Rainbows in Philippine Mythology & Folklore

Simply put, rainbows are an arc of spectral colors that appear in the sky opposite the sun as a result of refractive dispersion of sunlight in drops of rain. A rather drab explanation for something that results in imagery of true beauty and inspiration.  It doesn’t matter how many rainbows you have seen in your life, your age, gender, or personality – a rainbow feels magical to all of us.  I recently re-posted an older article about the Visayan War Gods and someone responded, “Barangaw is an interesting diwata associated with pangangayaw/pangungubat… try looking perhaps at the role of rainbows in Philippine mythology… I read rainbows are passageways of those who died in the battle to the other side.”  This got me thinking more about rainbows in Philippine Mythology and I felt it warranted an article. 

The Rainbow in Legends

While growing up in Canada, I was always subjected to notion of the ‘pot of gold’ at the end of the rainbow.  Because the sun is a circle, it makes the rainbow a circle as well. Apparently, the Irish understood this as far back as the 17th century, when they would say one was as likely to find a pot of gold as they were to find the end of the rainbow. Since then, the end of the rainbow has become the hiding place for the leprechaun’s gold.  Rainbows, and more particularly ‘sunshowers’, are associated with myths all over the world.  I remember watching Akira Kurosawa’s 1990 film “Dreams” and being greatly impacted by the beauty and symbolism of the first segment, Sunshine Through The Rain. There is an old legend in Japan that states when the sun is shining through the rain, the kitsune (foxes) have their weddings (this is a common theme globally – see Tikbalang). In this first dream, a boy defies the wish of a woman, possibly his mother, to remain at home during a day with such weather. From behind a large tree in the nearby forest, he witnesses the slow wedding procession of the kitsune. Unfortunately, he is spotted by the foxes and runs. When he tries to return home, the same woman says that a fox had come by the house, leaving behind a tantō knife. The woman gives the knife to the boy, implying that he must commit suicide. The woman asks the boy to go and beg forgiveness from the foxes, although they are known to be unforgiving, refusing to let him in unless he does so. The boy sets off into the mountains, towards the place under the rainbow in search for the kitsune’s home.  The final image haunted me every time I saw a rainbow.  It was only after researching the Tikbalang episode of our Creatures of Philippine Mythology webseries, that I found the Philippines has equally beautiful imagery in its folk tales.

In Tagalog legends, it is during such sunshowers that the horse-headed trickster of Philippine Mythology is said to be having its wedding. In Mindanao the Bulanawan and Aguio legends relate the many adventures of Aguio and his three brothers and how at the end, he and his family ascended to heaven by means of a rainbow bridge. The rainbow bridge also appears in the “Flight of Agyu’s Family” from Bukidnon lore.  In some unsourced Visayan stories, Barangaw is the divine embodiment of the rainbow and hope, he is one of the gods invoked during battle. Ancient Visayans believed that Barangaw picks up the souls of those who have fallen in war and battle to and leads them to the rainbow bridge that brings them directly to heaven.  Taj Vitales, the Facebook user whose comment inspired this article, pointed out that Miguel de Loarca (1582) mentioned this belief among the Bisayans:

“It is said that the souls of those who are stabbed to death, eaten by crocodiles, or killed by arrows (which is considered a very honorable death), go to heaven by way of the arch which is formed when it rains, and become gods.”

William Henry Scott (1994) in his book, Barangay, interpreted it as those who died in war, who were murdered, or killed by crocodiles that they traveled up the rainbow to sky.

The Rainbow in Myth

Myths try to explain many kinds of natural phenomena: why there is rain, rainbow, thunder, lightning, earthquake, eclipse, and the like.

The origin of rain and the rainbow is a favorite subject of speculation among myth-makers. Finding a mythology that does not include the rainbow somewhere may be the true challenge – it is included in Norse, Greek, Navajo, Australian Aboriginal, Hindu, and Sumerian mythologies (among others). Old folks in Panay believe that rain is Tungkung Langit’s tears shed in longing for his vanished wife Alunsina. To the Manobos, when it rains, it is Diwata throwing out water from the sky. An Ibanag story says that rain is the tears shed by people who were imprisoned in the clouds by the big giant that rules the world, for disobeying his command.

The rainbow is a male deity in an Ibaloy story, and it is crooked because he was hit in the back by Wind, who caught him flirting with Wind’s wife. In a Tagalog story, the rainbow (Bighari) is a flower-loving daughter of Bathala, who was cursed by the latter to stay on earth forever because of her failure to attend a family council which Bathala called. It is her arch of multicolored flowers that we see in the sky. But according to an Igorot star maiden story, the rainbow is not a personage but the road from the sky to the earth that Lumawig built for a man so that his star wife and child could visit him without difficulty. “It was a beautiful road. Its colors varied and today we call it the rainbow”.

 

The Origin of the Rainbow (Tagalog)

A long, long time ago people prayed to Bathala and offered him gifts for they believed that he was God and the source of all graces.

One day Bathala thought of making a journey to the earth. He said to himself, “My people on earth have been very good to me. I would like to make them happy.”

Bathala commanded his messenger to call all his children in heaven. He wanted to see them before he went down to earth. First, the daughters came. They were such lovely maidens and among them were Tala, the morning star; Liwayway, the dawn and Tag-ani, the goddess of harvest. A loud noise and a blinding blaze accompanied the arrival of his sons Kidlat, the lightning; Hangin, the wind; and Araw, the sun. All the other sons came hurrying. They knew that when Bathala called, they should lose no time in coming.

Bathala’s children were now all seated. Looking at one empty seat, Bathala said, “Bighari is not here again. Did my messenger tell her about this meeting?”

“Panginoon, I looked for Bighari but she was nowhere to be found,” said the messenger who looked very tired.

“Perhaps, she is among the flowers in some distant land on earth,” someone whispered. The others exchanged glances, for they knew that Bighari, who was the goddess of flowers, loved to play among the flowers in the garden.

Bathala was indeed very angry. “This will not do,” he strongly said. “How many times has she been late. I will not allow tardiness among my children. If Bighari prefers to be with her children, she can stay with them forever.”

His children were afraid. They looked at one another in silence. After a brief pause, Bathala continued, “From now on, Bighari will remain forever wherever she is right now to live there alone.” Bathala’s children were saddened by those angry words. They loved their beautiful and kind sister Bighari. But no one could protest Bathala’s decision to exile Bighari from his heavenly kingdom.

At that very moment, Bighari was having a delightful time among the flowers in a faraway garden on earth. When it was time for her to return to her heavenly home, she could not find her way out. She was worried about her father. When the messenger came to tell her of Bathala’s anger, she sobbed and said, “I’m not sorry to lose my place in the heavenly kingdom. I grieve because I have offended my father.” The messenger was very sorry for her, but there was nothing he could do.

So the flower garden on earth became Bighari’s home. The flowers bloomed all the more and gave forth beautiful colors never seen before. Everybody around was so delighted. The people who were living nearby saw that the garden grew lovelier everyday. Soon Bighari had many friends. They came to see the flowers and admire their beauty. The people loved Bighari more and more. One day somebody suggested: “Let us build a bower in Bighari’s garden so that we can see the beautiful flowers even from afar.” So the people built a bower. It was high and it arched over the entrance of the garden. Soon the arch was decked all over with blossoms of red, yellow, pink, orange, blue, and white.

Thereafter, whenever the goddess of flowers goes on a journey we can see the lovely many-colored arch in the sky—the rainbow.

Why the Rainbow Is Crooked (Nabaloi)

In the past the rainbow was straight. There had been a great storm for three days. The rainbow had stayed in his house. “I will take a walk,” said the rainbow to his wife. His wife said, “Do not go yet. The storm has not passed.” But the rainbow said, “If I see the storm, I will return. But probably the storm has passed. I always wish to take a walk after a storm has passed.”

Then the rainbow went outside. He went to the summit of the mountain, where he watched the waterfalls. A pretty woman who was the wife of the wind arrived. The rainbow, although he was married, loved the wife of the wind.

While they were talking, the lightning passed. He was going to see his friend the wind. When he arrived at the house of the wind, the wind said, “My wife is not here. I do not know where she has gone. Have you seen her?” The lightning answered, “Yes, I saw her and the rainbow on the summit of the mountain.”

The wind went to find his wife. He saw her sitting on a log near the rainbow. The wind went behind them. He became jealous and angry. He hit the rainbow in the back with a tree. Since that time the rainbow has been crooked.

 

Why Does a Rainbow Appear After a Drizzle? (Unknown, but likely a more modern tale)

One day, a woodsman found a beautiful star fairy lying unconscious near the river bend. He discovered that her wings were broken and readily surmised that she must have fallen unconscious upon hitting the ground. The woodsman brought her home and did everything he could to nurse her back to life. The star fairy finally regained consciousness and thanked the woodsman for saving her life.

However, she was still weak and her wings were still broken, although the woodcutter improvised some form of brace to help the wings heal properly. Months passed and the inevitable happened, the woodsman and the star fairy fell in love with each other. The lovers decided to get married so they could raise a family and have children.

But alas, the day came when the fairy’s wings started fluttering on its own, so the woodsman had to remove the improvised braces. As soon as the wings became free, the star fairy was carried off to high heavens and the woodsman never saw his beloved star fairy again. He was so devastated that each day he went to the river bend, hoping that his wife would be there with her wings once again broken.

The star fairy was back at the star kingdom and could see her beloved husband pining every day for her at the river bend. However, the king had taken away her wings as her punishment for straying too far away from the kingdom. She can only have them back if she learns how to behave like a real star fairy.

One day, the king chanced upon the beautiful fairy crying and looking forlorn as she watched the river bend below. Looking down, he also saw the woodsman near the river bend who was also looking equally forlorn and with tears streaming down his face. Now the star king couldn’t stand the sight of the lovers’ hopeless situation but the union between an Earth creature and a star fairy is strictly forbidden and impossible.

The king finally came up with a bright idea; he stretched out the tails of his multi-colored g-string (this is not the risqué version) so that it would hang down until it formed an arch that would reach the river bend. He told the star fairy that she could go down via the multi-colored arch to visit her beloved woodsman but only for a few minutes. Otherwise, the arch would disappear and she could never go back. If she stayed too long on Earth she will become a mortal and will soon die. It turned out that the fairy is already more than a thousand years old, basing on Earth’s life period.

Therefore, if you see a rainbow after a brief rain shower, it means the star king took pity on the lovers again and had let down the tails of his colorful g-string. The drizzle is actually the star fairy’s tears, while the woodsman called the multi-colored arch “bahag hari” or the king’s g-strings.

The Rainbow Omen

In Manobo myth, the rainbow, according to the general account, is an inexplicable manifestation of the gods of war. At one end of the rainbow there is thought to be a huge tortoise, one fathom broad. The appearance of the rainbow is an indication that the gods of war, with their associate war chiefs and warriors from the land of death, have gone forth in search of blood. If red predominates among the colors of the rainbow it is thought that the mightier war spirits are engaged in hand-to- hand combat; but if the colors are dark, it is a sign of slaughter. If the rainbow should seem to approach, precautions are taken to defend the house against attack, as it is believed that a real war party is approaching.

On no account must the finger be pointed at the rainbow, as it might become curved.

In Subanon myth, when a rainbow appears around the sun, this means that a datu will die.  Ivatans believe the rainbow is a sign that the weather for the day will be uncertain.

 

The Rainbow Connection

It’s hard to see a rainbow and not feel like something special is happening. Some of us may even stop in our tracks and swoon at the beauty of the thing, not to mention become elated at the promise of good fortune to follow. Rainbows are stunning, like shooting stars, they are total magic, Mother Nature style. A fact not lost on just about every culture since time began. Next time you see a rainbow in the Philippines, I encourage you all to ponder the stories of your ancestors and imagine a bridge to another realm, or perhaps you’d rather venture out to find the Tikbalang wedding.

The poetic truth is that everyone sees their own unique rainbow, as two different sets of eyes can’t occupy the same space. Still, there is a fascinating common ground in mythology when it comes to this meteorological phenomenon.  One of many thousand commonalities throughout the Philippine archipelago that the modern era has fractured. Trillions of raindrops create one breathtaking rainbow, just like millions of people can work together to create one beautiful Philippines.

If you have any other examples of how the rainbow is used in Philippine Myth and Folklore, please send us a message via Facebook or through our contact page.

 

ALSO READ: The Heartbreaking Story of ALITAPTAP: A Bataan Legend