Mitolohiya: Filipino Deities and Where to Find Them

◈ Creation Myth • Bisaya

Note: If the events seem all too familiar, it is because this creation story is similar to that of the Bicol's.

In the beginning of time, the world was devoid of any stars, sun, land or moon. There was only water and the sky above it, with its rulers in their respective domain. Maguayan ruled the waters, and the sky was Kaptan's.

These gods each had a child. Lidagat, the sea, was Maguayan's daughter while Kaptan's son was the wind named Lihangin. With both the gods' consent, their children got married. And from this marriage, the sea and the wind had four children.

Likalibuta had the body of rock, and was said to be the strongest and bravest of them all. He had two brothers, Liadlao who was always happy and made of gold, and Libulan who was a bit timid, with a body made of copper. They three brothers had a sister named Lisuga who was beautiful, gentle, and sweet, with her body made of pure silver.

After a time Lihangin passed away and left the control of the winds to his eldest son Licalibutan. The faithful wife Lidagat soon followed her husband, and the children, now grown up, were left without father or mother. However, their grandfathers, Kaptan and Maguayan, took care of them and guarded them from all evil.

After a time, Licalibutan, proud of his power over the winds, resolved to gain more power, and asked his brothers to join him in an attack on Kaptan in the sky above. At first they refused, but when Licalibutan became angry with them, the amiable Liadlao, not wishing to offend his brother, agreed to help. Then together they induced the timid Libulan to join in the plan.

So the three brothers went and made preparations to take themselves to the sky. As soon as the rebellion was set into motion, they found that the sky was closed by some gates made of steel. Using the winds, Likalibutan blew them away and headed into the sky. The brothers rushed into the opening, but were met by the angry god Kaptan. So terrible did he look that they turned and ran in terror; but Kaptan, furious at the destruction of his gates, sent three bolts of lightning after them.

The first struck the copper Libulan and melted him into a ball. The second struck the golden Liadlao and he too was melted. The third bolt struck Licalibutan and his rocky body broke into many pieces and fell into the sea. So huge was he that parts of his body stuck out above the water and became what is known as land.

In the meantime, the gentle Lisuga had missed her brothers and started to look for them. She went toward the sky, but as she approached the broken gates, Kaptan, blind with anger, struck her too with lightning, and her silver body broke into thousands of pieces.

Kaptan then came down from the sky and tore the sea apart, calling on Maguayan to come to him and accusing him of ordering the attack on the sky. Soon Maguayan appeared and answered that he knew nothing of the plot as he had been asleep far down in the sea. After a time, he succeeded in calming the angry Kaptan. Together they wept at the loss of their grandchildren, especially the gentle and beautiful Lisuga; but with all their power they could not restore the dead to life. However, they gave to each body a beautiful light that will shine forever.

And so it was that golden Liadlao became the sun and copper Libulan the moon, while the thousands of pieces of silver Lisuga shine as the stars of heaven. To wicked Licalibutan the gods gave no light, but resolved to make his body support a new race of people. So Kaptan gave Maguayan a seed and he planted it on the land, which, as you will remember, was part of Licalibutan's huge body. Soon a bamboo tree grew up, and from the hollow of one of its branches a man and a woman came out.

The man's name was Sicalac, and the woman was called Sicabay. They were the parents of humankind. They then had a son whom they called Libo, afterwards a daughter who was known as Saman. Pandaguan was the younger son, and he too after some time had a son called Arion.

Pandaguan was very clever and invented a trap to catch fish. The very first thing he caught was a huge shark. When he brought it to land, it looked so great and fierce that he thought it was surely a god, and he at once ordered his people to worship it. Soon all gathered around and began to sing and pray to the shark. Suddenly the sky and sea opened, and the gods came out and ordered Pandaguan to throw the shark back into the sea and to worship none but them.

All were afraid except Pandaguan. He grew very bold and answered that the shark was as big as the gods, and that since he had been able to overpower it he would also be able to conquer the gods. Then Kaptan, hearing this, struck Pandaguan with a small thunderbolt, for he did not wish to kill him but merely to teach him a lesson. Then he and Maguayan decided to punish these people by scattering them over the earth, so they carried some to one land and some to another. Many children were afterwards born, and thus the earth became inhabited in all parts. Pandaguan did not die. After lying on the ground for thirty days he regained his strength, but his body was blackened from the lightning, and all his descendants ever since that day have been black.

His first son, Arion, was taken north, but as he had been born before his father's punishment, he did not lose his color, and all his people therefore are white.

Libo and Saman were carried south, where the hot sun scorched their bodies and caused all their descendants to be of a brown color.

A son of Saman and a daughter of Sicalac were carried east, where the land at first was so lacking in food that they were compelled to eat clay. On this account their children and their children's children have always been yellow in color.

And so mankind spread across the world with different races. The sun and moon shine in the sky and the beautiful stars light up the night. And all over the land, on the body of the envious Licalibutan, the children of Sicalac and Sicabay have grown great in numbers.