The Legend of the Moon and Stars
By Percy Hill
In the beginning, the sun God, Arao, and the Moon
Goddess, Buan, were both from a numerous family of
stars. Those of Arao were of golden yellow color and
extremely brilliant, while those of Buan were of silvery
white with no heat at all. Buan became obsessed with
the idea that her stars would be unable to withstand
the heat and light of Arao and his progeny.
She therefore made a compact with Arao that they
both destroy their stars as a measure of safety. This
they mutually agreed to do.
After the Sun had devoured his stars, the moon hid
hers in the obscurity of the clouds, from which ever
and again they emerged. The Sun seeing this, was filled with righteous rage at the
cunning deception of the Moon. In consequence, the
sun is eternally in pursuit of the Moon to destroy her
for having deceived him to protect her progeny. The
chase has been going on since the dawn of time.
Sometimes, the Sun gets close enough to bite her.
This is an eclipse. Time heals the wound, for the
Moon is continually waxing and waning as the
pursuit closes on her and she takes refuge behind the
higher obscurities
The Sun returns and devours the stars at
dawn or puts them to flight, while the Moon hides
them during the day and only brings them forth when
she is advised by her eldest daughter, Tala, the
Evening and Morning Star, that the Sun is far away
and cannot pursue them.
about the
patulong po
By Percy Hill
In the beginning, the sun God, Arao, and the Moon
Goddess, Buan, were both from a numerous family of
stars. Those of Arao were of golden yellow color and
extremely brilliant, while those of Buan were of silvery
white with no heat at all. Buan became obsessed with
the idea that her stars would be unable to withstand
the heat and light of Arao and his progeny.
She therefore made a compact with Arao that they
both destroy their stars as a measure of safety. This
they mutually agreed to do.
After the Sun had devoured his stars, the moon hid
hers in the obscurity of the clouds, from which ever
and again they emerged. The Sun seeing this, was filled with righteous rage at the
cunning deception of the Moon. In consequence, the
sun is eternally in pursuit of the Moon to destroy her
for having deceived him to protect her progeny. The
chase has been going on since the dawn of time.
Sometimes, the Sun gets close enough to bite her.
This is an eclipse. Time heals the wound, for the
Moon is continually waxing and waning as the
pursuit closes on her and she takes refuge behind the
higher obscurities
The Sun returns and devours the stars at
dawn or puts them to flight, while the Moon hides
them during the day and only brings them forth when
she is advised by her eldest daughter, Tala, the
Evening and Morning Star, that the Sun is far away
and cannot pursue them.
about the
patulong po
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Answer:
title = Tala
description = Goddess of stars
gender = Female
region = Philippines
equivalent =
Tala is the name of the goddess of stars in Tagalog mythology. Her origins are varied depending on region.
In one story, [Hill, Percy. A. (1934). "Philippine Short Stories", p65. Stories reproduced in ISBN 9715420834.] sun god Arao and the moon goddess Buan both had large families of stars, but Buan believed her stars could not survive the heat of Arao. They both agreed to destroy their stars. While Arao devoured his, Buan hid hers in the clouds, where they would occasionally emerge. Upon seeing this, Arao was filled with rage and is eternally in pursuit of the Buan, trying to destroy her. Eclipses are explained by Arao getting close enough to bite her. At dawn, Buan hides the stars and brings them forth only when her eldest daughter, Tala (the evening and morning star) says the sun is too far away to pursue them.
Derived from this myth are the Tagalog words "tala", which means "bright star", ' (sun) and ' (moon).
This story has very close parallels to stories among non-Filipino cultures such as the Bihar, Semang, Savara and the Bhuiya tribes. [Rahamann, R. (1955). Quarrels and Enmity between the Sun and the Moon: A Contribution to the Mythologies of the Philippines, India, and the Malay Peninsula. "Folklore Studies, 14", 202-214.] .
In another myth, Tala is the daughter of Bathala and the sister of moon goddess Mayari, and Adlaw, the god of the sun.