Mayari: Goddess of Hunt and Weaponry

Mayari: The Goddess of Hunt and Weaponry. The majority of Mayari’s talents and gifts are heavily based on strength, weaponry and combat, so for this depiction, despite the title, I wanted to show the kinder, more benevolent side of the Goddess.

This illustration is simple and shows a woman, Mayari, standing calmly in simple clothing, petting a carabao. She is in the middle of a field with her weapon sheathed on her hips, and though she is carrying a shield, she is not in a fighting stance.

With the brief, hunt and weaponry, despite all the many interesting weapons the Philippines has, Mayari immediately thought of agriculture as it has such a significant role in the Philippine economy. 40% of Filipino workers are in the agriculture industry.

The range of agricultural systems across the islands of the Philippines range from lowland irrigated farming, rain-fed farming and upland farming. Many farms grow rice, sugarcane, coconut, cassava, bananas, mangoes and more. 12.7% of agricultural output is subsidised through livestock production, the most common being broiler chickens, cattle, and swine.

There are 10.4 million workers employed in agriculture, hunting and forestry sector, 27.3% of these rural workers are women. Rural women play a large role in the industry but are often not included in official statistics, so their contribution to food production is often unseen and undervalued. It is for this reason men have easier access to land, technology and infrastructure than women. I bring this up because, like Mayari, the Malyari Tribe believes in equality.

Over 35% of farming households hired women in pulling and bundling of seedlings, and in planting and harvesting activities. Women workers were employed to harvesting/husking, planting and transplanting and care of crops, as well as weeding and fertiliser application. Women farmers’ workloads and tasks are equal to male farmers other than ploughing with tractors, which is usually done by men. Women are often also responsible for accessing capital needed for farm production and other off-farm activities which boosts household income.

The illustration shows a small child sleeping on the back of the Carabao. In the recent years, food security has been relying a lot on family farming. For many years, farms have been passed down and children often help around the farm from a young age, but now it is being recognised and encouraged by the government in order to advocate farming among the local community youth and hopefully inspire more agricultural entrepreneurs.

Mayari is a good and kind Goddess who is known to provide a fruitful harvest for those who deserve it. This child sleeps from a hard days’ work helping their family, but they are also able to sleep ‘like a baby’ knowing they have been gifted an abundance of crops. They do not need to worry about the security of their family's income.

The carabao (Kalabaw) is a domestic swamp-type water buffalo native to the Philippines. It is often said to be the country’s national animal but has no basis in Philippine law. Water buffaloes are thought to have been around since 2200 BCE to 400 CE in northern Luzon. Now carabaos are spread across all the larger islands of the Philippines. 99% of the 3.2 million carabaos (in 2003) belonged to small farmers who have limited resources, low income, and little access to other economic opportunities.

These animals were known as “Beasts of Burden” as they are very strong and were most used to carry a heavy load, sometimes across large distances. During the Japanese incursion, the carabaos were neglected and on the edge of extinction, later, farm technologies evolved and replaced the bovine in the fields. Now they are known as “Beasts of Fortune”. After the persistent efforts of the government, Filipino scientists and the working men and women themselves, the carabao animal have again found their value and place in the everyday working life of the rural people. Small technologies are still used in places, but nothing beats the reliability and tractability of the carabao and the various tasks they can perform.

In this image, Mayari carries a shield. Many warriors across the islands have similar shields. Bagoba warriors (from Mindanao) have large shields with painted designs in black, white and red. The edges often have bristles of horse hair and/or bands of reinforcing strap work.

The Kalasag is another type of shield which is often large and rectangular. They are often made from hard wood and is decorated with intricate cravings across the front face of the shield. The wood is usually from native Dapdap, Polay or Sablang trees. The average Kalasag is about 1.5m long. For this image, I combined certain features from the both the northern and southern styles of shields in the Philippines. And on Mayari’s waist hangs a sickle/ reaping-hook. It is an agricultural tool used for harvesting grain crops, or fresh or dried forage (such as hay). Filipino Martial arts also establishes a Sickle as an improvised weapon.

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

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