Amihan

In the Philippines, amihan refers to the season dominated by the trade winds, which are experienced in the Philippines as a cool northeast wind. It is characterized by moderate temperatures, little or no rainfall, and a prevailing wind from the east.

As a rule of thumb, the Philippines' amihan weather pattern begins sometime in September or October and ends sometime in May or June. There may, however, be wide variations from year to year.

Throughout the rest of the year, the Philippines experiences the west or southwest wind; south west monsoon, which in turn is referred to as the habagat. The habagat season is characterized by hot and humid weather, frequent heavy rainfall, and a prevailing wind from the west.

The main indicator of the switch between the amihan and habagat seasonal patterns is the switch in wind direction. In most years this transition is abrupt and occurs overnight. In some years there is a period of perhaps a week or two where the wind will switch between amihan and habagat patterns several times before settling into the pattern for the new season.

Amihan (mythology)

Amihan is a bird in the Philippine mythology. According to the Tagalog folklore, Amihan is the first creature to inhabit the universe, along with the gods called Bathala and Aman Sinaya. In the legend Amihan is described as a bird who saves the first human beings, Malakas and Maganda from a bamboo plant. Amihan is also a word used to describe monsoon weather which occurs early in the year in the Philippines.

Encantadia

Encantadia is a Filipino fantasy television series (locally known as telefantasya) produced by GMA Network. It was dubbed as the grandest, most ambitious, and most expensive production for Philippine television during its time of release. The pilot episode was aired on May 2, 2005. Its last episode was aired on December 9 of the same year to give way to its second book, Etheria. This series aired its pilot episode on December 12, and its last episode on February 18, 2006. The third and latest installment of the Encantadia saga, entitled Encantadia: Pag-ibig Hanggang Wakas, aired its pilot on February 20, 2006 and the series ended on April 28, 2006.

The series garnered both popular and critical recognition at home and abroad, including winning the 2005 Teleserye (Television Series) of the Year at the Los Angeles-based Gawad Amerika Awards.

The entire Encantadia saga is currently aired on Fox Filipino.

Premise

Encantadia is a term coined from the Filipino words "enkanto", "enkanta", "enkantada", or "enkantado" (which was in turn derived from the Spanish term encant(ad){o/a}) which means enchanted beings endowed with supernatural powers.