Bakunawa

The name Bakunawa likely means "bent snake." In pictures it has a looped tail and one horn on its nose. Most tellers say it lives in the sea or the underworld and rises to eat the moon, which is how people explained eclipses. In 1731, the friar Tomas Ortiz wrote that people in the islands rushed outside with bells and pans during an eclipse. They believed a dragon, tiger or crocodile was swallowing the moon, and they made noise to save it.

The tale changes by place. In Cebuano versions, the sky god made seven moons, and the Bakunawa ate them one by one. In one Cebuano story, the Bakunawa has a sister, a sea turtle. People killed the turtle, and the serpent took the moon in anger. A Panay version, printed in 1913 by Buyser, says it ate six moons. The god then planted bamboo on the last one, and the dark marks on the moon are that bamboo.

Tagalog speakers told a close tale of Laho, whose name comes from the Indian eclipse figure Rahu. Eclipse noise-making has been reported in some places in recent years.