I was so lost on what to research for this blog. I spent some time trying to think about what dragon do I want to look into or what folklore. So after some time, I decided to look up “dragons around the world” which resulted in me finding this website written by Brown Geeks. It showed me a list of 9 dragons where I was instantly connected to the Philippines’ tale about Bakunawa.
Bakunawa
Bakunawa is described as a serpent-like body, gills, a red tongue, whiskers, and a mouth the size of a lake. The color of his body changes depending on what story is told. He can be either red, dark blue, or white. As seen in the photo above. He is said to live in the depths of the ocean. There is a second “player” in his tale named Bathala. Bathala is believed as the god of all the gods and the creator of all things. In this story, they are mortal enemies.
Bathala created 7 moons and put them in the sky. Bakunawa saw them from the depths of the ocean which was dark and the light coming from the moons drew them to him. He jumped into the sky and ate one of the moons. Every 100 years he would jump out of the ocean and ate one of the moons. Whenever he ate one of the moons eclipses and earthquakes occurred. He ate them all until there was just one left. This caused Bathala to be beyond angry with him.The ancient Filipinos were tired of Bakunawa’s actions and didn’t want him to eat the last moon that would cause even more darkness and earthquakes. They knew that he was afraid of loud noises so when Bakunawa grabbed the final moon they grabbed pans and started banging on them and yelling. The noises scared Bakunawa he let go of the moon and went back into the ocean. Every 100 years the tradition is still carried out. The people bring out pans, drums, and they yell so Bakunawa doesn’t take the moon away.
My thoughts
It was really interesting to learn about a tradition somewhere else in the world. It must be a fun night to have. I would love any purpose to bang on pots and drums and scream into the night. It’s really interesting to think that different generations have played a role in this tradition while others have not but know the legend.
Links that I used:
https://mythus.fandom.com/wiki/Bakunawa
https://thebrowngeeks.com/9-amazing-dragons-from-around-the-world/ (this is also the link to the photo)
