Apocalyptic Visions of the End from Philippine Mythology

Mythologies provide people with tales that trace how everything began  – from conception down to the materialization of the physical world. Just as interesting as the lore about how the universe was created are the myths about how it will end. Apocalyptic stories commonly emit ominous visions of the world during its last seconds and the majority of us find it too dreadful to delve in to. This may be because of its complexities in relation to its metaphorical and symbolic quality. Yet still, there is no denying that understanding these stories greatly affect us morally, culturally and even spiritually – despite their antiquity.

As a nation with millions of devotees from both Christian and Islamic faiths, most Filipinos are quite familiar with the “Final Judgment” that serves as their version of the “end of times”. But did you know that our pre-colonial ancestors had their own Armageddon-like visions of how the world will end?

Deluge Myth and the Navel of The World

Flood mythology is probably one of the most prevalent tales among world cultures. Many will think that flood myths originated from the book of Genesis,  but even before the Bible was written there were already tons of lore depicting our world submerged in water with varying differences in characters and themes. One of these flood myths is from Bukidnon.

A long time ago there was a very big crab which crawled into the sea. And when he went in he crowded the water out so that it ran all over the earth and covered all the land.

Now about one moon before this happened, a wise man had told the people that they must build a large raft. They did as he commanded and cut many large trees, until they had enough to make three layers. These they bound tightly together, and when it was done they fastened the raft with a long rattan cord to a big pole in the earth.

Soon after this the floods came. White water poured out of the hills, and the sea rose and covered even the highest mountains. The people and animals on the raft were safe, but all the others drowned.

When the waters went down and the raft was again on the ground, it was near their old home, for the rattan cord had held.

But these were the only people left on the whole earth.

Mabel Cook Cole, who collected different Philippine tales, noted that our flood myths share a similarity with the Malaysian flood myth that revolve around the theme of a gigantic creature (its either a crab or a whale) and the “world’s navel”. She also added that the Batak of Palawan believe a great flood was caused by a titanic crab going in and out of a huge hole in the sea.

In the book “Quest of the Dragon and Bird Clan: The Golden Age” by Paul Manansala, the whole deluge mythology from Palawan was given a brand new light. The creature that caused this catastrophic flood was named Tandayag, which means “whale” or a giant fish (in other versions it looked like a dragon) which closes the great navel of the world called Burungan. The Batak believed that when the Burungan is left open and Tandayag is not appeased, the whole universe will be washed away by a furious rush of water.

Luckily, this great destruction can be prevented by their shaman through a spiritual journey to the Burungan to close the said navel with the aid of spirit guides (in the form of a turtle). Manansala emphasized that this ritual of their shaman aims to “renew the world” by sealing the Burungan.

The Eclipse and Creatures From Above

Many view an eclipse as a tell-tale sign of a disaster.  Mythology from different religions and cultures often trace the cause of an eclipse to various creatures who have an appetite for either the sun or moon which causes this beautiful, yet chilling phenomenon.

Beings under the “sun/moon eater” category have varying appearances. In our lore, we have the popular dragon or serpentine image of Bakunawa, Sawa and Laho. There are also the avian -like beings such as the Bawa and the Minokawa. Others include a gigantic crab or scorpion known as Tambanokawa. Lastly is the great Arimaonga, a cat like creature that carries a huge chariot in the sky.

Most of these creatures attempt to eat the sun or moon in various tales collected from different regions of the Philippines. Nobody succeeded in completely devouring these celestial bodies due to the counter measures used by our ancestors – like firing arrows in the sky, making loud noises, putting sharpened sticks or needles in the wall that points in the direction of the eclipse, and even shouting “Buhi-i ang among hampangan” (release our play thing).

But what if these creatures did eat the sun and moon? In one excerpt from The Encyclopedia of Folk Beliefs and Customs by Fr. Francisco Demetrio, if the Laho managed to consume the sun or moon and went into the opposite direction from where it came, the world was expected to witness war, pestilence and famine. There is lore that suggests when the Minokawa devoured the celestial objects in the sky, it would start to consume all the people afterwards. From the book “The Manobos of Mindanao” by John M. Garvan, when the moon or sun was not released from the Tambanokawa, the dawn would never come and evil spirits would roam the whole world.

“The explanation of these curious proceedings is simple. If the moon does not become freed from the clutches of this gigantic creature, it is believed that there will be no dawn and that, in the eternal darkness that will subsequently fall upon the world, the evil spirits will reign and all human apparel will be turned into snakes.”

In addition to myths involving creatures from cosmic space, Samal lore features the great serpent Naga that is also seen as an envoy of the world’s end. An interesting point here is that the said serpent is imprisoned in the sky by God and will be released in the final days of the earth to eat those who are unfaithful.

The Monster Child

In a tale from the Manobo, the evil creator god Ogassi created a giant monster called Makarallig to cause rampant destruction to mortal men created by the good creator god Manama. The said monster is virtually invulnerable to any weapons and its heart is made from stone. The hero Batooy managed to defeat it by transforming into a bird which enabled him to enter the nostril of the monster to hack and slash its body. It turns out that the pieces of the monster’s body became leeches.

There is a strange and foreboding twist in this story. Makarallig left his child to its death; a huge stone figure the shape of a man. From the Origin Myths of the Manuvu by E. Arsenio, the child of Makarallig is fastened on a cliff of the Puangi River. The child is nurtured by Busaw. It is said that when this child is released from the cliff, it will take on the mantle of his father and destroy all the people of the earth.

When Creation Meets Destruction

Philippine Mythology hosts numerous creation stories. All have a variety of themes reflecting our beliefs and culture. As for the “end of time” myths, the above mentioned are the only lore that I have seen. Perhaps there are others out there waiting to be retold. Maybe the reason why tales of Armageddon in Philippine mythology are few is because early Filipinos saw the cosmos in a non-linear fashion, much like our neighboring Asian countries. For them, the world has no last judgment nor any Ragnarok like episode to undergo. Rather, they believe in a cyclical continuation of their life after death.

A noticeable feature among the myths featured here is that apocalyptic events can be prevented or avoided by different means, which is quite far from the inevitable end of days theme in other eschatological tales. Either by the collective efforts of the people (creating noise during eclipse) or through the assistance of spiritual men (sealing the Burungan via the spiritual journey of shamans), all of these indicate that our lore and mythology – whether it is about the beginning or the end – showcase the richness and uniqueness of Philippine culture.

(The author would like to thank the people from Tadhana Seeker’s Guild especially to Sin Posadas who started the thread/discussion that this article was inspired with as well as to Thomas Regala, Guian Laith Al Abed, Erich Von Lichnowsky, BJ Recio, Franco Louie Merjudio and Jean Karl Maple Gaverza who joined and share their knowledge on “end of times” myths from the Philippines)

Sources:

Philippine Tales by Mabel Cook Cole (1916)
Quest of the Dragon and Bird Clan: The Golden Age by Paul Manansala
The Manobos of Mindanao by John M. Garvan (1929)
Encyclopedia of Philippine Folk Beliefs and Custom by Fr. Francisco Demetrio, S.J
Origin Myths of the Manuvu by E. Arsenio

 

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MINOKAWA | Mindanao’s Eater of the Sun & Moon
BAKUNAWA: The Moon Eating Dragon of Philippine Mythology
TAMBANOKANO: The Giant Crab, Mandaya Folklore