These are some selected well- known myths in the Philippines.

2. 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.

3. 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.

4. 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.

5. Custom
Elicited
Salt making in
Mayinit and
pottery making
in Samoki is still
practised.

6. The Myth of Maria Makiling

7. 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.

8. 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.

9. 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.

10. The Myth of Two Eels

11. 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.

12. 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.

13. 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.

14. Moral Lesson
Elicited
Listen to
instructions and be
attentive to avoid
sad consequences.

16. 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.

17. 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.

18. 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.

20. 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.

21. 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.

22. 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

23. 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).

24. End …..
Thank you!!!