Myths and Legends of Pinatubo and Arayat

Myths and Legends of Pinatubo and Arayat

The oral traditions involving the mountains Pinatubo and Arayat are quite vast, and I want to

give an outline of some of these along with a bit of analysis. However, given that many of the

works that might discuss these mountains and their traditions are buried in extensive archives

that are not well indexed, this will be an on-going process.

The earliest explicit mention of name "Arayat" and its main deity "Sinukuan" that I have been

able to uncover is the travel diary of Gemelli Careri in 1696:

In Pampanga, and right on the mountain called Bondo [Bondoc], or Kalaya [Alaya], being a

league and a half high (which was previously under the rule of Sinoquan and Mingan) are

plantains, betels, and other fruits. They say they may eat these fruits on the spot, but if anyone

carries them down they either fall down dead, or become lame. Perhaps the Devil (by God's

permission) causes such strange accidents, to keep those people in paganism; but the Indians

themselves also play their part for they are famous sorcerers and are said often to convert

themselves into crocodiles, wild boars, and other forms.

The Bondo and Kalaya come from "Bondok Alaya" or "Mount Alaya," the original name of

Arayat. Sinoquan is obviously Apung Sinukuan, who is portrayed here as a ruler of Arayat along

with Mingan, a name that in most traditions is that of Sinukuan's wife, but occasionally occurs

also as the name of one of his daughters.

As for Sinukuan's opposite -- Apo na Malyari (Apung Mallari) and Mt. Pinatubo -- the earliest

reference I have found so far comes from a manuscript titled "Relation of the Zambals" by

Domingo Perez in 1680. Malyari is mentioned primarily in reference to the sacrifices made by

the Bayoc, the Sambal high priest, and Pinatubo ("Pinatuba") is noted for its rock slides during

the rainy season (Blair and Robertson 1903).

These accounts are rather brief and do not provide detailed information. For example, no

connection is made between the god Malyari and Pinatubo.

Modern ethnography

We begin to learn more about the myths and legends of these mountains when a renaissance in

learning about indigenous culture occurred among the leaders of the Propaganda Movement and

the Philippine Revolution starting around the 1880s. These studies intensified after American

colonization among both American and Filipino scholars.

During this time, we learn that Sinukuan was also known by other names: Aldo "Sun," and

Apolaqui "Lord Male," or possibly "Lord Grandfather." The myths suggest that knowledge of

Sinukuan was more widely spread than the areas of Pampanga and nearby Zambales.

For example, Apolaqui was also known throughout most of Luzon where he is variously called

Apolaki, Apolake, etc., often in myths that resemble that of the battle of the Sun and Moon, or

Aldo and Bulan, that is associated with Arayat and Pinatubo.

Diego Aduarte in 1640 mentions Apolaqui as a war god in Pangasinan.

The Bolinao Manuscript mentions the Sambal priestess Bolindauan in 1684 who has

Apolaqui as her Anito (personal deity).

Dean Fansler in 1921 writes of a legend told to him by Leopoldo Layug of Guagua that

tells of the battle between the brother Apolaqui, the Sun, and his sister, Mayari (Malyari),

the Moon.

F. Landa Jocano, much later in 1969 relates a similar tale to that mentioned by Fansler

among the Tagalogs involving Apolake and Mayari, who again are the personifications of

the Sun and Moon.

In 1918, A. L. Kroeber records that Apolaki is considered a mountain monster in Bikol,

the southernmost part of Luzon, and that the term is also used as a name for God among

Christians in Pangasinan and Ilocos, the northern areas of Luzon.

From these examples, we can see that the myths of Apolaqui and Mayari were linked with the

spirits of the Sun and Moon. A similar legend from Pampanga tells of the supreme deity

Mangetchay (Mangatai) who is said to live in the Sun while his wife dwells in the Moon, and his

daughter lived on Venus, the Morning Star (Eugenio 1993, 64).

Where these myths of the Sun and Moon are not explicitly linked with Arayat and Pinatubo

respectively, we can still surmise the connection. For example, the goddess Malyari, the

personification of the Moon, has a name that relates to the local Pinatubo Ayta and Sambal

people. "Malyari" is also a native Kapampangan word that Bergano derives from the word yari

"cosa acabada, perfeccionada ['something finished, perfected']" and gives three alternate forms:

malyari, milyari and malalyari.

That Malyari is the deity of Pinatubo is agreed upon by the Ayta, Sambal and Kapampangans.

The Pinatubo Ayta call this deity Apo Namalyari (Apo na Malyari) or Apo Pinatubo (Schebesta

1959).

Naturally, the Sun would be located to the east of Pinatubo in Bondoc Alaya, which literally

means "Mountain of the East."

The crater lake of Pinatubo with Arayat rising up above the clouds about 26 miles to the east.

Source: http://tonetcarlo.wordpress.com/2008/01/12/mount-pinatubo-zambales/

Geological connection of Pinatubo and Arayat

Mythology gives Arayat and the Zambales mountain range a common origin as noted by

Cornélis De Witt Willcox writing in 1912:

According to the native legend, this mountain [Arayat] used to form part of the Zambales range.

It became, however, by reason of its quarrelsome disposition, so objectionable to its neighbors of

this range, that they finally resolved no longer to endure its cantankerousness and accordingly

banished it to its present position in the plain of Central Luzon, where it would have no

neighbors to annoy, and where it has stood ever since, rising solitary from the surrounding plain.

The idea of Arayat belonging at one time, before separating, to another (unnamed) mountain

range is also mentioned in the story that Don Pedro Serrano heard from an octogenarian

informant in 1889. It was from these and similar legends that the likely latter ideas of Arayat

separating from Candaba or Tapang, Nueva Ecija. That the Zambales origin tale was the original

one is too obvious from the actual geology of Arayat.

According to the leading theory, Arayat is a back arc of the same mountain range that includes

the Zambales Mountains. And this fact would be fairly obvious to keen observers as a note by

Richard von Drasche in 1876 demonstrates:

If one were to draw a line from Monte Pinatubo to the isolated mountain of Arayat in the plain,

one would notice that all the rivers north of this line flow in a northeasterly direction, while all

those south of it flow in a southeasterly direction toward Rio Grande de la Pampanga. This

circumstance may be observed particularly plainly from the top of the Arayat, where I first

noticed this slope of the plain in both directions, increasing toward Monte Pinatubo. East of

Monte Arayat this circumstance disappears entirely.

The connection between the two mountains was alluded to in the idea of a cloud bridge

mentioned in Luther Parker's Sinukuan tales published in 1929. This cloud bridge was likely the

origin of other bridges that are said to have been built from Arayat to Dayat, Candaba, Makiling

and elsewhere. These bridges likely arose from the perception of a ridge, alluded to above,

existing between Pinatubo and Arayat -- a formation that probably also gave birth to the latter

legends of a tunnel connection between Arayat, Makiling and Banahaw mountains.

Between Heaven and Earth

The axis mundi is where sky, earth and underworld meet. That this term applied to both Pinatubo

and Arayat is evident by the deities that inhabited these mountains. Malyari, the Moon on

Pinatubo, and Sinukuan, the Sun on Arayat.

Sinukuan had among his children Munag Sumalâ, the Dawn, and Ugtu, the Noontime. Among

Malyari's children is Sisilim, the Setting of the Sun. In one version (Eugenio 1983, 180), the

daughters of Sinukuan are known as the Three Marias (Tres Marias), which is a name given to

the three stars of Orion's Belt. Furthermore, Tala, the planet Venus and the Morning Star, is said

to descend either from Sinukuan (Apolaqui) and the Moon (Mayari), or from the marriage of

Munag Sumalâ and Manalastas, the Rooster, the son of Malyari.

Not only do these deities live on the two sacred mountains, but they are expressly said in

multiple accounts to live within the mountains, i.e., in the Underworld. The golden palace of

Sinukuan within Arayat, for example, is featured in many of the legends of this region.

Sinukuan's palace, according to the accounts, could generally only be accessed by mortals

through magical intervention.

In a myth found among the fisherfolk in Masantol, the creator deity Mangatia or Mangetchay,

whose name means "net weaver," created the sky as a great net with the stars as the holes or

"eyes." After finishing this cosmic net, Mangatia dropped the sewing needle to the Earth and the

former became either Mt. Arayat, or Batung Maputi (White Rock). The latter is a massive white

rock formation near the peak of Arayat, where many legends say the magical entrance to

Sinukuan's subterranean palace is located.

I mentioned earlier in this blog, that the Kapampangans apparently had two geographical centers

-- one in the North in Upper Pampanga, and one in the South in Lower Pampanga, where the

trading seaports were located. The northern center was located between Pinatubo and Arayat

with the latter mountain indicating the direction of the East, and the mouth of the Pampanga

River, the direction of the South. From the cosmic perspective, this area between the two great

luminaries -- Sun and Moon -- was the center of the world.

Battle between the Sun and Moon

The fighting between Malyari and Sinukuan is also a conflict between the Sun and Moon. The

most common form of this myth takes the form of a widespread theme that extends beyond the

Philippines. R. Rahmann in his work "Quarrels and Enmity between the Sun and the Moon: A

Contribution to the Mythologies of the Philippines, India, and the Malay Peninsula," traces this

theme from Southeast Asia to India.

The quarrel between the two orbs is usually started due to the intense heat of the Sun, often

together with his progeny. After the battle, the Moon, which was once as bright or brighter than

Sun, takes on a subordinate position. In many cases, this theme is combined together with the

motif of a cataclysm of fire-rain or fire-water on the earth. There is also, especially in the

Philippines, an accompanying land-forming theme with new formations caused by the huge

boulders hurled by the combatants.

The motifs of great heat, fire, water, flying stones, and the new land formations in connection

with the mountains is easy to interpret as volcanic activity -- an indication of the geographical

origin of these myths.

Many of the accounts of the battle between Malyari and Sinukuan do not actually mention

Pinatubo by name. Often "Mount Zambales" or a more vague reference to the Zambales

mountains is mentioned instead. H. Otley Beyer recorded many of these in his unpublished

Philippine Folklore, Social Customs and Beliefs Vol. IX (Pampanga), a collection of papers

written by his students during the early 20th century. In many cases, the accounts are clearly

mixed with other folk material. For example, the tale of Sinukuan's friends including Carguin

Cargon and Supla Supling are taken from the Spanish legend of Lucifer's Ear.

Here are some of the stories of the battle between Sinukuan and his opponent from Zambales.

Sinukuan battles with the young prince, the son of Storm God of the Sambal mountains

after the latter comes courting Maya, the youngest and favorite daughter of Sinukuan.

(Parker 1929)

According to Alfredo Nicdao in 1916, Mt. Zambales was a great single mountain in

former times inhabited by a friend of Suku (Sinukuan) who came one day to ask for the

hand of one of Suku's daughter's in marriage. This angered Suku and the two engaged in

a stone throwing battle that broke Zambales into a mountain range and flattened the top

of Arayat. (Beyer, undated)

Dominador G. David in 1917 tells of a giant in Zambales mountain who challenged and

defeated the king of Arayat. The latter was killed and his son Sinukuan took his place,

and later he eventually married the daughter of the lord of Zambales. (Beyer, undated)

In 1915, Beyer recorded a myth of the Ayta living in Zambales that sounds very much like a

volcanic eruption of Pinatubo, but mentions neither Malyari or Sinukuan. Instead, the battle is

between Algao, which may be northern name for the Sun (related to Aldo), and Bacobaco, a

great sea turtle. This Bacobaco may be related to the legend of the Baconaua, usually described

as a sea serpent or whale. However, Baconaua has a sister that is a great sea turtle according to

most accounts. Baconaua was not the Moon but the great serpent that was said to swallow the

Moon during an eclipse.

Now, in the Ayta account Algao and Bacobaco have a great battle in which the latter eventually

bores into the top of Pinatubo creating a great crater and emitting great flames, huge rocks, mud,

ashes, smoke and deafening noise in the process. According to the legend, Bacobaco continued

to dwell in the mountain and when he comes out "woe be to us."

Ayta from the Zambales region.

Source: http://www.flickr.com/photos/josearmando/1804253902/

The body of myths surrounding Malyari and Sinukuan clearly show their dual opposition to one

another. Generally speaking, Sinukuan is depicted as male although a few accounts portray him

as female. Malyari seems to be portrayed more as female, at least if all the myths of the region

are taken into account, but sometimes also has a male identity. Despite their periodic enmity,

Sinukuan is often said to be married to Malyari's daughter, or vice a versa, and their children also

court and marry one another.

Here is a general breakdown of the dual aspects of these deities and their respective mountains.

Pinatubo/Malyari The western direction, south, female, mother, wife, daughter, hidden, gregarious, wide, sea,

creation, beginning, birth, water, storm, bird

Arayat/Sinukuan The eastern direction, north, male, father, husband, son, prominent, solitary, tall, land,

destruction, ending, death, fire, earthquake, serpent/dragon

The belief in a future eruption of Mt. Pinatubo is mentioned above in the account of Algao and

Bacobaco, and also in an earlier post on the myth of the battle of Aldau and Bulan. Damiana

Eugenio, in her 1993 work (p. 179), relates traditions of a future return of Sinukuan:

Many barrio folks still say that some time in the future Sinukuan may come out again. Mt.

Arayat used to be the home of the Colorums who waited for Sinukuan to come out of his cave

and to find a new paradise on earth for them.

A colorum is a messianic group -- the name coming from a local corruption of Latin et saecula

saeculorum "world without end."

Rituals and Practices

The peoples in the regions around Arayat and Pinatubo considered these mountains sacred and

they had various ritual and practices concerning the mountains that are known to an extent.

Animism -- certain trees, stones, caves, streams, etc., were thought to harbor special

spirits called Anito. Aduarte in 1640, for example, mentions a sacred speaking stone

among the Sambals. Certain black rocks were considered to be remnants of Sinukuan's

great bridge before it was demolished.

Every valley, river, rock, outcrop, or tree in Pinatubo had a significance in Aeta lore.

(Elder and Wong 1996:280)

Careri states that fruit and other products of Arayat should only be eaten while on the

mountain. It was taboo to carry them to the lowlands. According to Serrano, one should

first ask permission before taking any fruit of the mountain:

Apo dinan mo ku pu, ke pung mangan darening tanaman mo "Lord, please grant this to

me which I would like to eat from your fruit trees."

One should not commit acts of greed on the mountain like excessive logging (Dominador

G. David, Pampangan Folklore Stories, 1917) or gold mining (Manuel Carreon,

Pampangan Legends, 1917). One should not even have greed in one's heart in case you

should come upon Sinukuan or his daughters, who often test people in this regard.

The bathing pool of Sinukuan on Arayat was considered a place of healing where the sick

could come and bathe to free themselves of illness.

Both Pinatubo and Arayat, or their deities are believed to control the weather, especially

when angry. Prayers are made to these mountains/deities for help during inclement

weather. Hiromu Shimizu relates an incident in which Pan Bangay, a Pinatubo Ayta,

made an offering to appease Apo Pinatubo. The pair had come close to the mountain and

it suddenly became dark and started raining. Pan Bangay lit a straw from Shimizu's hat

and uttered the following appeal:

Pakida-ep mo Apo Pinatubo, agmo kay kik oranan

Apo Pinatubo, kapapa-ingalo ya kik nabaha

ang! (Grandfather Pinatubo, please smell the

smoke. Don't expose us to the rain, have pity

for we will get wet!)

When Mt. Pinatubo erupted in 1991, the Ayta held a manganito seance in which they said

that they were informed that Apo Namalyari was angry due to modern commercial

encroachment on Pinatubo. They conducted the talbeng ritual to appease Pinatubo and to

ask Apo Namalyari to bring back the forest.

Be kind to animals, insects, plants, etc., on Arayat and do not even point at them

unnecessarily for fear of angering Sinukuan. (Eugenio 1993:180)

Batung Maputi, the White Rock of Arayat. Legendary location of Sinukuan's palace.

Source: Ronnie Muring, http://www.panoramio.com/photo/3274534

Recurring themes

One way of reconstructing the original motifs and themes of the local legends is to ascertain

which ones are found independently from at least a few sources. In practice though, it is often

easy to discern when outside myths and legends are mixed into those of local origin.

Here are some of the recurring themes and motifs involving Pinatubo and Arayat:

Power of mountains/deities to control weather, earthquakes

Deities of mountains involved in creation of land formations

Excessive logging, mining angers mountain deities

Deities live inside their respective mountains. Sinukuan has a underground palace of gold

or bronze.

Sinukuan's daughters, usually three in number, like to interact with humans trading gold

for pig's feed (darac "rice husks")

Sinukuan was very rich with gold and generous giving away gold and magical items.

Malyari is associated with Moon and Sinukuan with Sun. Many of their children are also

associated with the heavenly bodies or locations in the sky where the Sun sets, crosses the

zenith, etc.

Sinukuan and Malyari are associated with a bridge to each other's mountain or to some

other mountain or area.

Marital and courtship relations existed between the gods of Pinatubo and Arayat.

However, they also engage in land-altering battles.

Both mountains have many taboos and restrictions against desecration. The sacred

mountains are meant to remain in a natural and unspoiled state as much as possible.

Anything that originates on the mountains is sacred.

The White Rock (Batung Maputi) is the location of the entrace to Sinukuan's palace.

A future eruption from Pinatubo was expected.

There is the myth recorded by Beyer, and also a warning before the last eruption that

Ayta elders gave their children that Apo Pinatubo Namalyari would awake and throw

stones if they did not behave. (Rodolfo 1995:88)

Rainforest in southern Zambales

Source: http://keishastech.blogspot.com/2008/01/exploring-rainforest-in-subic.html

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