Illustrated by Resie Vinluan
By RESIE CAITH VINLUAN | Feature Correspondents
Admiring the way millions of stars decorate the night sky is a great way to relax your soul and hope for wishes to end up existing. Staring and capturing every detail of the moon is a perfect reference to an empty canvas. Waiting for the rise of the morning hoping for a new beginning after walking past the dark times is a kind of relief. After the mesmerizing scenes that blessed every corner of eyes, the thought of someone ruling every bit of the favorite sights can eat up pieces of curiosity. Maybe there's a throne behind the stars, moon, and morning.
The idea of being a god is making an image of a superior whose words are shining bright and a path that everyone does follow. This is a common thing in mythological stories. There are a lot of different ways and stories about god and goddesses depending on the culture and beliefs. Greek mythology is the most popular and well-known story in this section. In the Philippines, there are also a billion words to tell. Different regions have their own representation of mythology. Most of these stories already passed from one's mind to everyone's tongue. The most familiar power is probably the three demigod sisters: Hanan, Tala, and Mayari. They are the daughters of Bathala and a mortal woman.
Tala is the goddess of stars. Her name means the brightest star for she is the ruler of stars. The most popular story of her is she is known to have supported the creation of the Tagalog traditional constellations. Tala used light spheres or orbs to ferry men for safety at night. The people's interpretation of these lights turned to be pictured out as deadly elements that kill men or get humans to lose their way, this is by the influence of the Spanish tradition of the santelmos or ball of fire.
On another side of stories, the god of sun Arao and the moon goddess Buan both had large families of stars, but Buan believed her stars could not survive the heat of Arao. As a result, they shake hands to destroy their stars. Arao followed the promise they created and devoured his while Buan hid hers in the clouds, where they would occasionally emerge. Arao was filled with rage as he saw what Buan really did behind his back. Eclipses are explained by Arao getting close enough to bite her. At dawn, Buan hides the stars and brings them forth only when her eldest daughter, Tala says the sun is too far away to reach them. In Kapampangan mythology, a deity named Tala is also present. For the Kapampangans, Tala is the bright star and the one who introduced wet-rice culture in Pampanga.
Hanan is the goddess of morning. It is said that the first prayer of the day is given to Bathala, Apolaki, and her as a sign of a new day. Hanan also represents the new year. She is especially important during the entrance of a new age or a new chapter in a person’s life. People offer her bountiful harvests and prayers during the birth of a child, the womanhood or manhood of the child, entering adulthood, and death. In nature, the entrance of the planting season, the beginning of the harvest season, and the start of a new annual cycle. These prayers are only conducted at the break of dawn. In Tagalog animism, the rooster and dawning sun was Hanan’s emblem.
Mayari is the beautiful and most charming lunar deity. Her name comes from the Tagalog word "yari" which means perfectly made. Mayari is the Goddess of Combat, War, Revolution, Hunt, Weaponry, Beauty, Strength, Moon, and Night. She is known as the most beautiful deity in Bathala’s court.
In a Pampangan myth, Bathala died without leaving a will and Apolaki and Mayari fought over who would rule the earth. Apolaki wanted to rule the earth alone while Mayari fought for equal rights. The two fought out the conflict until Mayari lost an eye. After Apolaki saw what he had done, he agreed to rule the earth together but at different times. After this, Mayari's light is dimmer than her brother’s due to the loss of her eye. That explains why the moon is less bright than the sun.
Goddess Tala, Hanan, and Mayari clearly have different roles and stories in every region. Nevertheless, they will still remain in the mythology world as powerful goddesses ever created. The image of them and other mythical creatures shows how magical and wide people's beliefs and culture are. At the time when another bunch of stars sparks, times when the moon shines and falls, and hundreds of morning rise, these stories will continue to carry the history and literature of how Tala sparks, Mayari shines, and Hanan rises.
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