The term "myth" refers to stories that are intended to provide explanations for

things that people did not understand. Most often myths explain natural
phenomenon. Myths exist in nearly every culture and country from English
mythology to Mayan mythology to Baltic mythology and Slavic.
Myths typically focus on gods, goddesses and creatures as their characters in order
to make their explanations of nature. For example, a common myth about black cats
is that they are evil.

The Visayan Creation Myth

A long time ago, there were two Gods - Maguayan, ruler of water, and Kaptan, ruler of the sky.
One day, the two Gods decided to marry their children. Three sons were born from this union Likalibutan was extremely brave and strong, Liadlao was made of gold and was always cheerful,
and Libulan, made of copper, was timid and weak. Lisuga was the only daughter, she was made
of silver and was very beautiful, gentle and sweet. Sadly, they were orphaned at a young age, but
their grandparents took care of them and protected them from evil. Eventually, the siblings grew
up
to
be
strong
and
beautiful.
One day, Likalibutan, proud of his strength and power, decided to attack Kaptan's sky kingdom.
Scared of their brother, Liadlao and Libulan were coerced into joining him and they left for the
sky kingdom. An enormous steel gate was blocking their way, but Likalibutan summoned the
wind and knocked it down. When Kaptan came to know of this, he got furious and fired them
with lightning bolts. A lightning bolt landed on each of the three brothers. Likalibutan's rock-like
body fragmented into a thousand pieces and fell down in the sea, Liadlao and Libulan melted
into balls of gold and copper, respectively. Worried for her brothers, Lisuga came searching for
them, but Kaptan, still fuming, attacked her as well. Her silver body too, was scattered into a
million pieces. Kaptan then called Maguayan, accusing him of planning the whole thing. But
Maguayan had been sleeping through the entire ordeal and didn't have the slightest clue. Kaptan
eventually calmed down, and both the gods deeply mourned the loss of their grandchildren.
Sadly, even with all their powers, they couldn't bring the siblings to life. So, they gave each of
them light, except for Likalibutan. Luminous with this light, Liadlao became the Sun, Libulan,
the Moon and Lisuga's fragmented body can be seen today as the stars.
Kaptan planted a seed on a fragment of Likalibutan's body. A bamboo tree sprouted out of this
seed and from this tree, Sikalak, a man and Sikabay, a woman, emerged. This man and woman
are
the
ancestors
of
all
the
people
in
the
world.