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The Tale of Mayari: Goddess of the Moon Flipbook PDF
The Tale of Mayari: Goddess of the Moon
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The tale of Mayari
The Tale of Mayari: Goddess of the Moon Written by Marieneil V. Gubal Bathala, the creator of the world, had a son named Apolaki and a daughter named Mayari. The light that shone upon the world and enabled the people, the beasts, the birds, and the fish to see came from the bright eyes of Apolaki and Mayari, So all the creatures loved them dearly. Bathala himself was very fond of his children, and he watched over them as they wandered across the meadows of heaven. Since the eyes of Apolaki and Mayari shone continuously, it was always day on the earth. In time Bathala grew feeble with age and died. Then Apolaki and Mayari had a quarrel, for each wanted to rule the world alone. “I am the man and I will succeed my father to the throne,” said Apolaki. “I am going to rule the world, whether you like it or not.” Mayari’s eyes flashed with anger and she said, “I am no less my father’s child than you. I will succeed him to his throne, whether you like it or not!” The quarrel grew from bad to worse, and finally words could not express their furious rage. So they picked up wooden clubs and fell upon each other with fierce blows. Back and forth they fought until at last Apolaki struck Mayari in the face and she became blind in one eye. When he saw his sister stricken, Apolaki took pity on her and said, “Let us fight no more, my sister. Let us share our father’s kingdom equally between us. Let us reign by turns and be friends.” Mayari agreed, and from then on, Apolaki, whom we know today as the Sun, has ruled the world half the time. Mayari, whom we now know as the Moon, has taken turns with her brother in ruling the world. When Apolaki is on the throne, the world is flooded with warm light, because the light beams from his two bright eyes. On the other hand, when Mayari is reigning, the world is bathed with cool and gentle light; for she is blind in one eye. Mayari is the Tagalog goddess of the moon. She is the daughter of Bathala, the creator god, and a mortal woman. She is known as being the most beautiful of the gods.
When her father dies, her and her brother Apolaki argue over who gets to be the next ruler. Both gods had glowing eyes that shed light on the world. As the fighting got heated they picked up bamboo clubs and started attacking. Apolaki accidentally clubbed Mayari in the face, causing the loss of one of her radiant eyes. Filled with guilt Apolaki agreed to share the role with Mayari. Thus Apolaki became the sun god and Mayari the moon goddess, but Mayari's light is always dimmer than her brother's due to her lost eye. Bathala's daughter, Mayari, was born to a female landowner. She is regarded as the most beautiful of all Goddesses. Struggle, Hunting, Weapons, Beauty, Strength, Night, and the Moon are all goddesses to her. Tala, the goddess of the stars, and Adlaw, the god of the sun, were his brother. Bathala had only one son, Adlaw or Apolaki. He is the Sun, Wisdom, and Strategy deity. Mayari, the goddess of the Moon, and Tala, the goddess of the Stars, are her sister. When Bathala died without announcing who would take his place on the throne, his brother Adlaw and Mayari launched a feud. According to the legends, Adlaw desired to be the sole leader of the entire creation, whereas Mayari desired equal leadership rights for the two. Because of this disagreement, they agreed to fight and see who would come out on top. However, during their struggle, Adlaw was able to injure Mayari, causing her to lose an eye. When Adlaw realized what had happened, he apologized and stated he would allow Mayari to govern as well, but at a different time. Mayari's Moon is weaker than the light of the Sun due to the loss of one of her eyes. She rules over the night and is the guardian over beauty, strength, war, revolution and the moon. Mayari engaged in a battle with her brother, Apolaki (God of the Sun), after the death of their father, Bathala (God of the Universe). The prize would be to rule the earth alone. Despite being physically defeated with a club to her eye and the partial-loss of her sight, she remains a strong figure, as after feeling remorse for his actions, Apolaki relinquished the Earth. And together they rule the unison as Apolaki rules the day with the sun and as Mayari rules the night with the moon. She is usually depicted as a beautiful young maiden, a lone goddess of the moon and one of the three daughters of the supreme god Bathala by a mortal woman. She is also the goddess of revolutions, and right to equal rule.
When Bathala went into deep slumber, she issued a proposal with Apolaki to rule the land equally, however, Apolaki chose to rule only as one. This led to a fierce divine war between the two sides, leading to Apolaki taking out one of Mayari's eyes. Shocked by what he had done, Apolaki apologized to Mayari and relented to Mayari's proposal. Since then, Apolaki ruled the Earth every morning, while Mayari ruled the world every night, however, the light during night is dimmer because of Mayari's lost eye. She is also venerated as the goddess of silver (pilak). She is the sister of Tala, the goddess of stars and Apolaki, god of the sun. However, in some mythology, Tala is Mayari's daughter. In others, and the most common, is that she is Tala and Hanan's (goddess of the morning) sister, while Apolaki is a nephew. Until then, Mayari is the one who’s ruling the night with the moon. She really is the most beautiful goddess of all.