BATHALA: The Story of Creation

In the beginning of time there were three powerful gods who lived in the
universe. Bathala was the caretaker of the earth, Ulilang Kaluluwa (lit.
Orphaned Spirit), a huge serpent who lived in the clouds, and Galang
Kaluluwa (lit. Wandering spirit), the winged god who loves to travel. These
three gods did not know each other.
Bathala often dreamt of creating mortals but the empty earth stops him
from doing so. Ulilang Kaluluwa who was equally lonely as Bathala, liked
to visit places and the earth was his favorite. One day the two gods met.
Ulilang Kaluluwa, seeing another god rivalling him, was not pleased. He
challenged Bathala to a fight to decide who would be the ruler of the
universe. After three days and three nights, Ulilang Kaluluwa was slain by
Bathala. Instead of giving him a proper burial, Bathala burned the snakes
remains. A few years later the third god, Galang Kaluluwa, wandered into
Bathalas home. He welcomed the winged god with much kindness and
even invited him to live in his kingdom. They became true friends and
were very happy for many years.
Galang Kaluluwa became very ill. Before he died he instructed Bathala to
bury him on the spot where Ulilang Kaluluwas body was burned. Bathala
did exactly as he was told. Out of the grave of the two dead gods grew a
tall tree with a big round nut, which is the coconut tree. Bathala took the
nut and husked it. He noticed that the inner skin was hard. The nut itself
reminded him of Galang Kaluluwas head. It had two eyes, a nose, and a
round mouth. Its leaves looked so much like the wings of his dear winged
friend. But the trunk was hard and ugly, like the body of his enemy, the
snake Ulilang Kaluluwa.
Bathala realized that he was ready to create the creatures he wanted with
him on earth. He created the vegetation, animals, and the first man and
woman. Bathala built a house for them out of the trunk and leaves of the
coconut trees. For food, they drank the coconut juice and ate its delicious
white meat. Its leaves, they discovered, were great for making mats, hats,
and brooms. Its fiber could be used for rope and many other things.
VISAYAN CREATION MYTH
Thousands of years ago, there was no land, sun, moon, or stars, and the
world was only a great sea of water, above which stretched the sky. The
water was the kingdom of the goddess Maguayan, and the sky was ruled
by the great god, Kaptan.
Maguayan had a daughter called Lidagat, the sea, and Kaptan had a son
known as Lihangin, the wind. The gods agreed to the marriage of their
children, so the sea became the bride of the wind. A daughter and three
sons were born to them.
Likalibutan had a body of rock and was strong and brave; Liadlao was
formed of gold and was always happy; Libulan was made of copper and
was weak and timid; and the beautiful Lisuga had a body of pure silver
and was sweet and gentle. Their parents were very fond of them, and
nothing was wanting to make them happy.
After a time Lihangin died and left the control of the winds to his eldest
son Likalibutan. The faithful wife Lidagat soon followed her husband, and
the children, now grown up, were left without father or mother. However,
their grandparents, Kaptan and Maguayan, took care of them and guarded
them from all evil.
After some time, Likalibutan, proud of his power over the winds, resolved
to gain more power, and asked his brothers to join him in an attack on
Kaptan in the sky above. They refused at first, but when Likalibutan
became angry with them, the amiable Liadlao, not wishing to offend his
brother, agreed to help. Then together they induced the timid Libulan to
join in the plan.
When all was ready, the three brothers rushed at the sky, but they could
not beat down the gates of steel that guarded the entrance. Likalibutan let
loose the strongest winds and blew the bars in every direction. The
brothers rushed into the opening, but were met by the angry god Kaptan.
So terrible did he look that they turned and ran in terror, but Kaptan,
furious at the destruction of his gates, sent three bolts of lightning after
them.
The first struck the copper Libulan and melted him into a ball. The second
struck the golden Liadlao and he too was melted. The third bolt struck
Likalibutan and his rocky body broke into many pieces and fell into the
sea. So huge was he that parts of his body stuck out above the water and
became what is known as land.
In the meantime the gentle Lisuga had missed her brothers and started to
look for them. She went toward the sky, but as she approached the broken
gates, Kaptan, blind with anger, struck her too with lightning, and her
silver body broke into thousands of pieces.
Kaptan then came down from the sky and tore the sea apart, calling on
Maguayan to come to him and accusing her of ordering the attack on the
sky. Soon Maguayan appeared and answered that she knew nothing of the
plot as she had been asleep deep in the sea. After some time, she
succeeded in calming the angry Kaptan. Together they wept at the loss of
their grandchildren, especially the gentle and beautiful Lisuga, but even
with their powers, they could not restore the dead back to life. However,
they gave to each body a beautiful light that will shine forever.
And so it was the golden Liadlao who became the sun and the copper
Libulan, the moon, while Lisugas pieces of silver were turned into the
stars of heaven. To wicked Likalibutan, the gods gave no light, but
resolved to make his body support a new race of people. So Kaptan gave
Maguayan a seed and she planted it on one of the islands.
Soon a bamboo tree grew up, and from the hollow of one of its branches,
a man and a woman came out. The mans name was Sikalak and the
woman was called Sikabay. They were the parents of the human race.
Their first child was a son whom they called Libo; afterwards they had a
daughter who was known as Saman.
Pandaguan, the youngest son, was very clever and invented a trap to
catch fish. The very first thing he caught was a huge shark. When he
brought it to land, it looked so great and fierce that he thought it was
surely a god, and he at once ordered his people to worship it. Soon all
gathered around and began to sing and pray to the shark. Suddenly the
sky and sea opened, and the gods came out and ordered Pandaguan to
throw the shark back into the sea and to worship none, but them.
All were afraid except Pandaguan. He grew very bold and answered that
the shark was as big as the gods, and that since he had been able to
overpower it he would also be able to conquer the gods. Then Kaptan,
hearing this, struck Pandaguan with a small lightning bolt, for he did not
wish to kill him but merely to teach him a lesson. Then he and Maguayan
decided to punish these people by scattering them over the earth, so they
carried some to one land and some to another. Many children were
afterwards born, and thus the earth became inhabited in all parts.
Pandaguan did not die. After lying on the ground for thirty days he
regained his strength, but his body was blackened from the lightning, and
his descendants became the dark-skinned tribe, the Negritos.
As punishment, his eldest son, Aryon, was taken north where the cold took
away his senses. While Libo and Saman were carried south, where the hot
sun scorched their bodies. A son of Saman and a daughter of Sikalak were
carried east, where the land at first was so lacking in food that they were
compelled to eat clay.
And so the world came to be made and peopled. The sun and moon shine
in the sky and the beautiful stars light up the night.

The Story of the Creation (Bilaan/Mindanao)

IN the very beginning there lived a being so large that he can not be
compared with any known thing. His name was Melu, [129] and when he
sat on the clouds, which were his home, he occupied all the space above.
His teeth were pure gold, and because he was very cleanly and
continually rubbed himself with his hands, his skin became pure white.
The dead skin which he rubbed off his body [130] was placed on one side
in a pile, and by and by this pile became so large that he was annoyed
and set himself to consider what he could do with it.
Finally Melu decided to make the earth; so he worked very hard in putting
the dead skin into shape, and when it was finished he was so pleased with
it that he determined to make two beings like himself, though smaller, to
live on it.
Taking the remnants of the material left after making the earth he
fashioned two men but just as they were all finished except their noses,
Tau Tana from below the earth appeared and wanted to help him.
Melu did not wish any assistance, and a great argument ensued. Tau Tana
finally won his point and made the noses which he placed on the people
upside down. When all was finished, Melu and Tau Tana whipped the forms
until they moved. Then Melu went to his home above the clouds, and Tau
Tana returned to his place below the earth.
All went well until one day a great rain came, and the people on the earth
nearly drowned from the water which ran off their heads into their noses.
Melu, from his place on the clouds, saw their danger, and he came quickly
to earth and saved their lives by turning their noses the other side up.
The people were very grateful to him, and promised to do anything he
should ask of them. Before he left for the sky, they told him that they were
very unhappy living on the great earth all alone, so he told them to save
all the hair from their heads and the dry skin from their bodies and the
next time he came he would make them some companions. And in this
way there came to be a great many people on the earth.

The Black Egg, Pan Gu, and The World

In the beginning there was Chaos and from the broiling mixture, in the
darkness, grew an enormous black egg. Inside this egg, the sleeping giant
Pan Gu was formed. For 18 thousand years he slept and he grew. Finally,
Pan Gu awoke and yawned and stretched his enormous limbs and broke
the egg in two. The top half was lighter and flew up to become the
heavens and the heavier bottom half sank down to became the earth,
thus forming the yin and yang.
Pan Gu was pleased with what had happened but also concerned, lest the
two parts should come together again and remake Chaos; so he stood
between, his head holding up the heavens and his feet on the earth. Thus
he stood, growing and growing, pushing the sky and earth further and
further apart for another 18 thousand years. Once sure they would never
come together again and now exhausted by his efforts, Pan Gu lay down
and died.
However, his whole being started to form the world. His last breaths
became the wind and clouds and his voice the rumbling thunder. One eye
became the sun, the other the moon. His body and limbs became the five
biggest mountains in China, his blood formed the rivers and seas. The
hairs on Pan Gus head turned into the myriad stars twinkling in the skies,
whilst his skin and other hair became the plants and the trees growing in
the good earth created from his flesh. His sweat flowed like the rain and
dew, nourishing all things on earth, while his teeth and bones turned into
precious stones and minerals.
Finally, from the numerous small creatures that had lived on his body,
came mankind, spreading out over the earth into every corner of the
creation that was Pan Gu.

Death, Life and Death

In the beginning there was nothing: neither matter nor light existed. In
this world lived only Death, whose name is Sa, and his wife and and their
only daughter. Needing a place for his family to live, Sa eventually used
his magical powers to create a vast sea of mud. They lived in this filth and
instablilty for many years.
Finally the god Alatangana came to visit Sa and his familty.
Alatangana was appalled at the mess in which they lived, and he
condemned Sa for creating such a dirty place that lacked light and life. To
set things right, Alatangana first consolidated the mud into the solid earth.
However, this lifeless expanse across which he could now walk still
depressed him. First he made plants to cover the new earth, and then
animals to live on it. Even Sa realized that Alatangana had made the world
a much better place, and he took Alatangana in as his guest.
Alatangana was wifeless, and eventually he decided he wanted Sa's
daughter for his wife. Sa at first was diplomatic in refusing to let
Alatangana marry his daughter, but finally he explicitly refused
Alatangana's request. Alatangana, however, wooed Sa's daughter, and
eventually they eloped to a distant region of the earth.
Alatangana and his new wife set up a happy home amidst the
paradise that Alatangana had created from Sa's sea of mud. They had
fourteen children. Seven were girls and seven were boys, and of each four
had light skin and three had dark. This did not distress Alatangana, but he
and his wife were shocked to find that their chidren spoke different
languages that the parents did not understand.
Frustrated with this state of affairs, Alatangana finally went to Sa for
advice. Sa explained that this was a curse that he had put on Alatangana's
children because of the way Alatangana had stolen his daughter.
Alatangana returned home, and eventually his children went off to found
the peoples of the world, the French, the English, and the other European
peoples, and the Kono, the Guuerze, the Manon Malinke, and the Toma
Yacouba of Africa.
All these descendents of Alatangana and his wife still lived in
darkness, because although Alatangana had made the life that covered
the earth, he had could not find a way to make light. As before, his
frustration forced him to call on Sa for help, but rather than face his
hostile father-in-law, he decided to send two messengers. He chose the
tou-tou bird, a small red bird that is one of the first to arise each morning
in the forest, and the rooster. These two birds went to ask Sa how the
world could be lit so that the new peoples of the earth could see to work.
When the two presented their problem to Sa, he invited them into
his home and taught them a song with which they could call forth
daylight. When the two returned to Alatangana, he was furious at the
nonsense they reported about a song they had learned. He nearly killed
them, but eventually he sent them on their way.
Not long afterward, the rooster broke into song, and the tou-tou bird
sang its first notes. For the first time, dawn began to appear, and soon it
was day. The sun that they had called forth made its way across the sky,
and when it set the stars appeared to provide faint light at night. Every
day since has begun the same way, with the call of the tou-tou bird and
the cry of the rooster.
Alatangana was grateful for the gift that he now realized Sa had
given to him and his children. Sa was not long, however, in calling for
payment of the debt. He came to Alatangana and pointed out the good
things that he had done despite Alatangana's theft of his daughter. Now
he demanded that in return he could, whenever he liked, claim any of
Alatangana's offspring. Knowing his guilt and his debt to Sa, Alatangana
agreed, and so it is that Alatangana's children, the human people, must
meet with Death whenever he calls for them.
Iroquois Creation Myth
Before our world came into being, human beings lived in the
SkyWorld. Below the SkyWorld was a dark watery world with birds and
animals swimming around.
In the SkyWorld was the Celestial Tree from which all kinds of fruits
and flowers grew. Today, the Shad tree [serviceberry bush] is known as
the Celestial Tree because it is the first flowering tree in the northeast in
the springtime.
The wife of the Chief of the SkyWorld was called Skywoman. One
night, Skywoman, who was expecting a baby, had a dream in which the
Celestial Tree was uprooted. When she told her husband the dream he
realized that it was a very powerful message and that the people of the
SkyWorld needed to do everything they could to make it come to pass.
Many of the young men in the SkyWorld tried with all their might to
uproot the tree, but failed. Finally the Chief of the SkyWorld wrapped his
arms around the tree and with one great effort he uprooted it.
This left a great hole in the crust of the SkyWorld. Skywoman leaned
over to look into the hole, lost her balance and fell into the hole. As she
slipped she was able to grasp a handful of seeds from the branches of the
Celestial Tree.
As Skywoman fell, the birds and animals in the water below saw her
and decided that she would need help so that she would not be harmed.
Geese flew up and caught her between their wings and began to lower her
down toward the water. The animals saw that Skywoman was not like
them and would not be able to survive in the water.
Each of the animals dove into the water trying to bring up earth
from the bottom for Skywoman to land on. Many animals tried and failed.
When it seemed like all had tried and failed, tiny muskrat vowed to bring
up earth or die trying. She went down, deep, deep, deep, until she was
almost unconscious, but was able to reach out with one small paw and
grasped some earth before floating back to the top. When muskrat
appeared with the Earth, the Great Turtle said it could be placed on his
back. When the tiny bit of earth was placed on Turtle's back, it began to
grow larger and larger until it became the whole world.
The geese gently set Skywoman on the earth and she opened her
hands to let the seeds fall on the soil. From the seeds grew the trees and
grass and life on Earth had begun.
In time, Skywoman gave birth to a daughter, Tekawerahkwa, who
grew to be a lovely young woman. A powerful being called West Wind fell
in love with Tekawerahkwa and took her as his bride. In time she became
pregnant with twin sons. Tekawerahkwa's sons were very different; one
(Bad Mind) had skin as hard as flint and was argumentative and the other
(Good Mind) was soft skinned and patient. Flint [Bad Mind twin] was
impatient to be born and decided to use his sharp flint-like head to cut his
way out of his mother's body. While his gentle brother was being born the
natural way, Bad Mind was forcing his way through his mother's armpit
which killed her. When Skywoman saw the lifeless body of her beautiful
daughter she was terribly angry. She asked her grandsons who had done
this awful thing and Bad Mind lied and placed the blame on his good
brother, Good Mind.* Skywoman believed him and banished Good Mind.
Fortunately, Grandfather was watching Good Mind and came to his aid.
Grandfather taught Good Mind all he needed to know about surviving on
the earth and set him to work making the land beautiful. [Is Bad Mind's
shifting of blame comparable to Genesis 3.12, where Adam appears to
shift blame to Eve?]
Skywoman placed the head of her daughter in the night sky where
she became Grandmother Moon and was given power over the waters.
From her body grew our Three Sisters, corn, beans, and squash.
Good Mind made all the beauty on our earthhe created the rivers ,
the mountains, the trees. He taught the birds to sing and the water
animals to dance. He made rainbows and soft rains. Bad Mind watched
his brother creating beauty and was envious.[cf. Satan?] He set out to
create the opposite of all the good his brother had made. He put
dangerous rapids in the rivers, created destructive hurricanes and
powerful tornadoes. When Good Mind planted medicinal plants, Bad Mind
planted poisonous roots and deadly berries.
One day, while Good Mind was away creating more things of beauty,
Bad Mind stole all the animals and hid them in a big cave. When Good
Mind returned to find that all of his creatures were gone he was very sad.
A tiny mouse told him what his brother had done, so Good Mind went to
the cave and caused the mountain to shake until it split so that the
animals could emerge. Good Mind was very angry with his brother and
they fought. Bad Mind used an arrow and Good Mind used a deer antler as
weapons. When Good Mind struck Bad Mind with the deer antler it caused
flint chips to fall from his body. Their battle raged for many days and
finally Good Mind won. He banished Bad Mind to live in caves beneath the
earth where he waits to return to the surface.