MYTHIC PHASE

(From the Beginning of Time)

Each society has its own story of
originan idea of how things began.
Apparently, humans all over the
world ask the same questions. Who
are we? Where did we come from?
How long ago was that? Our
ancestors must have asked the same
questions because they had stories to
tell about how their own forebears
were created and what happened to
them thereafter.
It would therefore be instructive if
we begin the reconstruction of our
prehistoric society and culture with
myths of origin. This would enable us
to see how our ancestors thought
about the mystery of human
beginnings. This would also localize
the cultural baseline from which to
pursue the search for understanding
of what happened in the past. One of
the functions of myths is to explain
the nature of things and events in
the environment. As such, myths
form part of the people's core
knowledge which they use to create,
develop, and rationalize their culture
as a way of life. Unless this core
knowledge is understood, the local
ways of life cannot be appreciated
well.
For example, one cannot hope to
appreciate the splendor and glory of
ancient Egypt, Greece, Rome, and
China, to cite four great civilizations,

without having to deal with their

mythological past. Myths spring not
only from the desire to explain the
wonder of existence, but also from
the need to legitimize leadership, as
in the ideology of "Divine Kings" or
"Mandate from Heaven."
Of course, we know that myths are
not true accounts of real events. But
they serve a historical purpose: they
tell us about the creative genius of
our ancestorshow they perceived
their world and adapted to it, as in
performing the necessary rites and
ceremonies to make hunting or
planting yield successful results.
Myths also provide us with sets of
symbols and meanings to sacralize
our religious beliefs and legitimize
our social practices, including the
exercise of political power.
ORIGIN MYTHS
A cursory examination of available
Filipino origin myths indicate that,
indeed, even during the ancient
times the question of how things
began on earth had already engaged
the intellectual interests of our
ancestors. They sought to unravel
the mystery of nature around them.
In the absence of technology to do it,
they told beautiful stories, including
the appearance of the first man and
woman, which later became the
basis for explaining the natural and
cultural events in life.

Many of these origin myths were

recorded by the early Spanish
chroniclers who came with the
conquistadores during the 16th and
17th centuries. Most of these stories
survived colonial times. They are still
told and retold by the old folk in the
different hinterlands and rural
villages. Studying these myths, in the
context of culture growth, enables us
to gain valuable insights into the
pattern of continuity, persistence,
and change in the core elements of
our indigenous culture.
Because of limited space in this
study, we can include only two
versions of our origin myths. And for
this purpose, we selected the ones
recorded by Miguel Lopez de Loarca
in 1582-1583. Again, because of lack
of space, we will quote only the
portions which deal with the creation
of the archipelago and the
appearance of the first man and
woman. We chose Loarca's materials
for historical purpose.
MYTH NO. 1
The people of the coast, who are
called Yligueynes, believed that
heaven and earth had no beginning,
and that there were two gods, one
called Captan and the other
Maguayen. They believed that the
land breeze and the sea breeze were
married and that the land breeze
brought forth a reed, which was
planted by the god Captan. When the

reed grew, it broke into two sections,

from which came a man and a
woman. To the man they gave the
name Sicalac, and that is the reason
why man from that time on have
been called lalac; the woman they
named Sicavay and henceforth
women have been called babaye.
...one day the man asked the woman
to marry him for there were no other
people in the world; but she refused,
saying that they were brother and
sister, born of the same reed, with
only one knot between them. Finally,
they agreed to ask advice from the
tunnies of the sea and from the
doves of the air; they also went to
the earthquake, who said that it was
necessary for them to marry, so that
the world might be peopled.
MYTH NO. 2
The Tinguines (those who live in the
mountains) believe that in the
beginning were only the sea and the
sky. One day a kite appeared and
found no place to alight. So it
determined to set the sea against the
sky. Accordingly, the sea declared
war against the sky and threw her
waters upward. The sky, seeing this,
made a treaty of peace with the sea.
Afterwards, to avenge himself upon
her for having cared to assert
herself, they say that he showered
upon the sea all the islands of the
archipelago in order to subdue her;
and that the sea ran to and fro
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without being able to rise again.

They say that from this event arose
the custom of ma-varisthat is,
taking vengeance for an insult
received, a very common practice in
this land; and they consider is a
point of honor to take revenge.
Then they relate this to the story of
the reed: they say that the kite
pecked the reed and the aforesaid
man and woman came out. They also
added that the first time Cavahi gave
birth to children, she brought forth a
great number at once. One day the
father went home, very angry and
threatened the children. The latter
were frightened so they fled; some of
them went into the most hidden
rooms of the house; some hid in
places nearer the open air; some hid
themselves within the dindines or
walls of the house which are
constructed of reeds; some sought
the fireplace; and some fled to the
sea through the same door by which
the father had entered. It is said that
those who fled to the most hidden
rooms are the chiefs of these islands;
those who remained nearer the
outside are the timawas; those who
hid themselves within the walls are
the slaves; those who hid themselves
in the fireplace are the blacks; and
those who fled to sea through the
open door are the Spaniards and that
they had no news of us until they
beheld us when they returned
through the sea.

MYTHS AS CULTURAL
DOCUMENTS
What can we learn from these
myths? What are their contributions
to our understanding of the
emergence and development of our
prehistoric culture?
If we examine closely the elements
found in these stories, we discover
that they reflect many of the basic
elements of our prehistory and
contemporary Filipino culture and
personality. They contain innate
ideas which substantiate ancient
thinking and current imagination
about the nature of human origin. As
such, they serve as records
suggesting that our ancestors
possessed the ability to observe,
reason, interpret, and give meanings
to natural realities and social events
in their environment. They were not
primitive as often described.
Good examples of these myth-reality
relations are the translations of
beliefs into art forms, particularly in
ceramics. The burial jars recovered
in ancient graveyardsfrom the
Manunggol Cave in Palawan to
Kulaman Plateau in southern
Cotabatodocument these relations.
And so do anthropometric burial
potteries excavated from Maitum
Cave in South Cotabato. Perhaps the
petroglyphs drawn on the rock
shelter of Angono were part of goodluck rites associated with hunting or
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planting crops. There are many other

artifactual evidence to show the
close ties between the mythical
imaginings and technological
achievements of our ancestors.
We need to remember, in this
connection, that history is the
present reconstruction of "near-past"
events, based on written records.
Myths and legends, as oral
narratives, function as "Records" of
ancient events, the time when
writing was not yet used to account
for them. What these stories tell
might not have actually happened.
Nevertheless, they form part of a
body of knowledge which allowed
our prehistoric ancestors to
rationalize their understanding of
events to imbue their tradition with
authority and historical depth.
The first myth, for example, tells us
that life on earth began with the
marriage of the land breeze and the
sea breeze. The land breeze gave
birth to a reed which god Captan
planted. When the reed broke, the
first man and woman appeared. In
the second story, human life began
after the creation of the islands
composing the archipelago. These
islands were originally big stones
thrown down by the Sky to keep the
Sea from tossing waves upward and
to wash her away. The conflict was
caused by the trickery of the kite
(bird?). Then a reed appeared which
the kite pecked. And when it broke,

the first man and woman were born.

They got married and peopled the
world.
In both myths, marriage was
acknowledged as the legitimate
social institution for procreation. It is
still acknowledged to be such today.
In fact, the ritual of marriage is
likewise viewed by us as a sacred
trust, designed in heaven and
fulfilled on earth. Similarly, we
consider it incestuous to marry our
own sibling. This was already
recognized in the myth by the refusal
of the woman to marry the man
because they were born out of the
same reed, with only one knot
separating them.
But since there were no people on
earth, they felt it was their obligation
to marry. Thus, to offset the "curse"
of incest, they consulted the
authorities. They sought the
permission of the tunas, the dove,
and the earthquake. These three
"authorities" symbolize the sea, the
air, and the earthall life-giving
elements. They are considered
significant and must be accounted
for in all major and important
decisions.
When these authorities gave their
blessings, the couple married and
peopled the world. The permission
removed what could have been the
"original sin." In other words, our
myths tell us that the peopling of the
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archipelago was done out of our

ancestors' sense of moral obligation
and respect for authority and not out
of disobedience to authority, as Adam
and Eve did.
The islands were created out of the
conflict between the sky and the sea
as schemed by the bird. The event
could be seen as "creative
confrontation" because it brought
about better resultsthe creation of
the first man and woman and the
emergence of the different races in
the world. It likewise legitimized the
existence of the social classes: the
datu, timawa, and uripon. Even the
colonizers were put in mythological
context (perhaps a later addition), so
that they could be understood and
accommodated properly by the host
culture.
The third element in the myth is the
bamboo. It was narrated that when
the bamboo broke, the first man and
woman appeared simultaneously.
Seen in the context of the
contemporary social system, the
story appears to be closely linked
with the nature of Filipino kinship.
Our kinship system has been
described by scholars as bilateral.
That is, upon marriage, two lateral
and otherwise unrelated groupsthe
bride's and the groom'sbecome
related, without any one group being
dominant. The children serve as the
permanent link between them. The
two halves of the bamboo node

represent the bilateral structure of

the Filipino social system.
In Judeo-Christian societies, the
origin myth tells that a man was
created first and the woman second.
This story justifies the unilineal
structure of the ancient Hebrew
society. In unilineal society, the male
is dominant. Even descent is
reckoned along male lines. If one
takes a look at Genesis in the Old
Testament, one finds that the line of
descent of the founders of the
ancient Hebrew society was traced
through the male line. It would be
instructive to note, in this
connection, that the powerful god in
the Judeo-Christian belief is male
God the Father.
In our myth, the initiator of creation
was a bird. The gender was
unknown. Male and female were
created simultaneously. They were
born coequal. The female was not an
afterthought as in Judea-Christian
mythology. In other words, the
female was meant to be the partner
of the maleendowed with the same
rights, status, and roles in society.
Even today, we find this equality
expressed in the partnership of
husband and wife in all endeavors. In
the farming villages, for example,
when the man plows the field, the
woman plants the crops. In the
fishing villages, when the man fishes,
the woman sells the catch. In
business, when the man is the head
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of the enterprise, the wife is either

the vice president for finance or
treasurer of the company. They are
always togetherjust as when they
were released out of the bamboo
node.
The idea and the practice of gender
inequality that we talk about today
were introduced by the colonizers
Spanish and Americans. These were
not part of our indigenous tradition.
Why was the bamboo chosen as the
medium of creation? Why not the big
trees, like the lauan, the mahogany,
and the narra, for example? Why the
bamboo? Because the bamboo is
actually the stronger tree. It has the
ability to sway with the wind, to bow
down when the tempest is high, and
to rise again unscathed when the
storm is over. Other trees break
easily. In other words, the bamboo
symbolically represents two of the
basic elements of Filipino
psychology: flexibility and personal
warmth. Like our mythological
bamboo, we have the ability to adapt
easily to all kinds of conditions and
to all kinds of cultures. We are gifted
with warm dispositions, much like
our mythological bamboo that sways
in harmony with the direction of the
wind.
Furthermore, the bamboo was chose
by our ancestors as the medium of
creation because it figures
prominently in their lives. it was (and

still is) one of the important sources

of food, shelter, weapons, farming
and fishing implements, firewood,
and many others. With these origin
myths, our ancestors were also able
to define two more important traits
of Filipinos: hospitality and personal
charm.
Filipinos are known for their
hospitality and warmth. These traits
are commonly shared. Sharing forms
one of the major elements of Filipino
culture. Should anyone chance upon
someone eating, he would generally
be invited "to come and eat." If, by
chance, or for whatever reason, one
drops by in the house of a fried, an
acquaintance, or even strangers,
during mealtimes, especially in the
rural villages, one cannot leave the
house without partaking of the meal
with the family. We are warm and
hospitable because we were created
out of the life-giving bamboo, not out
of cold, inanimate clay.
Critics say that the bamboo is hollow
inside, representing our lack of
intellectual abilities. Wrong! The
hollowness represents the unseen
inner forcea psychic strength
called bisa, which enables us to
survive even the centuries of
colonization without breaking down.
Other ancient societies, like the Inca,
the Aztec, and the Maya empires,
perished under the sword of the
Spanish conquistadores and never
rose again. We did not perish; we
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were able to rise above the ebb and

flow of colonial waves which swept
over our shores. We did so because,
like our mythological bamboo, we
have the inner strength and
capability to bow down when the
tempest of colonialism was high and
to rise again, unscathed, when the
colonials were gone.
Or to put it in another way,
Ang Filipino ay kahalintulad
Ng kanyang maalamat na
kawayan;
May kusang humapay.
Sa biglang bugsok ng
kalikasan
Ngunit may bisa at lakasloob
Na tumayo muli upang
damahin
Ang alab ng bukang
liwayway.
Free translation:
The Filipino is like his
mythological bamboo;
He has the ability to bow
down

At the sudden lash of

Nature's fury
But has the inner strength
To rise again when the
tempest is over,
To meet and feel once more
The warmth of the morning
sun.
SUMMARY
Thus far, we have presented in this
chapter the local source on the
origin of the Filipino. We explored
very briefly the contributions of
mythology in explaining how our
ancestors perceived our beginnings
as a people. We know myths are not
true. Nevertheless, they tell us about
how our ancestors dealt with the
events occurring within their
environment.
When this fact is matched with the
findings of science, the knowledge
we gain sharpens our insights into
the creative genius of our ancestors
to carve out of their precarious
prehistoric surroundings a heritage
we can be proud of.