If you're a Filipino who enjoys watching traditional stories, you're probably familiar with the term "Bakunawa." Bakunawa is a mythical creature from Philippine folklore that is described as a large creature with the head of a dragon and the body of a snake.

This became popular during the pre-colonial period, when the Babaylan led the people of the Philippines; and this is the issue that I will discuss further.

But first let me Flex to you my sponsors, one of those persons who guide and support me throughout my journey here. You guys can check them too:)

________________________

I first learned about Bakunawa when I watched a short film about it. That according to the story;

There was a village that was gifted with a seven moons from Bathala(god). There was a young boy in the village, who like to play and prank every villagers that there is a Bakunawa. All the people know about Bakunawa, but still none of them prove if it's true. On the other hand, Bakuna was hiding in the depth of the sea, surrounded with darkness that it decided to get one of the moon to lighten the sea.

One night, when everyone was sleeping, Bakunawa came out the sea and succesfully eat one of the moon. Bakunawa go back under the sea with moon on it's tummy. But the moon was slowly dissolving on it's stomach, then the depth of the sea started to dark again. On the next night, the Bakunawa came out and successfully eat the other moon, but just like what happened to the first one, it dissolved.

On the third night, this young naughty boy can't sleep, so he decided to watch the sky. He count the moon and notice that there's only 5 left. In a moment, a Bakunawa came out in the sea, and eat another moon. He was so scared and wake up all his neighbors, shouting "Bakunawaa!", but no one believed him, as he used to do it.

Nights had passed and the Bakunawa still eat the other moons, until only one left. This naughty young boy have the courage to fight against Bakunawa, so when another night came, he tried to face it but the Bakunawa is so strong.

Fast forward..

This young boy found out that the weakness of the Bakunawa was the noise, so he asked help from other villagers, who saw the Bakunawa in action. They defeated the Bakunawa, and it go back under the sea. They save the moon and live peacefully again.

This was merely a brief story about Bakunawa, written for children, but we may draw a moral lesson from it as well as the story of Bakunawa.

When my mother was a child growing up in the province, she and her neighbors believed in Bakunawa. They used to make noise every time there was an eclipse to drive the Bakunawa away. Some of the neighbors will shout,"Bring back the moon!"

Bakunawa was known as a big serpent at the time, according to what elderly people told them. They panic every time they see the moon turn into a half or crescent because they know it's the Bakunawa trying to gobble the remaining moon.

Eclipse

Thanks to Science, we know now what an Eclipse is. As a result, the myth of Bakunawa faded into obscurity, and people were already aware of what occurred during Eclipse.

Eclipse is when the moon's shadow hits the Earth or it's the Earth's shadow hits the moon(where they thought made by the Bakunawa).

Lunar Eclipse is when the Earth is directly between the moon and the sun. Thiis happened during full moon, which most people prefer to watch.

Solar Eclipse is when the moon passes between the Earth and the sun. This block the light reaching the Earth, why the Earth became dark.

________________________

Lead image was edited using PicsArt

****

Author's love message :

Hello lovely readers! How was your day?

I just want to share this one. Yesterday, I published an article Wish of a Young One. In this, I mentioned about a video that touch my heart. So before going to sleep, I open again the Tiktok app to unwind, and the first video that pops up was this one.

Look how amazing life is. Someone finally gave him motorbike. GOD is so great.

Just want to share this happiness, I really meant to see this:)

November 20, 2021

-Ling