine myths
DESCRIPTION
These are some selected well- known myths in the Philippines.TRANSCRIPT
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!!!