The following is an excerpt from my article written for The Aswang Project, and taken from my research where I promote Philippine mythology and storytelling through interactive art. Here I explain why I chose the story of “Tungkung Langit and Alunsina”. You may read the full article, Modern Interpretations of the Tungkung Langit and Alunsina Story, where I breakdown the theoretical framework of theater productions as well as my own adaptation of Tungkung Langit and Alunsina. Or if you are not familiar with the story, you may read the story here.
Philippine mythology is making a comeback.
And though different cultures around the world have their own cautionary tales that take advantage of children’s impressionable minds by using scare tactics, perhaps it is an unspoken rule that the children’s stories that are able to stand the test of time generally have a happy ending. “Tungkung Langit and Alunsina”, however, falls under the trope or recurrent theme wherein the hero saves the world, but fails to save or keep the one person who matters most to him. While the beauty of creation is symbolic of Tungkung Langit’s love, his tears falling down as rain is symbolic of suffering that even people who tell the story are not immune to. It may even be inferred that the rain is only evidence of suffering as a fact of life. With Tungkung Langit’s characterization as a kind and loving god, the question then becomes: "What role does suffering play in the story?
To bring order where there was chaos is a great feat that often requires some supernatural or divine power that only comes to a person once in a generation, or even for eternity. Yet it is rendered an easy task in comparison to the challenges in the realm of the ordinary, where for the rest of the mere mortals is the only place they get to act - the place from which people learn about the stories of the supernatural. The hero still has to face the troubles that every man has to face such as social pressures. This vulnerability is what humanizes an otherwise invincible force.
This separation or loss may not necessarily be the result of the hero doing something unforgivable. Neither is it because the woman in the story is her own person; a strong independent woman - though she most certainly is. Rather, the hero fails to save or keep the one person that matters to him most because of the inevitable suffering in an imperfect world.
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