| Mayari/Malayari | |
|---|---|
Lunar deity | |
| Symbol | Moon |
| Gender | Female (Kapampangan and Tagalog), Male (Sambal) |
| Region | Pampanga, Southern Tagalog, Zambales |
| Personal information | |
| Parents | Bathala |
| Siblings | Apolaki (Kapampangan), Tala, Hanan (Tagalog) & Justin (goddess of good manners and right conduct |
In Kapampangan mythology, Mayari is the goddess of the moon and ruler of the world during nighttime. [1]
According to Hiligaynon anthropologist F. Landa Jocano—in "Notes on Philippine Divinities" (1968)—the ancient Tagalogs worshipped a lunar goddess named Mayari who is said to be the most beautiful divinity in the celestial court. She had two sisters, Hanan, the goddess of the morning, and Tala, the goddess of the stars. They were said to be the daughters of Bathala by a mortal woman who died after she had given birth to them. Bathala took these three sisters to the sky and made them members of his court. [2] Unfortunately, there is no known historical records or documentations which mentioned a lunar deity (or anito) of the ancient Tagalogs—other than Buwan and Kúlalayíng—named Mayari. Neither a deity named Hanan, who is actually a Visayan hero god. [3] On some of his entries on Tagalog deities including Mayari, Jocano failed to cite any source for them nor did he mention if he got their myths from oral tradition.
According to the Spanish chroniclers the ancient Tagalogs revered the moon (Buwan) as a deity, especially when it was new (the first sliver of the moon), at which time they held great rejoicings, adoring it and bidding it welcome, asking it to provide them with a lot of gold; others for a lot of rice; others that it give them a beautiful wife or a noble husband who is well-mannered and rich; others that it bestow on them health and long life; in short, everyone asks for what they most desire because they believe and are convinced it can give it to them abundantly. [4] [5] [6] San Buenaventura dictionary lists a prayer dedicated to the moon that was recited during the new moon: “Buwáñg Panginóon kó, payamánin mó akó“ which translates to "Moon, my Lord/Lady, make me rich.” When one is on a mission no matter how important, it is well to desist from accomplishing the mission if a lunar eclipse occurs. A ring which appears around the moon is an indication of the demise of some chief. [7] In these cases, the moon is referred to as bathala a title attributed to heavenly bodies which the early Tagalog people believed predicted events. [8] Part of their devotion to the moon is protect it from Laho – the serpent or dragon who was believed to devour the moon and cause lunar eclipse. [9] When the moon is eclipsed, the people of various districts generally go out into the street or into the open fields, with bells, panastanes, etc. They strike them with great force and violence in order that they might thereby protect the moon which they say is being eaten or swallowed by the dragon, tiger, or crocodile. If they wish to say “the eclipse of the moon” it is very common among them to use this locution, saying "Linamon laho bovan" ("Laho is swallowing the moon"). The Spaniards believed that the Tagalogs learned this practice from the Sangley (Chinese). [10] [11] Another name for the moon or the proper name for the anito of the moon is Colalaiyng. The Tagalogs from Laguna called her “Dalágañg nása Buwán” (Maiden in the Moon), in reference to the image formed by the shadow on the moon, which they see as a face (sangmukti) of a young maid (doncella). [12] [13] [14] Ceremonies of her cult were regularly performed at the new moon and the full moon with offerings of roosters made to fly in her direction. She was also referred to as “Dalágañg Binúbúkot” (Cloistered Maiden). Binukot is the tradition of secluding a young woman from the public eye to make her more desirable to suitors. [15]
In Kampampangan mythology, Bathala, the creator of the world, died without leaving a will. His children Apolaki and Mayari had a quarrel, for each wanted to rule the world alone. The two fought out the conflict with bamboo clubs (Zabbors), back and forth they fought until at last Apolaki struck Mayari in the face and she became blind in one eye. When he saw his sister stricken, Apolaki took pity on her and agreed to rule the earth together but at different times. However, her light is dimmer than her brother's due to the loss of her eye. [16]
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In Sambal mythology, Malayari is chief god of the Sambals, who premoniantly live in Zambales. He is the creator of all things, and the omnipotent ruler over life and death. Malayari is a compassionate and loving god, sending rain, health, wealth and abundance to those who deserve it, but punishing those who ignore his commandments. ¶
In the indigenous religion of the ancient Tagalogs, Bathala/Maykapal was the transcendent Supreme Being, the originator and ruler of the universe. He is commonly known and referred to in the modern era as Bathala, a term or title which, in earlier times, also applied to lesser beings such as personal tutelary spirits, omen birds, comets, and other heavenly bodies which the early Tagalog people believed predicted events. It was after the arrival of the Spanish missionaries in the Philippines in the 16th century that Bathala /Maykapal came to be identified with the Christian God, hence its synonymy with Diyos. Over the course of the 19th century, the term Bathala was totally replaced by Panginoon (Lord) and Diyos (God). It was no longer used until it was popularized again by Filipinos who learned from chronicles that the Tagalogs' indigenous God was called Bathala.
Philippine mythology is the body of stories and epics originating from, and part of, the indigenous Philippine folk religions, which include various ethnic faiths distinct from one another. Philippine mythology is incorporated from various sources, having similarities with Indonesian and Malay myths, as well as Hindu, Muslim, Shinto, Buddhist, and Christian traditions, such as the notion of heaven, hell, and the human soul. Philippine mythology attempts to explain the nature of the world through the lives and actions of heroes, deities, and mythological creatures. The majority of these myths were passed on through oral tradition, and preserved through the aid of community spiritual leaders or shamans and community elders.
Tala, based on Hindu goddess Tara, is the name of the goddess of the morning and evening star in Tagalog mythology. Her origins are varied depending on the region. Golden Tara, the Majapahit-era gold statue of Hindu deity Tara or Tagalog adoption Tala was found in 1918 in Agusan. The legend of Tala has very close parallels to legends among non-Filipino cultures such as the India tribes of Bihar, Savara and Bhuiya, as well as the Indianized Semang.
Indigenous Philippine folk religions are the distinct native religions of various ethnic groups in the Philippines, where most follow belief systems in line with animism. Generally, these indigenous folk religions are referred to as Anito or Anitism or the more modern and less ethnocentric Dayawism. 0.23% of the population of the Philippines are affiliated with the indigenous Philippine folk religions according to the 2020 national census, an increase from the previous 0.19% from the 2010 census.
The Sambal people are a Filipino ethnolinguistic group living primarily in the province of Zambales and the Pangasinense municipalities of Bolinao and Anda. The term may also refer to the general inhabitants of Zambales.
The Bakunawa is a serpent-like dragon in Philippine mythology. It is believed to be the cause of eclipses, earthquakes, rains, and wind. The movements of the Bakunawa served as a geomantic calendar system for ancient Filipinos and were part of the shamanistic rituals of the babaylan. It is usually depicted with a characteristic looped tail and a single horn on the nose. It was generally believed to be a sea serpent, but are also variously believed to inhabit either the sky or the underworld.
A weather god or goddess, also frequently known as a storm god or goddess, is a deity in mythology associated with weather phenomena such as thunder, snow, lightning, rain, wind, storms, tornadoes, and hurricanes. Should they only be in charge of one feature of a storm, they will be called after that attribute, such as a rain god or a lightning/thunder god. This singular attribute might then be emphasized more than the generic, all-encompassing term "storm god", though with thunder/lightning gods, the two terms seem interchangeable. They feature commonly in polytheistic religions, especially in Proto-Indo-European ones.
Indigenous Philippine shrines and sacred grounds are places regarded as holy within the indigenous Philippine folk religions. These places usually serve as grounds for communication with the spirit world, especially to the deities and ancestral spirits. In some cases, they also function as safeguards for the caskets of ancestors, as well as statues or other objects depicting divine entities.
Religion in pre-colonial Philippines included animism, indigenous religious beliefs and mythologies such as Anito and influences from Hinduism and Buddhism. The earliest pieces of evidence that exist are archaeological finds including Hindu–Buddhist gold statues. The earliest written evidence comes from the Laguna Copperplate Inscription, dated to around 900 CE, which uses the Buddhist–Hindu lunar calendar. With the arrival of Islam in the 14th century, the older religions gradually disappeared, and after the arrival of Ferdinand Magellan in 1521 Christianity, specifically Roman Catholicism, became the dominant religion. However, some of the indigenous peoples of the Philippines continue to practice animism today, and many of the traditions in Anito have survived in the form of Folk Catholicism.
A dawn god or goddess is a deity in a polytheistic religious tradition who is in some sense associated with the dawn. These deities show some relation with the morning, the beginning of the day, and, in some cases, become syncretized with similar solar deities.
Lunar pareidolia refers to the pareidolic images seen by humans on the face of the Moon. The Moon's surface is a complex mixture of dark areas and lighter areas. Being a natural element seen constantly by humans throughout the ages, many cultures have seen shapes in these dark and light areas that have reminded them of people, animals, or objects, often related to their folklore and cultural symbols; the best-known are the Man in the Moon in Western folklore and the Moon Rabbit of Asia and the Americas. Other cultures perceive the silhouette of a woman, a frog, a moose, a buffalo, or a dragon in the full moon. To many cultures of Melanesia and Polynesia, the Moon is seen to be a cook over a three-stone fire. Alternatively, the vague shape of the overall dark and light regions of the Moon may resemble a Yin Yang symbol.
The indigenous religious beliefs of the Tagalog people were well documented by Spanish missionaries, mostly in the form of epistolary accounts (relaciones) and entries in various dictionaries compiled by missionary friars.
Anito, also spelled anitu, refers to ancestor spirits, nature spirits, and deities in the indigenous Philippine folk religions from the precolonial age to the present, although the term itself may have other meanings and associations depending on the Filipino ethnic group. It can also refer to carved humanoid figures, the taotao, made of wood, stone, or ivory, that represent these spirits. Anito is also sometimes known as diwata in certain ethnic groups.
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| Supreme deities | |
| Lesser deities | |
| Epic and folklore heroes | |
| Historical people | |
| Historical events | |
| Belief systems | |
| Spiritual persons | |
| Sacred places | |
| Legendary objects | |
| Mythical creatures |
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| Popular culture | |
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