The children speak in hushed tones when they talk of the dragon.
They fear the setting sun for it is then it comes out to play.
And all those children left behind after dark, well… They never return.
But what is the dragon in the night sky? What is its true story?
Some say that once, there were seven moons that lit the twilight. It was on one of these evenings that a group of humans slaughtered the dragon’s sister, the sea turtle. They did not feel at fault, for if they did not kill the dragon’s sister then their island would succumb to the watery depths.
The dragon was not a dragon then, instead it was a beautiful mermaid. For her revenge, she transformed into a dragon and one by one snuffed out the lights in the night. Six moons fell prey to its maw, but the dragon was stopped at the seventh.
Stories say that the masked goddess intervened. The masked goddess and her human followers caused a raucous sound which reached the heavens and it was then the dragon felt fear. Where had this sound come from, it wondered.
The dragon dived into the sea and tried to change its shape to her beautiful form, but alas, it was not to be. The dragon would remain a dragon until it would reach into its better nature and stop its quest for the moons. But that has not come to pass. With every inch of its being the dragon lusts for revenge and each night it sees the last moon in the sky it will open its gigantic maw and taste sweet victory. That is, until the humans do something about it.
That is but one tale of the great dragon. There is another of love and loss, but ultimately of vengeance.
The dragon once fell in love with a human woman of one of the tribes now lost to time. Their union was not without difficulty, as the people of the tribe did not approve of them. The dragon and the woman spent time together, falling deeper in love with each passing moment.
Until the head of the tribe found out.
His response was fast and brutal. The house and the life that the dragon and the woman had built would be reduced to ask. The dragon screamed in pain towards the sky. How could humans be this cruel?
The dragon responded in kind, his anger boiled over and he flew towards the sky. It would eat all the seven moons as vengeance upon all humans. The first six moons he swallowed with dire purpose, but the dragon was stopped when it reached the seventh moon.
In his way was the great god, Bathala.
The dragon could not hope to match the power of the great god, but it fought for its revenge. In the end the dragon did not succeed in eating the last moon and was banished by Bathala.
And in each eclipse of the moon the dragon remembers the life it once led, with the woman that it loved and the home that it built. Vengeance fills it, but there is also a deep longing to return to the times it had been happy.
And yet other stories abound.
There is the tale of the god of death and his husband.
From his mountain top Sidapa, the god of death admired from afar the beauty of the seven moons. The beauty of these lunar beings infatuated the other gods as well. The goddess of tides would sing to the bright gods and the god of death knew he had to match them.
The god of death pleaded with the birds and mermaids, with the flowers and the fireflies. Each would send word of the god of death’s message to the moons.
Until one responded.
The young boy-moon, Bulan, curious about what the god of death could offer, came down from the heavens and was met with a shower of gifts and songs. The god of death rejoiced that one of the moons had come down.
But there was the danger of the dragon. The dragon was a god of the deep and wanted to take the moons for itself. Once the boy-moon descended from the heavens the dragon saw its chance. It lifted itself up from its ocean dwelling and flew towards Bulan with the intent to devour the boy-moon.
The death god would not allow this and flew towards the boy-moon and snatched him from the dragon’s jaws.
The dragon would not have its prize, not then at least. And the death god and the boy-moon lived together at the top of the mountain Madjaas.
This is a tale told too often and is said to be fevered ramblings, their source lost to time.
These are but some of the stories of the dragon, and there are many more that are scattered throughout the islands.
But remember:
When you see the dragon close to its prize, scream. Make noise like there never was before, fill the night sky with man-made thunder and tell the dragon it will not get its prize.
For no matter what revenge it seeks, humanity will never surrender the final moon to the dragon.
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Written by Karl Gaverza
Copyright © Karl Gaverza
Inspired by the different Bakunawa myths https://
Bakunawa Illustration by Felix Pabalinski
IG: @Elironpabalinas
