Laon

Laon means "the ancient one." Old records name her as a creator goddess of the Visayan peoples. She is linked to farming, the sky and justice, and her home is the volcano Kanlaon on Negros. Her name changes by place: Lalahon, Lahon, Malaon, Laonsina and Alunsina. Some stories give her a male side called Makapatag, "the leveler," who punishes. In the female form she is gentler.

The oldest record is by Miguel de Loarca, in 1582. He wrote her name as Lalahon and said she watched over the crops and lived on Kanlaon. Pedro Chirino in 1604 called her a creator god like the Tagalog Bathala. In 1668, Francisco Alcina wrote Malaon for the Waray. A 1903 English translation of Loarca changed "the volcano which throws fire" into "she throws fire," and that is why some books call her a fire goddess.

In creation stories, she makes a bird that finds the first islands, and that leads to the first man and woman, found inside bamboo or rattan. In the Hinilawod she appears as Alunsina, a sky goddess. Bicolano stories use Kalaon for an evil god instead.