https://www.codexofshadows.com/ A hundred and fifty beings from Philippine myth, legend, and folk belief, retold as dark fiction. en Tue, 07 Jul 2026 19:51:13 GMT https://www.codexofshadows.com/story/bakunawa-ang-pitong-buwan https://www.codexofshadows.com/story/bakunawa-ang-pitong-buwan The Seven Moons — The Bakunawa is the giant moon-eating sea-serpent of Visayan myth, whose attempts to swallow the seven moons explain eclipses. People once beat pots and drums through the night to make it spit the moon back out. https://www.codexofshadows.com/story/bathala-ang-tumubo-sa-abo https://www.codexofshadows.com/story/bathala-ang-tumubo-sa-abo The Maker Above the Sky — Bathala (Bathalang Maykapal) was the supreme creator god of the pre-colonial Tagalogs, dwelling in the sky above the lesser deities and the anito, and approached through the babaylan. He is documented chiefly in Spanish accounts such as Juan de Plasencia's 'Customs of the Tagalogs' (1589). After Christianization his name was adopted for the Christian God, and many trace the common expression 'bahala na' to him, though the etymology is debated. https://www.codexofshadows.com/story/malakas-at-maganda-ang-simula https://www.codexofshadows.com/story/malakas-at-maganda-ang-simula Ang Simula — The Beginning — The Tagalog origin tale of the first man and woman, Malakas (Strong) and Maganda (Beautiful), who sprang from a single bamboo split open by a bird. It is among the most widely told Filipino creation myths. https://www.codexofshadows.com/story/lakapati-ang-nagpapakain-sa-lahat https://www.codexofshadows.com/story/lakapati-ang-nagpapakain-sa-lahat The One Who Feeds Everyone — Lakapati was the Tagalog deity of fertility and agriculture, often described as both male and female, invoked to guard the fields. Farmers prayed to Lakapati so the harvest and the hungry would be provided for. https://www.codexofshadows.com/story/mayari-ang-babaeng-humati-sa-langit https://www.codexofshadows.com/story/mayari-ang-babaeng-humati-sa-langit The Woman Who Halved the Sky — Mayari is the Tagalog and Kapampangan moon goddess, a daughter of Bathala. She fought her brother Apolaki for the sky and lost an eye, which is why moonlight is softer than the sun. https://www.codexofshadows.com/story/apolaki-ang-kapatid-na-humampas https://www.codexofshadows.com/story/apolaki-ang-kapatid-na-humampas The Brother Who Struck — Apolaki, the Kapampangan and Tagalog sun god and patron of warriors, struggled with his sister Mayari for the sky until they agreed to share it, he by day and she by night. https://www.codexofshadows.com/story/tala-ang-tagapag-ingat-ng-mga-ilaw https://www.codexofshadows.com/story/tala-ang-tagapag-ingat-ng-mga-ilaw The Keeper of the Lights — Tala is the Tagalog goddess of the stars and the morning and evening star, who sets the lights of heaven each night so darkness never fully rules. https://www.codexofshadows.com/story/hanan-ang-unang-liwanag https://www.codexofshadows.com/story/hanan-ang-unang-liwanag The First Light — Hanan is a Tagalog goddess linked to morning, new beginnings, and the turning of time, one of the lesser-remembered daughters of the old sky pantheon. https://www.codexofshadows.com/story/sitan-ang-apat-na-naglalakad https://www.codexofshadows.com/story/sitan-ang-apat-na-naglalakad The Four Who Walk Among Us — Sitan was the Tagalog guardian of Kasamaan, the realm of the dead and the wicked. He was served by four agents who tempted and tormented the living. https://www.codexofshadows.com/story/kaptan-at-magwayen-ang-langit-at-ang-dagat https://www.codexofshadows.com/story/kaptan-at-magwayen-ang-langit-at-ang-dagat The Sky and the Sea — In the Visayan creation myth the sky god Kaptan and the sea goddess Magwayen brought forth the world. Their union and their quarrel produced the first islands and the first people. https://www.codexofshadows.com/story/tungkung-langit-at-alunsina-ang-alamat-ng-ulan https://www.codexofshadows.com/story/tungkung-langit-at-alunsina-ang-alamat-ng-ulan The Legend of the Rain — A Panay creation myth in which Tungkung Langit and his wife Alunsina lived in the primordial void. Her leaving and his grief became the rain, the storms, and the lights of the sky. https://www.codexofshadows.com/story/kanlaon-ang-matanda-sa-bulkan https://www.codexofshadows.com/story/kanlaon-ang-matanda-sa-bulkan The Ancient One in the Volcano — Kanlaon (Kan-Laon) is the ancient deity of the great volcano on Negros, the most active in the islands, embodying the mountain's power to give life and to destroy it. https://www.codexofshadows.com/story/kabunian-ang-diyos-na-hindi-nawala https://www.codexofshadows.com/story/kabunian-ang-diyos-na-hindi-nawala The God Who Did Not Vanish — Kabunian is the supreme deity and culture-hero of the Cordillera peoples such as the Ibaloi and Kankanaey, who taught the highland ancestors rice, ritual, and law. https://www.codexofshadows.com/story/apo-namalyari-ang-galit-ng-bundok https://www.codexofshadows.com/story/apo-namalyari-ang-galit-ng-bundok The Anger of the Mountain — Apo Namalyari is the supreme creator god of the Aeta of Zambales and lord of Mount Pinatubo, whose anger was long blamed for the mountain's eruptions. https://www.codexofshadows.com/story/gugurang-at-asuang-ang-ninakaw-na-apoy https://www.codexofshadows.com/story/gugurang-at-asuang-ang-ninakaw-na-apoy The Stolen Fire — In Bicolano myth the good god Gugurang kept the sacred fire of Mount Mayon, while his wicked brother Asuang tried again and again to steal it. Their struggle explains the volcano's eruptions. https://www.codexofshadows.com/story/daragang-magayon-ang-libingan-na-naging-bundok https://www.codexofshadows.com/story/daragang-magayon-ang-libingan-na-naging-bundok The Grave That Became a Mountain — The Bicol legend of Daragang Magayon (Beautiful Maiden), whose tragic death and burial raised Mount Mayon. The perfect cone is her grave, and the eruptions her restlessness. https://www.codexofshadows.com/story/handiong-at-baltog-ang-pagsupil-sa-ibalong https://www.codexofshadows.com/story/handiong-at-baltog-ang-pagsupil-sa-ibalong The Taming of Ibalong — From the Bicol epic Ibalong, the heroes Baltog and Handiong cleared the land of monsters and beasts to make Ibalong fit for people, founding the region's civilization. https://www.codexofshadows.com/story/oryol-ang-tinig-sa-gubat https://www.codexofshadows.com/story/oryol-ang-tinig-sa-gubat The Voice in the Forest — Oryol is the serpent-woman of the Ibalong epic, beautiful and cunning, who matched the hero Handiong and finally aided him. She is the wild voice of the forest. https://www.codexofshadows.com/story/lam-ang-ang-tinawag-pabalik https://www.codexofshadows.com/story/lam-ang-ang-tinawag-pabalik The One Who Was Called Back — Biag ni Lam-ang is the Ilocano epic of a superhuman hero who avenges his father, wins his bride Ines Kannoyan, dies, and is brought back to life. It is one of the oldest recorded Philippine epics. https://www.codexofshadows.com/story/bernardo-carpio-ang-pagitan https://www.codexofshadows.com/story/bernardo-carpio-ang-pagitan Ang Pagitan ng Dalawang Bundok — The Space Between Two Mountains — A Tagalog legend of a hero of vast strength trapped between two mountains in Montalban, Rizal. His struggles to break free are said to cause earthquakes, and his freedom was tied to hopes of liberation. https://www.codexofshadows.com/story/indarapatra-at-sulayman-ang-punong-nalanta https://www.codexofshadows.com/story/indarapatra-at-sulayman-ang-punong-nalanta The Tree That Withered — A Maguindanao and Maranao epic in which the brothers Indarapatra and Sulayman slay the monstrous creatures ravaging Mindanao, making the land safe to settle. https://www.codexofshadows.com/story/bantugan-ang-prinsipeng-pinatahimik https://www.codexofshadows.com/story/bantugan-ang-prinsipeng-pinatahimik The Prince Who Was Silenced — Prince Bantugan is the great warrior-hero of the Maranao epic Darangen. One episode turns on his death and revival, and on the silence his estranged brother the sultan imposed upon him. https://www.codexofshadows.com/story/aliguyon-ang-labanang-walang-nanalo https://www.codexofshadows.com/story/aliguyon-ang-labanang-walang-nanalo The Fight That No One Won — Aliguyon is the hero of the Ifugao hudhud chant, whose years-long duel with his rival Pumbakhayon ends not in victory but in mutual respect and the joining of their families. https://www.codexofshadows.com/story/labaw-donggon-ang-hindi-nabusog https://www.codexofshadows.com/story/labaw-donggon-ang-hindi-nabusog The One Who Was Never Full — From the Panay-Bukidnon epic Hinilawod, Labaw Donggon is a hero of endless appetite who wins wives and wars across the world until his own pride brings him down. https://www.codexofshadows.com/story/urduja-ang-hindi-natalo https://www.codexofshadows.com/story/urduja-ang-hindi-natalo The Undefeated — Urduja is the legendary warrior-princess of Pangasinan, famed in the accounts of the traveler Ibn Battuta as a woman who would marry only a man who could defeat her in battle. https://www.codexofshadows.com/story/ibong-adarna-ang-awit-na-nagpapabato https://www.codexofshadows.com/story/ibong-adarna-ang-awit-na-nagpapabato The Song That Turns You to Stone — From the Tagalog metrical romance, the Ibong Adarna is a magical bird whose song heals or turns listeners to stone, sought by princes to cure their dying king. https://www.codexofshadows.com/story/maria-makiling-ang-babaeng-naging-bundok https://www.codexofshadows.com/story/maria-makiling-ang-babaeng-naging-bundok Ang Babaeng Naging Bundok — The Woman Who Became the Mountain — Mariang Makiling is the diwata guardian of Mount Makiling in Laguna, a beautiful enchantress who helped the people until betrayal and a changing world drove her into legend. The mountain is shaped like a reclining woman. https://www.codexofshadows.com/story/mariang-sinukuan-ang-tumigil-sa-pagbibigay https://www.codexofshadows.com/story/mariang-sinukuan-ang-tumigil-sa-pagbibigay The One Who Stopped Giving — Mariang Sinukuan is the diwata of Mount Arayat in Pampanga, a generous guardian of the forest who withdrew her gifts when people grew greedy and cruel. https://www.codexofshadows.com/story/maria-cacao-ang-ikatlong-maria https://www.codexofshadows.com/story/maria-cacao-ang-ikatlong-maria The Third Maria — Maria Cacao is the diwata of Mount Lantoy in Argao, Cebu, tied to its cacao groves. She lent villagers her golden dishes, and her passing ship is blamed for floods when the debts went unpaid. https://www.codexofshadows.com/story/nuno-sa-punso-ang-tabi-tabi-po https://www.codexofshadows.com/story/nuno-sa-punso-ang-tabi-tabi-po Step Aside, Please — The nuno sa punso is an old earth-spirit who lives in mounds and anthills. Passersby murmur tabi-tabi po so as not to offend him, for his curses bring swelling and sickness. https://www.codexofshadows.com/story/kapre-ang-baga-sa-puno https://www.codexofshadows.com/story/kapre-ang-baga-sa-puno The Ember in the Tree — The kapre is a giant, dark, cigar-smoking tree-dweller, often found in balete or acacia. He may bewilder travelers or grow fond of one person, a fixture of rural night-lore. https://www.codexofshadows.com/story/tahamaling-at-mahomanay-ang-dalawang-kamay https://www.codexofshadows.com/story/tahamaling-at-mahomanay-ang-dalawang-kamay The Two Hands of the Forest — In Bagobo belief Mahomanay and Tahamaling are the spirit guardians of wild animals. The fair Mahomanay protects them, while the red-skinned Tahamaling can be jealous and dangerous to hunters. https://www.codexofshadows.com/story/engkanto-ang-mga-hindi-katulad-natin https://www.codexofshadows.com/story/engkanto-ang-mga-hindi-katulad-natin The Ones Not Like Us — Engkanto are the enchanting nature-spirits of forests, seas, and trees, beautiful and capricious. They may bless or curse, and people were warned neither to seek nor to offend them. https://www.codexofshadows.com/story/mebuyan-ang-ina-ng-mga-yumao https://www.codexofshadows.com/story/mebuyan-ang-ina-ng-mga-yumao The Mother of the Dead — In Bagobo myth Mebuyan is the goddess of the underworld of Banua Mebuyan, the many-breasted mother who nurses the souls of dead infants beneath the earth. https://www.codexofshadows.com/story/duwende-tabi-tabi-po https://www.codexofshadows.com/story/duwende-tabi-tabi-po The Small Folk Underfoot — Duwende are small earth-folk or dwarves who dwell in mounds, houses, and corners. White ones are kindly and black ones mischievous, and respect is what keeps them friendly. https://www.codexofshadows.com/story/aswang-ang-kapitbahay https://www.codexofshadows.com/story/aswang-ang-kapitbahay Ang Kapitbahay — The One Next Door — The aswang is the most feared and varied of Philippine monsters, a shape-shifter that may pass as an ordinary neighbor by day and prey on the sick, the dead, and the unborn by night, especially feared in the Visayas. https://www.codexofshadows.com/story/manananggal-ang-naiwang-kalahati https://www.codexofshadows.com/story/manananggal-ang-naiwang-kalahati The Half Left Behind — The manananggal severs itself at the waist, sprouts bat wings, and flies off to hunt the unborn, leaving its lower half hidden. Salt or ash spread on that lower half destroys it. https://www.codexofshadows.com/story/tiyanak-ang-umiiyak-sa-dilim https://www.codexofshadows.com/story/tiyanak-ang-umiiyak-sa-dilim The One Who Cries in the Dark — The tiyanak mimics a baby's cry to lure the compassionate into the wild, then attacks. In folk belief it is often linked to unbaptized or lost infants. https://www.codexofshadows.com/story/tikbalang-ang-daang-paikot-ikot https://www.codexofshadows.com/story/tikbalang-ang-daang-paikot-ikot Ang Daang Paikot-Ikot — The Path That Turns Back On Itself — The tikbalang is a tall, horse-headed spirit of the mountains and forests that leads travelers in circles. Wearing your shirt inside out is said to break its spell. https://www.codexofshadows.com/story/sigbin-ang-hayop-sa-banga https://www.codexofshadows.com/story/sigbin-ang-hayop-sa-banga The Beast in the Jar — The sigbin is a goat-like nocturnal creature of Visayan lore said to walk backward and suck blood, kept hidden in jars by so-called sigbinan families. https://www.codexofshadows.com/story/tiktik-at-wakwak-ang-tunog-ng-gabi https://www.codexofshadows.com/story/tiktik-at-wakwak-ang-tunog-ng-gabi The Sound of the Night — The tiktik and wakwak are night-creatures whose calls warn of a hunting aswang. Strangely, a faint and distant call means the creature is in fact very near. https://www.codexofshadows.com/story/busaw-ang-naghihintay-sa-patay https://www.codexofshadows.com/story/busaw-ang-naghihintay-sa-patay The One Who Waits for the Dead — The busaw is a corpse-eating, often demonic being of Mindanao folklore, feared as a devourer of the dead and a bringer of harm to the living. https://www.codexofshadows.com/story/amalanhig-ang-sumpang-walang-tagapagmana https://www.codexofshadows.com/story/amalanhig-ang-sumpang-walang-tagapagmana The Curse With No Heir — The amalanhig is a Visayan undead, an aswang that failed to pass on its powers and so rises to chase the living. It walks stiffly, kills by biting or tickling, and can be escaped by crossing water. https://www.codexofshadows.com/story/mangkukulam-at-mambabarang-ang-katarungan https://www.codexofshadows.com/story/mangkukulam-at-mambabarang-ang-katarungan The Justice of the Powerless — The mangkukulam (witch) and mambabarang (insect-sorcerer) are folk workers of harmful magic. The mambabarang, famed in places like Siquijor, sends bewitched insects to sicken a chosen victim. https://www.codexofshadows.com/story/batibat-ang-bigat-sa-dibdib https://www.codexofshadows.com/story/batibat-ang-bigat-sa-dibdib The Weight on the Chest — The batibat is a fat tree-spirit of Ilocano lore. Disturbed when its tree is cut for a house post, it smothers the sleeper, an old explanation for sudden death in sleep. https://www.codexofshadows.com/story/sarimanok-ang-ibong-lumipad-sa-araw https://www.codexofshadows.com/story/sarimanok-ang-ibong-lumipad-sa-araw The Bird That Flew into the Sun — The sarimanok is the legendary bird of Maranao art and lore, a brilliant rooster-like creature symbolizing fortune, often shown carrying a fish, and central to Maranao identity. https://www.codexofshadows.com/story/sirena-ang-awit-sa-tubig https://www.codexofshadows.com/story/sirena-ang-awit-sa-tubig Ang Awit sa Tubig — The Song in the Water — The sirena is the Philippine mermaid of coastal folklore, whose beautiful song lures fishermen and swimmers into the deep, one of a wider family of water-spirits feared along the shores. https://www.codexofshadows.com/story/siyokoy-ang-humihila-pababa https://www.codexofshadows.com/story/siyokoy-ang-humihila-pababa The One That Pulls You Under — The siyokoy is the scaled sea-creature counterpart of the sirena, a merman that drags swimmers and fishermen underwater to drown them. https://www.codexofshadows.com/story/santelmo-ang-apoy-sa-tubig https://www.codexofshadows.com/story/santelmo-ang-apoy-sa-tubig The Fire on the Water — The santelmo (from Saint Elmo's fire) is a ball of flame seen drifting over fields, water, and marshes at night, explained most often as a wandering soul. https://www.codexofshadows.com/story/white-lady-ang-pinakabagong-multo https://www.codexofshadows.com/story/white-lady-ang-pinakabagong-multo The Newest Ghost — The White Lady is the modern Philippine ghost, most famous on Balete Drive in Quezon City, a woman in white tied to accident or wrongful death. She is the newest entry in a very old tradition of the restless dead. https://www.codexofshadows.com/story/sidapa-ang-sukat-ng-buhay https://www.codexofshadows.com/story/sidapa-ang-sukat-ng-buhay The Measure of Life — Sidapa is a death-deity of the Visayan peoples, linked in several early accounts to Mount Madia-as in Panay, where he was said to determine the span of every mortal life. He appears in Spanish-era chronicles and later folklore compilations alongside other Visayan divinities such as Kaptan and Magwayen; the details vary by region and source, and some modern retellings recast him as a moon-paired lover. Like most pre-colonial belief, his veneration faded after Christianization, surviving mainly in fragments, chants, and place-names. https://www.codexofshadows.com/story/mandarangan-ang-apoy-sa-ilalim https://www.codexofshadows.com/story/mandarangan-ang-apoy-sa-ilalim The Fire Beneath the Mountain — Mandarangan is a deity of the Bagobo people of the Mount Apo region in Mindanao, associated with war and the fiery underworld beneath the mountain; his consort Darago was revered by warriors. Early ethnographers, including Laura Watson Benedict, recorded the magani warrior cult and accounts of human sacrifice once offered to him. Such practices ended under colonial and missionary pressure, and the tradition survives today mainly in scholarship and oral memory. https://www.codexofshadows.com/story/buwaya-ang-ninuno-sa-ilog https://www.codexofshadows.com/story/buwaya-ang-ninuno-sa-ilog The Ancestor in the River — Across many Philippine river peoples — among them the Manobo, Tagbanua, and other groups of Mindanao and Palawan — the crocodile was venerated as an ancestral spirit rather than mere prey: elders were said to return in its form, oaths were sworn upon it, and strict taboos governed speech and conduct on the water. The Tagalog word buwaya, 'crocodile,' survives as a common term for a greedy or rapacious person, especially a corrupt official. https://www.codexofshadows.com/story/berbalang-ang-kumakain-sa-libingan https://www.codexofshadows.com/story/berbalang-ang-kumakain-sa-libingan The Ones Who Feed on the Dead — The berbalang are ghouls associated above all with the remote island of Cagayan de Sulu (now Mapun) in the far southwest. The best-known description comes from a single, much-repeated 1896 account by the traveler Ethelbert Forbes Skertchly, who reported islanders whose heads and entrails detached at night to feed on the dead, warded off with coconut-pearl charms and crossed blades. Later folklorists treat the tale with caution as colonial-era hearsay, but it has become a fixed part of the Philippine bestiary. https://www.codexofshadows.com/story/pandaki-ang-nagligtas-ng-kaluluwa https://www.codexofshadows.com/story/pandaki-ang-nagligtas-ng-kaluluwa Who Carries the Lost Up Again — Pandaki belongs to the eschatology of the Bagobo of the Mount Apo region, recorded by the ethnographer Laura Watson Benedict in the early 1900s. In their account of the afterlife the dead descend to the underworld realm associated with the goddess Mebuyan; Pandaki is Sidapa's spokesman, entreated with offerings by the living so that a soul might be lifted to a better station among the dead rather than left to the gods of torment. The belief faded with Christianization and survives chiefly in ethnographic record. https://www.codexofshadows.com/story/taliakud-ang-bantay-ng-apoy-sa-ilalim https://www.codexofshadows.com/story/taliakud-ang-bantay-ng-apoy-sa-ilalim The Keepers of the Underworld Fire — The Taliakud are guardians of the underworld in the mythology of the Tagbanua people of Palawan, recorded by ethnographers in the twentieth century. In their account of the afterlife the dead descend beneath the earth, where the Taliakud tend a great fire and judge each arriving soul — questioning not the person but the louse from their body, which testifies to how they lived. Souls found wanting are cast into the fire. Details vary across communities and recordings. https://www.codexofshadows.com/story/haliya-ang-nakamaskarang-buwan https://www.codexofshadows.com/story/haliya-ang-nakamaskarang-buwan The Masked Moon — Haliya is a moon deity of the Bicolano people of southern Luzon, traditionally regarded as the masked enemy of the Bakunawa, the serpent that devours the moon. Bicol folklore preserves the memory of the Haliya — a ritual associated with the full moon and the eclipse, said to have been danced by masked women in her honor and to help drive the serpent from the moon. As with much pre-colonial belief, the worship faded and the surviving accounts are fragmentary; details vary between tellings. https://www.codexofshadows.com/story/anitun-tabu-ang-diwata-ng-unos https://www.codexofshadows.com/story/anitun-tabu-ang-diwata-ng-unos The Goddess of Wind and Rain — Anitun Tabu is the goddess of wind and rain in the mythology of the Tagalogs and Zambals of central Luzon, named among the lesser deities below the supreme god. She is remembered as fickle or changeable in temper, fitting for a goddess of the weather; a Zambal tradition holds that she was once of higher rank and was humbled by the supreme god for her pride. The accounts survive through colonial-era notice and later folklore collection, and versions differ. https://www.codexofshadows.com/story/bulan-ang-buwan-ng-bikol https://www.codexofshadows.com/story/bulan-ang-buwan-ng-bikol The Moon the Serpent Loved — Bulan is the moon in the mythology of the Bicolano people of southern Luzon, typically a youthful and beautiful male deity. In the Bikol account of the world's lights, he is one of the children born of the sky and the sea, whose bodies became the sun, moon, and stars after a great quarrel among the elder gods. The Bakunawa, the moon-devouring serpent, is said to rise for Bulan out of longing for his beauty. The traditions survive through Bicol folklore and modern retelling, with variations. https://www.codexofshadows.com/story/mapulon-ang-diyos-ng-panahon https://www.codexofshadows.com/story/mapulon-ang-diyos-ng-panahon The God of the Seasons — Mapulon is the god of the seasons in pre-colonial Tagalog mythology, and in some accounts a deity of healing as well. The old genealogies place him among the agricultural gods and name his daughter as Anagolay, goddess of lost things. He is named among the lesser deities in early documentation of Tagalog religion, and the details are sparse and vary between versions. https://www.codexofshadows.com/story/habagat-ang-hanging-tag-ulan https://www.codexofshadows.com/story/habagat-ang-hanging-tag-ulan The Wind That Brings the Rains — Habagat is the southwest monsoon, the wind of the rainy season in the Philippines, personified in folk tradition as one of the two great winds that divide the year — its counterpart being Amihan, the northeast monsoon. The word remains the everyday Filipino term for the wet season. The personification belongs to traditional belief; the seasonal winds themselves are a defining feature of the archipelago's climate. https://www.codexofshadows.com/story/amihan-ang-malamig-na-hangin https://www.codexofshadows.com/story/amihan-ang-malamig-na-hangin The Wind That Freed the First People — Amihan is the northeast monsoon, the cool, dry-season wind of the Philippines and the counterpart of Habagat, the southwest monsoon. In some Visayan creation traditions, Amihan also appears as a bird that pecked open the bamboo from which the first man and woman emerged. The word remains the everyday Filipino term for the cool season; the creation-bird belongs to old myth, with variations between tellings. https://www.codexofshadows.com/story/bulalakaw-ang-nahuhulog-na-bituin https://www.codexofshadows.com/story/bulalakaw-ang-nahuhulog-na-bituin The Spirit of the Falling Star — Bulalakaw is the Visayan word for a shooting star or comet, and in traditional belief also a fiery bird-spirit whose flight across the sky is the streak of light seen as a meteor. Its passing was regarded as an ill omen and could bring sickness to those it passed over. The word remains the common Filipino term for a falling star; the bird-spirit belongs to older belief, with regional variation. https://www.codexofshadows.com/story/tigmamanukan-ang-ibong-pahiwatig https://www.codexofshadows.com/story/tigmamanukan-ang-ibong-pahiwatig The Omen Bird of Bathala — The tigmamanukan is an omen bird in pre-colonial Tagalog belief, a blue bird regarded as a messenger of the supreme god Bathala. Its flight and call were read as signs — the direction in which it crossed one's path marking an undertaking as fortunate or ill-fated. In some accounts it also appears in creation, sent by Bathala to break open the bamboo that held the first people. The traditions survive through early documentation of Tagalog religion, with variation in the details. https://www.codexofshadows.com/story/bulul-ang-bantay-ng-palay https://www.codexofshadows.com/story/bulul-ang-bantay-ng-palay The Guardians of the Rice — The bulul (also bul-ul) are carved wooden guardian figures of the Ifugao people of the Cordillera in northern Luzon, made to house ancestral spirits and to protect and increase the rice harvest. Traditionally carved from a single piece of sacred wood and consecrated through ritual — historically including feasting and sacrificial offerings — they are kept in rice granaries and homes and honored at plantings and harvests. They remain among the most renowned forms of Philippine indigenous art; practices and beliefs vary among Ifugao communities. https://www.codexofshadows.com/story/sappia-ang-pinagmulan-ng-bigas https://www.codexofshadows.com/story/sappia-ang-pinagmulan-ng-bigas The Mother of the Rice — Sappia is a benevolent goddess in the mythology of Bohol in the Central Visayas, remembered as the giver of rice. In the Boholano origin myth, seeing the people surviving on weeds, she filled the empty husks of wild grass with milk from her breasts to create the first grain — white rice from her milk and, where her blood mingled with it, red rice. It is one of many rice-origin stories among the peoples of the Philippines; details vary in the telling. https://www.codexofshadows.com/story/dumangan-ang-nagbibigay-ng-butil https://www.codexofshadows.com/story/dumangan-ang-nagbibigay-ng-butil The Giver of the Grain — Dumangan is the god of the good harvest in pre-colonial Tagalog mythology, credited with making the rice ripen well and the grain fill — the deity responsible for the yield of the fields. He is named among the agricultural gods in early accounts of Tagalog religion and associated in some tellings with a goddess of labor and good works. The traditions survive through colonial-era documentation, and the roles of these agricultural deities vary across versions. https://www.codexofshadows.com/story/magbangal-ang-magsasaka-sa-bituin https://www.codexofshadows.com/story/magbangal-ang-magsasaka-sa-bituin The Farmer in the Stars — Magbangal is a hero of the Bukidnon people of the Mindanao highlands, remembered as a skilled hunter and farmer who became a constellation whose appearance marks the season to clear and plant the fields. In the version recorded by Mabel Cook Cole, his arm was severed as he cleared a hillside, and he rose into the sky as the one-armed, dipper-shaped constellation that signals planting time. His myth is one of several star-lore traditions among Philippine peoples who timed their agriculture by the night sky. https://www.codexofshadows.com/story/idianale-ang-diyosa-ng-paggawa https://www.codexofshadows.com/story/idianale-ang-diyosa-ng-paggawa The Goddess of Labor — Idianale (also Idiyanale) is the goddess of labor and good deeds in pre-colonial Tagalog mythology, invoked for success in one's work and livelihood. The old genealogies place her among the agricultural gods — associated with Dumangan, the god of the good harvest, and named as mother of Dumakulem and Anitun Tabu. She is recorded among the deities in early accounts of Tagalog religion, and the details vary between versions. https://www.codexofshadows.com/story/dumakulem-ang-bantay-ng-kabundukan https://www.codexofshadows.com/story/dumakulem-ang-bantay-ng-kabundukan The Guardian of the Mountains — Dumakulem is the god of the mountains in pre-colonial Tagalog mythology, a strong hunter and guardian of the high wild country. The old genealogies name him a son of Dumangan and Idianale and the husband of Anagolay, goddess of lost things. He is recorded among the deities in early accounts of Tagalog religion, with variation between versions. https://www.codexofshadows.com/story/pamahandi-ang-bantay-ng-kayamanan https://www.codexofshadows.com/story/pamahandi-ang-bantay-ng-kayamanan The Keeper of Beasts and Wealth — Pamahandi is a guardian spirit among the Manobo and Bukidnon peoples of Mindanao, associated with domestic animals — especially carabao and horses — and with property and wealth. Offerings were made to Pamahandi for the health and increase of livestock. The beliefs survive through accounts of Manobo and Bukidnon religion, with variation among communities. https://www.codexofshadows.com/story/anagolay-ang-diyosa-ng-nawawala https://www.codexofshadows.com/story/anagolay-ang-diyosa-ng-nawawala The Goddess of Lost Things — Anagolay is the goddess of lost things in pre-colonial Tagalog mythology, invoked to recover what has gone missing. The old genealogies name her the only child of the fertility deity Lakapati and Mapulon, god of the seasons, and the wife of Dumakulem, god of the mountains. She is recorded among the deities in early accounts of Tagalog religion, with variation between versions. https://www.codexofshadows.com/story/sarangay-ang-toro-ng-hiyas https://www.codexofshadows.com/story/sarangay-ang-toro-ng-hiyas The Bull That Guards the Jewel — The Sarangay is a creature of Ibanag folklore in the Cagayan Valley of northern Luzon, described as an enormous, immensely strong bull-like beast that bears a precious jewel in its ears and fiercely attacks anyone who tries to steal it. It is among the distinctive monsters of the region; details vary in the telling. https://www.codexofshadows.com/story/amomongo-ang-taong-unggoy https://www.codexofshadows.com/story/amomongo-ang-taong-unggoy The Ape-Man of the Mountains — The Amomongo is a creature of Visayan folklore, associated especially with the island of Negros — described as a tall, hairy, ape-like humanoid with long nails that lives in mountain caves and is blamed for killing livestock and occasionally attacking people. It belongs to the worldwide tradition of hairy wild-man beings, and reports of attacks attributed to it have surfaced in Negros within living memory. https://www.codexofshadows.com/story/pugot-ang-walang-ulo https://www.codexofshadows.com/story/pugot-ang-walang-ulo The Headless One — The Pugot is a being of Ilocano folklore in northern Luzon — a tall, dark, shapeshifting giant whose name means the headless or decapitated one. It is said to dwell in large old trees and abandoned buildings, to grow huge or change into animals, and to frighten those who pass its haunts at night. It is closely related to the kapre and other dark tree-dwelling giants of Philippine belief, with variation across communities. https://www.codexofshadows.com/story/bungisngis-ang-higanteng-natatawa https://www.codexofshadows.com/story/bungisngis-ang-higanteng-natatawa The Laughing Giant — The Bungisngis is a one-eyed giant of Tagalog folklore, associated especially with the Quezon region, known for its perpetual wide grin — its name derived from the word for a giggle. It is described as immensely strong, with a single eye and an oversized upper lip, living in the forest, dangerous by sheer strength but foolish and easily tricked. It appears in old folktale collections as a cousin to the one-eyed giants told of around the world. https://www.codexofshadows.com/story/tarabusaw-ang-halimaw-ng-bundok https://www.codexofshadows.com/story/tarabusaw-ang-halimaw-ng-bundok The Beast of Mount Matutum — The Tarabusaw is a monster of Maranao legend, a powerful man-eating beast of part-human, part-animal form associated with Mount Matutum in Mindanao. In the epic of Indarapatra and Sulayman, it is among the monsters that laid the land waste and is slain by the hero Sulayman. Accounts vary in the telling. https://www.codexofshadows.com/story/mantahungal-ang-mabangis-na-baka https://www.codexofshadows.com/story/mantahungal-ang-mabangis-na-baka The Cattle-Beast That Eats Men — The Mantahungal is a monster of Mindanao folklore, described as a wild cattle-like beast — hornless, but armed with sharp tusks and large ears — that is aggressive toward humans and attacks travelers. It belongs to the island's many distinctive beasts, and details vary in the telling. https://www.codexofshadows.com/story/anggitay-ang-babaeng-kabayo https://www.codexofshadows.com/story/anggitay-ang-babaeng-kabayo The Centaur of the Rainbow — The Anggitay is the female counterpart of the tikbalang in Philippine folklore — a creature with the upper body of a woman and the lower body of a horse, sometimes bearing a single horn. She is associated with rainbows and the strange light of a sun-shower, and is said to covet precious gems and gold. The traditions are told across the Tagalog and Visayan regions, with variation. https://www.codexofshadows.com/story/minokawa-ang-ibong-lumulunok-ng-buwan https://www.codexofshadows.com/story/minokawa-ang-ibong-lumulunok-ng-buwan The Bird That Swallows the Moon — The Minokawa is a gigantic bird in the mythology of the Bagobo people of the Mount Apo region in Mindanao — described as vast as an island, with a steel beak and claws and mirror-like eyes — said to cause eclipses by swallowing the moon and the sun. As with the Bakunawa myth, people drove it off with noise. Accounts vary in the telling. https://www.codexofshadows.com/story/lampong-ang-bantay-ng-hayop https://www.codexofshadows.com/story/lampong-ang-bantay-ng-hayop The Guardian of the Wild Game — The Lampong is a guardian spirit of wild animals in the folklore of the Ilongot and other peoples of northern Luzon, said to appear as a one-eyed white deer that protects the game of the forest from hunters. It can shift its shape, and when a hunter aims at the herd it draws the shot to itself unharmed. Accounts vary among communities. https://www.codexofshadows.com/story/kimat-ang-asong-kidlat https://www.codexofshadows.com/story/kimat-ang-asong-kidlat The Lightning Hound — Kimat is the lightning in the belief of the Tinguian (Itneg) people of Abra in northern Luzon, conceived as a spirit-dog — the hunting hound of the great sky-god Kadaklan, who makes thunder by beating his drum. A lightning strike is understood as the place where Kimat has bitten, and called for rites in response. Accounts vary in the telling. https://www.codexofshadows.com/story/barang-ang-sumpa-ng-kulisap https://www.codexofshadows.com/story/barang-ang-sumpa-ng-kulisap The Curse of Insects — Barang is a form of sorcery from the Visayas, especially the Cebuano-speaking islands, in which a practitioner — the mambabarang — sends charmed insects into a victim's body to cause sickness and death. The insects are traditionally kept in a bamboo tube with ginger. It remains among the most feared curses in Philippine folk belief; accounts vary by region. https://www.codexofshadows.com/story/paktol-ang-sumpa-ng-bungo https://www.codexofshadows.com/story/paktol-ang-sumpa-ng-bungo The Curse of the Pounded Skull — Paktol is a form of sympathetic sorcery in Visayan folk belief, in which a practitioner curses a victim by striking or pounding an object — most fearfully a human skull, but also a coconut shell or effigy — while naming the target, who then suffers headaches, madness, or death. It is recorded among the named curse-crafts of the islands alongside the barang and the kulam; details vary. https://www.codexofshadows.com/story/usog-ang-sumpa-ng-bati https://www.codexofshadows.com/story/usog-ang-sumpa-ng-bati The Curse of the Greeting — Usog (also bati or buyag) is a widespread Filipino folk affliction in which a greeting or admiring look from a visitor — often a stranger and usually without ill intent — is believed to cause a child to suddenly fall ill. It is countered by the visitor marking the child with saliva while saying 'pwera usog.' It remains one of the most living of Filipino folk beliefs, practiced across the archipelago, with regional variation. https://www.codexofshadows.com/story/gaba-ang-kabayaran-ng-kasamaan https://www.codexofshadows.com/story/gaba-ang-kabayaran-ng-kasamaan The Curse That Falls on the Cruel — Gaba is a Visayan and broader Filipino concept of cosmic retribution — misfortune understood to befall a person as a direct consequence of their own wrongdoing, especially cruelty, disrespect toward elders or parents, or the abuse of the helpless. Unlike sorcery, it is not cast by anyone; it is regarded as the moral order of the world enforcing itself. The belief remains widespread. https://www.codexofshadows.com/story/sumpa-ang-salitang-nagtatali https://www.codexofshadows.com/story/sumpa-ang-salitang-nagtatali The Binding Curse — A sumpa is a curse laid through speech in Filipino belief — a deliberate, binding pronouncement of doom, held to be most powerful when uttered by the deeply wronged, the dying, or a betrayed parent, and sometimes falling upon a whole family or place across generations. It reflects a wider belief in the binding power of the spoken word and oath. Such curses recur throughout Philippine local legend. https://www.codexofshadows.com/story/albularyo-ang-manggagamot https://www.codexofshadows.com/story/albularyo-ang-manggagamot The Folk Healer — The albularyo (from the Spanish 'herbolario') is the traditional Filipino folk healer, found throughout the islands — combining herbal medicine, massage, prayer (orasyon), and divination such as tawas (reading melted alum or wax) to treat both ordinary illness and supernatural afflictions like usog, kulam, and barang. The inheritor of the pre-colonial healer, the albularyo remains active, especially in the provinces. https://www.codexofshadows.com/story/mananambal-ang-manghihilot-ng-siquijor https://www.codexofshadows.com/story/mananambal-ang-manghihilot-ng-siquijor The Healer-Sorcerers of Siquijor — The mananambal are folk healers and sorcerers of the Visayas, associated above all with the island of Siquijor, long famed in the Philippines for both healing and sorcery. They treat illness and supernatural affliction with herbs, prayer, and ritual, and are known for preparing potent folk medicines and charms — most famously during Holy Week, when practitioners gather to make the year's strongest mixtures. The traditions remain actively practiced. https://www.codexofshadows.com/story/anting-anting-ang-agimat-ng-lakas https://www.codexofshadows.com/story/anting-anting-ang-agimat-ng-lakas The Amulet of Power — The anting-anting (also agimat) is a magical amulet in Filipino folk belief, held to grant its bearer powers such as invulnerability to blade and bullet, strength, protection from evil and sorcery, or luck. Often a medallion inscribed with mixed Latin prayers and esoteric and religious symbols, it is empowered by a secret prayer (orasyon) and traditionally recharged at midnight on Good Friday. Such amulets were widely carried by folk-religious sects and revolutionaries, and the belief remains alive. https://www.codexofshadows.com/story/berberoka-ang-halimaw-ng-latian https://www.codexofshadows.com/story/berberoka-ang-halimaw-ng-latian The Ogre That Drains the Pond — The Berberoka is a water ogre in the folklore of the Apayao and Ilocano peoples of northern Luzon, said to dwell in swamps and ponds. It hunts by sucking up the water of a pond to strand the fish, luring people in to gather them, then drowning and devouring them when the water returns. In some tellings it can be driven off or is afraid of crabs. Accounts vary. https://www.codexofshadows.com/story/litao-ang-diwata-ng-ilog https://www.codexofshadows.com/story/litao-ang-diwata-ng-ilog The Spirit of the River — The Litao is a water-spirit of rivers and streams in Tagalog and Ilocano folk belief — a nature-spirit, often imagined as green, who guards a particular stretch of flowing water. He is shown respect through the courtesy of asking leave before disturbing the water, and is said to punish those who foul it or take from it carelessly. Accounts vary by region. https://www.codexofshadows.com/story/kataw-ang-mga-hari-ng-tubig https://www.codexofshadows.com/story/kataw-ang-mga-hari-ng-tubig The Lords of the Merfolk — The kataw (catao) are, in Filipino merfolk lore, the highest and most powerful of the sea-people — ranked above the sirena and the siyokoy, more human in form, and said to rule the lesser merfolk and to command water itself. They belong to Visayan and broader Philippine belief about a hierarchy of sea-beings; details vary across tellings. https://www.codexofshadows.com/story/magindang-ang-diyos-ng-dagat https://www.codexofshadows.com/story/magindang-ang-diyos-ng-dagat The God of the Sea and the Hunt — Magindang is the god of the sea and of fishing in the mythology of the Bicolano people of southern Luzon, the patron of fishermen and ruler of the waters and their creatures. In Bicol myth he pursues the moon-god Bulan across the sky and sea, drawn to his beauty but never able to catch him. The traditions survive in Bicol folklore, with variation. https://www.codexofshadows.com/story/mameleu-ang-dambuhalang-ahas-dagat https://www.codexofshadows.com/story/mameleu-ang-dambuhalang-ahas-dagat The Horned Sea Serpent — The Mameleu is a colossal horned sea serpent of Visayan folklore, described as immense in length, with glowing red eyes, dwelling in the deep ocean. Its great size and movement were associated with large waves and swells. It is one of several giant sea-serpents in Philippine belief; accounts vary. https://www.codexofshadows.com/story/ugkoy-ang-humihila-sa-baha https://www.codexofshadows.com/story/ugkoy-ang-humihila-sa-baha The Drowner in the Flood — The Ugkoy is a water-creature in the folklore of the Waray people of the Eastern Visayas (Samar and Leyte), sometimes described as resembling a water-horse or a great eel, said to drag people underwater and drown them, and associated especially with rising rivers and flash floods. Accounts vary by locality. https://www.codexofshadows.com/story/naga-ang-bantay-ng-bukal https://www.codexofshadows.com/story/naga-ang-bantay-ng-bukal The Serpent of the Spring — The naga is a guardian serpent of the waters in Philippine belief — a great snake or water-dragon dwelling at springs, wells, and deep pools, controlling water and sometimes guarding treasure. It draws on the serpent-deities of Hindu and Buddhist tradition brought through early trade, fused with indigenous reverence for serpents and water; the name survives in places such as the city of Naga and in serpent-prowed boats. Accounts vary widely. https://www.codexofshadows.com/story/tambanokano-ang-dambuhalang-alimango https://www.codexofshadows.com/story/tambanokano-ang-dambuhalang-alimango The Giant Crab of the Tides — The Tambanokano is a gigantic crab in the mythology of the Mandaya and Mansaka peoples of the Davao region in Mindanao, said to live in a great hole at the bottom of the sea and to cause the tides by leaving and returning to its pit. In some versions it also grasps at the moon, causing eclipses. Accounts vary across communities. https://www.codexofshadows.com/story/amanikable-ang-galit-na-dagat https://www.codexofshadows.com/story/amanikable-ang-galit-na-dagat The Wrathful God of the Sea — Amanikable is the god of the sea in pre-colonial Tagalog mythology, and in some accounts a god of hunters, remembered especially for his ill temper and the storms and rough seas attributed to his wrath. One tradition explains his bitterness as the result of a mortal woman's rejection. He is named among the deities in early accounts of Tagalog religion, with variation between versions. https://www.codexofshadows.com/story/vol2-pangwakas https://www.codexofshadows.com/story/vol2-pangwakas The Spirits That Remain — Anito refers to the ancestral spirits and nature spirits at the heart of pre-colonial Filipino indigenous religion (anitism) — the venerated dead and the spirits believed to dwell in nature, mediated by priestesses and shamans such as the babaylan and catalonan, and honored with carved figures and offerings. Spanish colonizers suppressed the practice as idolatry, but its beliefs survived, absorbed into folk Catholicism and the wider body of Philippine folklore. As the closing entry of this anthology, it gathers the rest. https://www.codexofshadows.com/story/makaptan-ang-gutom-ng-langit https://www.codexofshadows.com/story/makaptan-ang-gutom-ng-langit Ang Gutom ng Langit — The Hunger of the Sky — Makaptan is the highest Visayan sky-god in the old Bisayan pantheon recorded in colonial-era and ethnographic sources. Having never tasted the food or water of the earth, he is described as bitter and detached, sending sickness, heat, and death to humankind. He co-rules the middleworld Kamaritaan with the death-deity Sidapa and is brother to Magwayen and Sumpoy. https://www.codexofshadows.com/story/aman-sinaya-ang-unang-alon https://www.codexofshadows.com/story/aman-sinaya-ang-unang-alon Ang Unang Alon — The First Wave — Aman Sinaya is the Tagalog deity of the sea and patron of fishermen, recorded by William Henry Scott from early Tagalog dictionaries. He was the inventor of fishing gear and was invoked when a net or hook first touched water. In one cosmogony he is the primordial sea opposed to the sky-god, churned by the wind until islands form. https://www.codexofshadows.com/story/lalahon-ang-galit-ng-bulkan https://www.codexofshadows.com/story/lalahon-ang-galit-ng-bulkan Ang Galit ng Bulkan — The Wrath of the Volcano — Lalahon is a Visayan goddess of fire, volcanoes, and harvest associated with Mount Kanlaon, recorded in early Spanish accounts of Bisayan belief. Worshipped for good harvests, she was feared because when displeased she sent swarms of locusts to devour the crops. She dwells in the volcano's fire. https://www.codexofshadows.com/story/lakambini-ang-bantay-ng-lalamunan https://www.codexofshadows.com/story/lakambini-ang-bantay-ng-lalamunan Ang Bantay ng Lalamunan — Guardian of the Throat — Lakambini is a Tagalog deity recorded in early dictionaries and by Scott as the god of purity and festivity, the 'advocate of the throat,' invoked against throat ailments and choking. Despite the name's 'pure maiden' connotation, the deity was male and tied to food, feasting, and protection from gluttony. https://www.codexofshadows.com/story/lakan-bakod-ang-panginoon-ng-bakod https://www.codexofshadows.com/story/lakan-bakod-ang-panginoon-ng-bakod Ang Panginoon ng Bakod — The Lord of Fences — Lakan-bakod is a Tagalog field-and-boundary deity described in the Boxer Codex and early dictionaries as the lord of fences, invoked to keep animals and harm out of swidden farms. His idol was carved with gilded eyes and teeth and a long gilded phallus, offered eels at fence-blessing rites. https://www.codexofshadows.com/story/burigadang-pada-ang-gintong-pita https://www.codexofshadows.com/story/burigadang-pada-ang-gintong-pita Ang Gintong Pita — The Golden Greed — Burigadang Pada Sinaklang Bulawan is the Hiligaynon/Sulod goddess of greed and wealth, famed in Panay tradition and named in the Hinilawod epic for her overwhelming beauty and golden riches. She personifies covetousness and the seductive danger of gold. https://www.codexofshadows.com/story/saragnayan-ang-panginoon-ng-dilim https://www.codexofshadows.com/story/saragnayan-ang-panginoon-ng-dilim Ang Panginoon ng Dilim — The Lord of Darkness — Saragnayan is the Lord of Darkness in the Sulodnon epic Hinilawod of Panay, recorded by F. Landa Jocano. Keeper of the sun and ruler of a shadowed domain, he is famed as nearly unkillable: his life is bound to a wild boar, and while the beast lives no blow can end him. In the epic he defeats the demigod Labaw Donggon and imprisons him for years, until the hero’s sons find and slay the boar. https://www.codexofshadows.com/story/barangaw-ang-bahaghari-ng-digma https://www.codexofshadows.com/story/barangaw-ang-bahaghari-ng-digma Ang Bahaghari ng Digma — The Rainbow of War — Barangaw is the Visayan god of the rainbow recorded in Bisayan deity lists, associated with war and invoked by warriors. The rainbow was read as his sign in the sky, a banner of victory or an omen tied to battle. https://www.codexofshadows.com/story/manama-ang-naghabi-ng-tao https://www.codexofshadows.com/story/manama-ang-naghabi-ng-tao Ang Naghabi ng Tao — The Weaver of Mankind — Manama is the supreme creator-god of the Bagobo of the Davao region. In Bagobo myth he fashioned the first humans, in one account stitching their joints with blades of grass, which is why people die — the grass-thread eventually loosens. He rules over a hierarchy of lesser spirits. https://www.codexofshadows.com/story/magbabaya-ang-walong-elemento https://www.codexofshadows.com/story/magbabaya-ang-walong-elemento Ang Walong Elemento — The Eight Elements — Magbabaya, 'the one who wills,' is the supreme creator-god of the Bukidnon (Higaonon/Talaandig). In the Bukidnon trinity he shapes the world from eight primal elements and forms humans from soil, sharing creation with Dadanhayan ha Sugay and Agtayabun. https://www.codexofshadows.com/story/melu-ang-lumikha-mula-sa-balat https://www.codexofshadows.com/story/melu-ang-lumikha-mula-sa-balat Ang Lumikha Mula sa Sariling Balat — The Maker from His Own Skin — Melu is the supreme creator-god of the B'laan people. In B'laan myth, Melu — enormous, white, with gold teeth, obsessed with his own cleanliness — scraped the dead skin and dirt from his body and from it shaped the earth and the first two humans. https://www.codexofshadows.com/story/lumabat-ang-naglakad-sa-langit https://www.codexofshadows.com/story/lumabat-ang-naglakad-sa-langit Ang Naglakad sa Langit — He Who Walked into the Sky — Lumabat is a Bagobo culture-hero and sky-god, the brother of the underworld goddess Mebuyan. In Bagobo myth he journeyed to the sky, was transformed into a diwata, and became a deity of the heavens, while his sister descended into the land of the dead. https://www.codexofshadows.com/story/tuglay-at-tuglibong-ang-unang-mag-asawa https://www.codexofshadows.com/story/tuglay-at-tuglibong-ang-unang-mag-asawa Ang Unang Mag-asawa — The First Married Pair — Tuglay and Tuglibong are the primordial first man and woman of Bagobo myth, the ancestral couple. Tuglibong is credited with scolding the sun and ordering the sky to rise higher so people would not burn, lifting the once-low heavens. https://www.codexofshadows.com/story/kadaw-la-sambad-at-bulon-la-mogoaw https://www.codexofshadows.com/story/kadaw-la-sambad-at-bulon-la-mogoaw Ang Araw at Buwan sa Pitong Langit — Sun and Moon of the Seven Heavens — Kadaw La Sambad (sun god) and Bulon La Mogoaw (moon goddess) are the supreme married deities of the T'boli, dwelling in the seventh and highest heaven. Their offspring became the lesser gods, including the creator-figure Dwata, in the T'boli seven-layered cosmos. https://www.codexofshadows.com/story/todlai-ang-diyos-ng-pagpapakasal https://www.codexofshadows.com/story/todlai-ang-diyos-ng-pagpapakasal Ang Diyos ng Pag-iisang Dibdib — The God of Marriage — Todlai (Tolus ka Balekat / Todlai) is a Bagobo deity associated with marriage and the household shrine, invoked at unions and at the sacrificial altar. He is among the lesser gods who watch over human bonds and ritual offerings. https://www.codexofshadows.com/story/tigyama-ang-tagapagtanggol-ng-mag-anak https://www.codexofshadows.com/story/tigyama-ang-tagapagtanggol-ng-mag-anak Ang Tagapagtanggol ng Mag-anak — The Protector of Families — Tigyama (Tigbas/Tigyama) are Bagobo guardian-deities who protect families and individuals. Benevolent when respected, they were believed to punish those who harmed the people under their care, acting as tutelary spirits of the home. https://www.codexofshadows.com/story/apo-sandawa-ang-espiritu-ng-bundok https://www.codexofshadows.com/story/apo-sandawa-ang-espiritu-ng-bundok Ang Espiritu ng Bundok — The Spirit of the Mountain — Apo Sandawa is the ancestral mountain-spirit and guardian of Mount Apo, revered by the Bagobo, Manobo, and other peoples of the Apo region as a tutelary ancestor-deity of the highest peak in the Philippines. https://www.codexofshadows.com/story/humadapnon-ang-bayaning-naligaw https://www.codexofshadows.com/story/humadapnon-ang-bayaning-naligaw Ang Bayaning Inakit ng Engkanto — The Hero Bewitched — Humadapnon is a central demigod-hero of the Sulodnon epic Hinilawod of Panay, son of the goddess Alunsina. His cycle follows perilous voyages, capture by the sorceress Piganun, and his pursuit of the warrior-woman Nagmalitong Yawa, recorded by F. Landa Jocano. https://www.codexofshadows.com/story/dumalapdap-ang-pumatay-sa-uyutang https://www.codexofshadows.com/story/dumalapdap-ang-pumatay-sa-uyutang Ang Pumatay sa Uyutang — Slayer of the Uyutang — Dumalapdap is the youngest of the three demigod brothers of the Hinilawod epic. His cycle recounts his journey to win Lubay-Lubyok and his battle against the monstrous guardians Balanakon and the bat-clawed Uyutang at the gate of the upperworld. https://www.codexofshadows.com/story/nagmalitong-yawa-ang-mandirigmang-dilag https://www.codexofshadows.com/story/nagmalitong-yawa-ang-mandirigmang-dilag Ang Mandirigmang Dilag — The Warrior Maiden — Nagmalitong Yawa is a warrior-enchantress heroine of the Hinilawod epic, beloved of Humadapnon. Skilled in magic and combat, she can change form and shape battle; in one episode she disguises herself as a man to rescue her own bridegroom. https://www.codexofshadows.com/story/tuwaang-ang-bayani-ng-manuvu https://www.codexofshadows.com/story/tuwaang-ang-bayani-ng-manuvu Ang Bayani ng Buhong na Langit — Hero of the Buhong Sky — Tuwaang is the warrior-hero of the Manuvu/Bagobo Tuwaang epics, documented by E. Arsenio Manuel. He wears enchanted garments, commands wind and lightning, and battles supernatural rivals such as the Young Man of Pangumanon to defend a maiden and his people. https://www.codexofshadows.com/story/agyu-ang-hari-ng-nelendangan https://www.codexofshadows.com/story/agyu-ang-hari-ng-nelendangan Ang Hari ng Nelendangan — King of the Promised Land — Agyu is the immortal epic hero of the Manobo Ulahingan, a sacred chant of the Livunganen-Arumanen Manobo. Driven from his homeland, Agyu and his people journey through suffering toward the deathless paradise of Nelendangan, borne on a flying golden ship. https://www.codexofshadows.com/story/sandayo-ang-bayani-ng-keboklagan https://www.codexofshadows.com/story/sandayo-ang-bayani-ng-keboklagan Ang Bayani ng Keboklagan — The Hero of Keboklagan — Sandayo is the hero of the Subanen epic Keg Sumba neg Sandayo of Zamboanga. Carried to the center of the sun by his magical scarf (monsala), he dreams of and pursues the maiden Bolak Sonday, undertaking heroic adventures across the Subanen cosmos. https://www.codexofshadows.com/story/kudaman-ang-sumasakay-sa-kalaw https://www.codexofshadows.com/story/kudaman-ang-sumasakay-sa-kalaw Ang Sumasakay sa Kalaw — Rider of the Hornbill — Kudaman is the hero of the Pala'wan epic of the same name, sung in the highlands of Palawan and documented by Nicole Revel. A peaceable yet powerful hero who rides a flying hornbill and revives the dead with sacred wine, he takes several wives and defends his people. https://www.codexofshadows.com/story/tudbulul-ang-kausap-ng-buwan https://www.codexofshadows.com/story/tudbulul-ang-kausap-ng-buwan Ang Kausap ng Buwan — The Moonspeaker — Tudbulul (Tud Bulul) is the central culture-hero of the T'boli oral epic of the same name, sung in cycles that can last over sixteen hours. A 'moonspeaker' able to converse with the moon and the wind, he owns a magical winged horse and through his adventures gathers the followers who become the T'boli; his saga includes confrontation with the giant aswang-figure Datu Busaw. https://www.codexofshadows.com/story/mangagaway-ang-huwad-na-manggagamot https://www.codexofshadows.com/story/mangagaway-ang-huwad-na-manggagamot Ang Huwad na Manggagamot — The False Healer — Mangagaway is the first of the agents of Sitan in Tagalog belief recorded from early Spanish accounts. A bringer of disease, she disguises herself as a healer to deceive the sick, and uses a magic wand or string of skulls to inflict illness and death. https://www.codexofshadows.com/story/manisilat-ang-wasak-ng-tahanan https://www.codexofshadows.com/story/manisilat-ang-wasak-ng-tahanan Ang Wasak ng Tahanan — The Breaker of Homes — Manisilat is the second agent of Sitan, the Tagalog goddess of broken homes. Restless and malicious, she disguises herself as a beggar or healer, enters households, and uses charms to turn husband and wife against each other until the family is destroyed. https://www.codexofshadows.com/story/hukloban-ang-bumabati-ng-kamatayan https://www.codexofshadows.com/story/hukloban-ang-bumabati-ng-kamatayan Ang Bumabati ng Kamatayan — She Whose Greeting Kills — Hukloban is the last and most powerful agent of Sitan, an old crone whose name means 'hag.' She can kill merely by raising a hand or pointing, change into any shape, and destroy houses — yet she can also heal whom she chooses. https://www.codexofshadows.com/story/sonat-ang-hukom-ng-kaluluwa https://www.codexofshadows.com/story/sonat-ang-hukom-ng-kaluluwa Ang Hukom ng Huling Hininga — Judge of the Last Breath — Sonat is a Tagalog priestly office recorded by Plasencia (1589) and later scholars — a kind of high priest who ordained the babaylan and through whom the people hoped for salvation. Tradition ties him to the passage of the soul at death; this retelling imagines him as the solemn attendant at the deathbed (he is not counted among Sitan's four agents). https://www.codexofshadows.com/story/darago-ang-diwata-ng-pakikidigma https://www.codexofshadows.com/story/darago-ang-diwata-ng-pakikidigma Ang Diwata ng Pakikidigma — The Goddess of War — Darago is the Bagobo goddess of warriors, consort of the war-god Mandarangan of Mount Apo. She demanded human sacrifice for success in battle; the Bagobo offered victims to her and Mandarangan to ensure victory and ward off harm. https://www.codexofshadows.com/story/arapayan-ang-langis-ng-lason https://www.codexofshadows.com/story/arapayan-ang-langis-ng-lason Ang Langis ng Lason — The Oil of Poison — Arapayan is one of three spirits (with Nagined and Macbarubac) named by Miguel de Loarca in his 1582 Relacion as demons the ancient Visayans invoked when concocting poison. Offerings of coconut-oil and a crocodile's tooth were made while the trio was called upon to empower toxic oils smeared on weapons. Loarca records the three names together with no separate roles; this retelling casts Arapayan as the triad's earthbound voice. https://www.codexofshadows.com/story/macbarubac-ang-tinig-mula-sa-espiritu https://www.codexofshadows.com/story/macbarubac-ang-tinig-mula-sa-espiritu Ang Tinig Mula sa Daigdig ng Espiritu — The Voice from the Spirit-World — Macbarubac (Makbarubak) is the third of the poison-demons recorded by Loarca in 1582, invoked together with Nagined and Arapayan by the ancient Visayans when preparing toxic oils for warfare and sorcery. Loarca records the three names together with no separate roles; this retelling casts Macbarubac as the triad's voice from the unseen, the spirit-world from which the poison's potency was imagined to come. https://www.codexofshadows.com/story/salakap-ang-bangka-ng-salot https://www.codexofshadows.com/story/salakap-ang-bangka-ng-salot Ang Bangka ng Salot — The Boat of Pestilence — Among the Tagbanua of Palawan, the salakap are dreaded spirits of epidemic sickness who travel in a great outrigger (adiyung) on the seasonal winds, gathering the souls of those who die of smallpox, dysentery and other plagues to carry them to Kiyabusan. The Tagbanua hold protective rituals (the pagbuyis and the great runsay) in which ritual warriors confront and drive off the salakap. https://www.codexofshadows.com/story/danag-ang-unang-uhaw-sa-dugo https://www.codexofshadows.com/story/danag-ang-unang-uhaw-sa-dugo Ang Unang Uhaw sa Dugo — The First Thirst for Blood — The Danag is a vampire-being of Isneg/Ivatan folklore, often cited as the origin of vampirism in Philippine myth. Once tillers of taro who lived alongside humans, the Danag tasted human blood when a woman cut her finger and, finding it sweet, drained her dry and never stopped. https://www.codexofshadows.com/story/balbal-ang-kumakain-ng-bangkay https://www.codexofshadows.com/story/balbal-ang-kumakain-ng-bangkay Ang Kumakain ng Bangkay — The Devourer of Corpses — The Bal-bal is a corpse-eating ghoul of Tausug and Visayan folklore, a counterpart of the aswang. With long claws and a keen sense of smell, it snatches the newly dead at wakes and replaces the body with a banana-trunk likeness so mourners notice nothing. https://www.codexofshadows.com/story/ekek-ang-may-pakpak-sa-gabi https://www.codexofshadows.com/story/ekek-ang-may-pakpak-sa-gabi Ang May Pakpak sa Gabi — The Winged Thing of Night — The Ekek (ek-ek) is a bird-like night-creature of Philippine folklore, a person who sprouts wings, a beak, and talons after dark. It flies hunting for victims — especially pregnant women — feeding on flesh and the blood of the unborn, named for the 'ek-ek' cry it makes. https://www.codexofshadows.com/story/mantiw-ang-higanteng-sumisipol https://www.codexofshadows.com/story/mantiw-ang-higanteng-sumisipol Ang Higanteng Sumisipol — The Whistling Giant — The Mantiw are towering giants of Ilonggo folklore in Iloilo, said to stand over thirty feet tall. Usually peaceful, they roam the fields or lean against coconut and buri trees whistling melodiously — but a Mantiw is dangerously offended if a human whistles back, and is said to snatch the offender and strand him at the swaying top of a tall tree. https://www.codexofshadows.com/story/tigbanua-ang-iisa-ang-mata https://www.codexofshadows.com/story/tigbanua-ang-iisa-ang-mata Ang Iisa ang Mata — The One-Eyed Ogre — The Tigbanua is a one-eyed forest ogre of Bagobo belief, a malevolent buso (corpse-eating demon). Tall and gaunt with a long neck, a single red or yellow eye, pointed teeth, and grime-covered skin, it lurks in lonely places preying on travelers and the dead. https://www.codexofshadows.com/story/kaperosa-ang-babae-sa-daan https://www.codexofshadows.com/story/kaperosa-ang-babae-sa-daan Ang Babae sa Daan — The Woman on the Road — Kaperosa is the indigenous Tagalog term for the phantom woman in a flowing white gown, the most popular of Filipino road-ghosts. She is the restless spirit of a woman dead in childbirth, by violence, or by her own hand after betrayal, lingering near the place of her death. Unlike foreign 'white ladies' she is generally not malevolent to the innocent; she appears chiefly to seek help, as in the legend of Loakan Road in Baguio. https://www.codexofshadows.com/story/mansalauan-ang-dilang-tumutusok https://www.codexofshadows.com/story/mansalauan-ang-dilang-tumutusok Ang Dilang Tumutusok — The Piercing Tongue — The mansalauan is a man-sized flying creature of Visayan folklore, counted among the region's aswang-kin. It has bat-like wings, a chameleon-like head, monkey-like hands and feet, and a long sharp-tipped tongue with which it pierces sleepers to suck out their internal organs; its tail ends in a tuft of long hair. https://www.codexofshadows.com/story/pasatsat-ang-banig-na-walang-bangkay https://www.codexofshadows.com/story/pasatsat-ang-banig-na-walang-bangkay Ang Banig na Walang Bangkay — The Mat with No Corpse — The pasatsat is a ghost from Pangasinan whose legend grew out of the Second World War. Too poor for coffins, families wrapped their dead in reed mats and buried them away from cemeteries to escape tomb-robbers; the restless spirits became pasatsat. The name comes from the Pangasinense satsat, 'to stab': the ghost blocks lonely paths, and the only way to be rid of it is to stab and unwrap the mat — which reveals no body, only a stench of rot. https://www.codexofshadows.com/story/mangindusa-ang-nakabitin-sa-langit https://www.codexofshadows.com/story/mangindusa-ang-nakabitin-sa-langit Ang Nakabitin sa Langit — He Who Hangs in the Sky — Mangindusa (Nagabacaban) is the highest deity of the Tagbanua of Palawan, the lord of the heavens and the punisher of crime, especially incest. He is pictured seated in the sky-region of Awan-awan with his feet dangling far above the human world. https://www.codexofshadows.com/story/polo-ang-mapagkalingang-dagat https://www.codexofshadows.com/story/polo-ang-mapagkalingang-dagat Ang Diwata ng Dagat na Naghihilom — The Sea-Spirit Who Heals — Polo is the benevolent Tagbanua god of the sea, invoked in times of sickness. A kindlier counterpart to the stern sky-lord Mangindusa, Polo is called upon by the babaylan for healing and for safe passage over the water. https://www.codexofshadows.com/story/magindara-ang-mabangis-na-sirena https://www.codexofshadows.com/story/magindara-ang-mabangis-na-sirena Ang Mabangis na Sirena — The Ferocious Siren — The Magindara is a fierce siren of Bikolano (and Visayan) coastal folklore, half-woman and half-fish with sharp fins and multicolored scales. Unlike gentle mermaids, she lures sailors with her song and devours them, haunting cliffs and rocky shores. She appears in the Ibalong epic. https://www.codexofshadows.com/story/anlabban-ang-bantay-ng-mangangaso https://www.codexofshadows.com/story/anlabban-ang-bantay-ng-mangangaso Ang Bantay ng Mangangaso — Guardian of the Hunters — Anlabban is an Ilocano tutelary spirit who looks after the general welfare of the people and acts as the special protector of hunters, invoked before the hunt for safety and a good catch. https://www.codexofshadows.com/story/baybay-ang-maybahay-ng-bigas https://www.codexofshadows.com/story/baybay-ang-maybahay-ng-bigas Ang Maybahay ng Bigas — Mistress of the Rice — Baybay is the Batak goddess and mistress of rice in the folklore of the Batak people of Palawan. She originated from Gunay Gunay, the edge of the universe, and is wed to Ungaw, the lord of bees; together they are tied to the abundance of food. https://www.codexofshadows.com/story/diyan-masalanta-ang-diwata-ng-pag-ibig https://www.codexofshadows.com/story/diyan-masalanta-ang-diwata-ng-pag-ibig Ang Diwata ng Pag-ibig — The Goddess of Love — Diyan Masalanta is the Tagalog goddess of love, conception and childbirth and the protectress of lovers, named in early accounts as the youngest of the deities and, in later genealogies, the daughter of Anagolay and Dumakulem. She presided over the pre-Christian fertility rite kasilonawan; under Spanish missionaries her cult was deliberately overwritten by Catholic figures, surviving distantly in the Obando fertility dances. https://www.codexofshadows.com/story/lingga-ang-diyos-na-naging-gamot https://www.codexofshadows.com/story/lingga-ang-diyos-na-naging-gamot Ang Diyos na Naging Gamot — The God Who Became Medicine — Lingga is a Tagalog deity whose name likely derives from the Sanskrit 'lingam', a trace of the archipelago's older Hindu-Buddhist contact. He was at first a god who inflicted illness on those who failed to acknowledge him, but in later belief he relented and became a god of medicine and healing. He is tied to the fertility rite kasilonawan and paired with Bibit, the deity of illness who did not relent. https://www.codexofshadows.com/story/sumpoy-ang-naghahatid-ng-kaluluwa https://www.codexofshadows.com/story/sumpoy-ang-naghahatid-ng-kaluluwa Ang Naghahatid ng Kaluluwa — The Ferryman of Souls — Sumpoy is a Visayan psychopomp recorded in early colonial mythography (Loarca 1582; later Jocano). He receives souls from the ferry-goddess Magwayen's balanday and leads them deeper into the underworld of Kasakitan, delivering them toward the mountain ruled by Sisiburanen. He is not a judge or ruler but a necessary intermediary in a multi-stage Visayan afterlife. https://www.codexofshadows.com/story/kumakatok-ang-tatlong-tumatawag https://www.codexofshadows.com/story/kumakatok-ang-tatlong-tumatawag Ang Tatlong Tumatawag — The Three Who Knock — The Kumakatok are three hooded death-spirits of Philippine folk belief who knock at a household's door as an omen that someone within will soon die. To ward them off, families painted or chalked a white cross on their doors.