Mayari: Goddess of Beauty and Strength

Mayari, who embodies beauty and strength, is the one-eyed lunar deity of Tagalog, Sambal and Pampangan mythology. She rules over the night and is the guardian over beauty, strength, war, revolution and the moon.

One Tagalog legend tells the story of how Mayari engaged in a battle with her brother, Apolaki (God of the sun), after the death of their father, Bathala (God of the universe). The prize would be to rule the earth alone. Despite being physically defeated with the a club to her eye and the partial-loss of her sight, she remains a strong figure, as after feeling remorse for his actions, Apolaki relinquished the earth. And together they rule the in unison as Apolaki rules the day with the sun and as Mayari rules the night with the moon.

In this depiction of Mayari, she wears a fiery multi-layered ensemble decorated with bright beads as she holds two fighting "sticks", a baston and a yantok. The moon shines behind her with the shadows of pine trees and mountains that are abundant in the Philippines. And despite her soft features and unaggressive stance, Mayari is still the epitome of inner beauty and strength.

In the tribes of the Tagalogs and Visayans, typically men, used long strips of cloth which were used to form a headress or in Tagalog, a 'pudong', depending on the cloth used. A 'magalong' was a red coloured pudong that was worn by the tribes people as a brave symbol for defeating the enemy. In order to protect the people of earth, Mayari would require great strength and bravery to defeat her opponents and her magalong reminds us that she as a women, is an epitome of strength and not restricted to the male tribesmen.

The beads that decorate Mayari's pudong, as well as the rest of her clothing, is an homage to the beadwork tradition that became an integral part of tribal clothing amongst the Filipino masses. The tradition of beadwork is said to have begun during the Ming dynasty in the early 14th century, when the Chinese traded beads amongst other articles to the cluster of islands now known as the Philippines. However, in the Kalinga tribe of the Cordillera region, beads are precious heirlooms for women as they are passed down from generation to generation.

Additionally, early Visayans wore a 'kimona', which was a blouse made of pineapple fibre partnered with a knee-lengthed skirt. Often the kimona had 'patadyong' print, which then transformed the kimona into a patadyong outfit instead. A patadyong print is similar to a tartan print in western civilisation. On special occasions, sleeved smocks and capes were worn amongst the prestigious class. Common amongst the tribes people across the Philippine islands, is the craft of weaving. Traditionally the fabrics for clothing were dyed in bright colours and woven to form intricate patterns, or if not, embroided with insignias or embellished with jewellery and beadwork. The females of the tribes often wore golden jewellery as a symbol of beauty. If metals could not be afforded and depending on the tribes, stones and beads were worn instead.

Amongst the mountain tribes, such as that of the Kalinga, women had tattoos like the headhunters, as a symbol for beauty and power. Mayari's clothing and the beads she wears, are a reflection of female traditions across the peninsula. The tattoos on her arm signify that she stands as an emblem of what it means to be a beautiful and powerful woman of the Philippines.

The weapons she hold, the blue 'baston' a short stick about twenty four to twenty eight inches in length, as well as a 'yantok' which is a much longer stick, ranging from twenty eight to thirty six inches long, are traditionally made from rattan or kamagong woods.

These weapons are used in the Philippine martial arts of Eskrima/Arnis/Kali. As Spain slowly removed the culture of the tribes people by prohibiting the use martial art form of Eskrima 'fencing', the part of Eskrima/Arnis/Kali that use sticks as weapons, as it was considered too dangerous, as to not forget, the tribes people incorporated the arts into their dances.

The Spanish conquest of the Philippines

(1521 - 1898) is an important part of the make up of the ideologies and culture we have as Filipinos today. Our motherland which was once a cluster of islands became a singular nation named in honour of King Philipp II of Spain.

The final detail of this depiction of Malyari is her name written in the old alphabet called 'baybayin'.  Baybayin was weaved into the cloth when the Spanish continued to indoctrinate the tribes people. This depiction of Mayari was created to honour the almost-forgotten cultures and traditions of the tribes people of pre-colonial Philippines. She portrays the plentiful examples of beauty and strength across the country and its complicated history.

In our next blog post, we explore another aspect Mayari's story.

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