A hydra,
Yes, but also no.
This serpent I far from the Grecian tableau that you are familiar with.
And it is with that burden I write.
When talking about myths it is difficult and sometimes nearly impossible to unlearn the zeitgeist.
It all goes back to the greeks, the backbone of western ideation.
But there is so much more to know.
When you google Philippine Myth, you are bombarded by sculpted physiques, humans that are more than the regular mortal, and, admittedly, only Tagalog higher spirits.
There are more than 175 ethnolinguistic groups in the islands we call home, each with their own culture, each with their own myths and legends.
And I will make sure they are not lost to time.
A hydra?
So much more.
This serpent can spit fire at its enemies and, unlike the hydra, cannot regenerate its severed heads. It looks at you with red and green eyes, making the ground tremble with its gigantic frame.
The serpent was felled by a youth with powers, much like Perseus, but that is still not an exact comparison.
The stories do not even say where Kan, the youth, came from. The narrative beginning in the middle.
He appears to the beleaguered kingdom fully formed and with abilities to match his supernatural aura.
When I write I try to fill in the blanks, and in my view, he was a child of the enchanted ones.
In the spires of Biringan he was born, from a mortal man and an engkantada.
His father ate the black rice and was trapped in the spirit realm but he did not mind. He found his true love in Biringan.
When Kan was born he was able to fly through the peaks and valleys. Because of his enchanted nature he was able to make friends with the other spirits.
Biringan was a locus for others of their kind, portals opening to the other worlds and layers, from the skyworlds and its many inhabitants to the pillars underneath the earth. Kan was able to traipse and sojourn freely through the tree-rifts, but through it all he did not find a home.
His parents would always be there for him, though destiny called and he knew to answer.
Then he heard tales of the serpent. The news was carried on by the winds.
A kingdom under siege.
A terrified people.
His destiny started in the middle.
Kan was able to fell the halimaw with help from his companions.
He was given the hand of the king’s daughter and he was satisfied for a while.
But he was a hero, a slayer of beasts. He left after a year to go on his next adventure.
And where did it take him?
He fought with the bastards of Zeus, striking against the Olympian’s agents.
He was at arms with the aswang and sigbin that threatened the middleworld.
He guided the souls of infants to Mebuyan’s realm.
And still wanderlust filled him.
From the jaws of the horizon that nearly ended him to battling the gods of distant lands, he needed more. So much more.
Now he spends his time back within the spires of Biringan, abandoning the mortals that cry for his aid, all for his next epic adventure.
He thought himself a hero.
And that is what he became.
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Written by Karl Gaverza
Copyright © Karl Gaverza
Inspired by the Serpent description Maximo Ramos’ Creatures of Philippine Lower Mythology. 1971.
Illustration by Von Milano used with permission from Rob Martin of Pine Box Entertainment and Secret Garden Games
