The following is an excerpt from my research where I promote Philippine mythology and storytelling through interactive art. My research is based on the Panay-Visayan creation myth, Tungkung Langit and Alunsina. You may read the full article I wrote for The Aswang Project entitled 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.
Though Philippine mythology is part of the required reading in high school or college levels in some local schools, it is slowly fading from the awareness of Filipinos today, a common misconception being that mythology is only for the pre-Enlightenment or pre-information age, and that its value is equivalent to that of outdated superstitions. In spite of this, Greek mythology continues to be taught in local schools.
Despite the richness of our myths, the challenge is in introducing them to a generation whose attention is turned towards novelty. These stories were something that brought people together. Not only was it, as someone once called it, “tribal propaganda”--it is evidence that the old can connect with the young. The fact that various interpretations of the myth have been created is evidence that the story has been effective in creating a dialogue.
In 2014, a concern was raised on Twitter about how Greek mythology is taught in Filipino schools, while Philippine mythology is neglected - at least in public schools. According to The Aswang Project, an organization that aims to keep Philippine mythology and folklore alive, Philippine mythology bears the stigma of being for the “illiterate provincial folk”, and is only given serious attention in college education, among those schools who choose to do so. Furthermore, as of 2008, it was recorded by the Commission of Higher Education (CHED) that only 14 out of 100 Grade 1 students graduate from college, getting the chance to explore Philippine Mythology (The Aswang Project, 2018).
According to them, Philippine mythology is the “single best tool in understanding early animist beliefs, migration routes, influences from the Indianized Kingdoms, Sinified States, and early Muslim trade” (The Aswang Project, 2018). These stories were not just for entertainment. They were chanted to accompany religious rituals, and was in fact one of the reasons the Spanish conquerors initially had a hard time introducing Christianity to the Philippines. These stories further reveal that the Philippines had been a matriarchal society before the country was colonized by the West.
The history goes deeper beyond the story itself. By learning more about the context and of these myths--how these were passed down and kept alive through word of mouth, documented by none other than a Spanish conquistador, Miguel de Loarca (The Aswang Project, 2018), and adapted by F. Landa Jocano, a Filipino anthropologist, Filipinos can get a better glimpse into the importance of these stories to their forefathers (Jocano, 1969). As such, the Aswang Project implores that Filipino myths “should be a point of national pride, not a sign of ignorance” (2018).
Communal Scripts in the Information Age
What is it about these stories that they continue to live on? What was the importance of these stories to our forefathers, and what do they mean for us today? To answer these questions, it is important to note that the term “myth” does not refer to the falsehood. It merely refers to genre.
Historically, myths served as the theories or attempts to explain the world, from its origins to natural and supernatural phenomenons. They also tend to be didactic. Some creatures were invented by elders to instruct children by appealing to their fears. Though people now know better and may have outgrown the fears instilled in them, advancement in science and access to information has not necessarily changed the pragmatic nature of mythology. After all, mythology, like art and literature, are held to be “mirrors of reality”. Myths in particular are held to be “truthful accounts” that represent the “unconscious structure of society” (Bascom, 1965).
In what sense, one may ask, are myths truthful? The truth Bascom refers to is not that of historical events, but what was considered to be true of experience (1965). Just as Picasso said, “Art is the lie that makes us realize the truth”. For instance, people know that when it rains, it is not because there is a god in the heavens who is crying, but because of the rain cycle. Rather, myths talk about the universal truths of human experience such as love and loss, beauty and suffering.
“Like art and religion, myths have their roots in the underground base of the unconscious” (Eliade, 1963). It is from myths that the structure of society are derived (Demetrio, 1978, p. 4). With archetypes or “recurrent images, character types, or themes in literature that is thought to appeal in a universal way” ("Oxford Dictionaries", n.d.), one may find himself able to resonate with these truths, despite how much literature has changed since these stories were invented, even as this generation turns to the internet rather than mythology for answers.
For some, myths may read as mere fiction.
But for those who understand it, one might just find traces of mythology everywhere.
Comments