Laon (meaning "the ancient one"),From Visayan meaning "ancient" or "old." is a pre-colonial female supreme creator deity in the animist anito beliefs of the Visayan peoples in the

Philippines The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. Located in the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of List of islands of the Philippines, 7,641 islands, with a tot ...

. She is associated with creation, agriculture, the sky, and divine justice. Her domain is usually identified with the volcano KanlaonLiterally "

lace Lace is a delicate fabric made of yarn or thread in an open weblike pattern, made by machine or by hand. Generally, lace is split into two main categories, needlelace and bobbin lace, although there are other types of lace, such as knitted o ...

of Laon" of the island of

Negros Negros (, , ) is the fourth largest and third most populous island in the Philippines, with a total land area of . The coastal zone of the southern part of Negros is identified as a site of highest marine biodiversity importance in the Coral Tr ...

, the highest peak in the

Visayas Islands The Visayas ( ), or the Visayan Islands ( Visayan: ''Kabisay-an'', ; Filipino: ''Kabisayaan'' ), are one of the three principal geographical divisions of the Philippines, along with Luzon and Mindanao. Located in the central part of the arch ...

. She is present in the pre-colonial beliefs of the Aklanon, Capiznon, Cebuano, Hiligaynon, Karay-a, Suludnon, and

Waray people The Waray people (or the Waray-Waray people) are a subgroup of the larger ethnolinguistic group Bisaya people, who constitute the 4th largest Filipino ethnolinguistic group in the Philippines. Their primary language is the Waray language (als ...

, among others.Cruz-Lucero, R., Pototanon, R. M. (2018). "Capiznon". With contributions by E. Arsenio Manuel. In Our Islands, Our People: The Histories and Cultures of the Filipino Nation, edited by Cruz-Lucero, R. Her name is variously rendered as Lahon, Lalaon (or Lalahon), Lauon, Malaon, Raom, and Laonsina (or Alunsina) among the different Visayan groups.

Description

Although usually spoken of as female, she has both female and male aspects. She was sometimes referred to as Makapatag (also spelled Macapatag in Spanish sources, literally "the leveler"), her male aspect. She was regarded as a milder and more sympathetic deity of justice and equality in her female form than in her male form, Makapatag, the destructive deity of punishment and vengeance. As a supreme creator deity, Laon is also identified with Makaako, who is said to dwell in the uppermost level of the seven layers of the universe. Laon is usually mentioned in the various Visayan creation myths as the creator of the first creature (a bird, usually a '' manaul'') who finds the first islands and indirectly causes the emergence of other creatures, including the first man and woman whom it finds inside either a

bamboo Bamboos are a diverse group of mostly evergreen perennial plant, perennial flowering plants making up the subfamily (biology), subfamily Bambusoideae of the grass family Poaceae. Giant bamboos are the largest members of the grass family, in th ...

rattan Rattan, also spelled ratan (from Malay language, Malay: ''rotan''), is the name for roughly 600 species of Old World climbing palms belonging to subfamily Calamoideae. The greatest diversity of rattan palm species and genera are in the clos ...

stem. In ancient times, shamans ('' babaylan'') would climb up the volcano and do rituals every good harvest season or when there was a special ceremony. They would also offer gifts as a sign of respect. She was first recorded as "Lalahon" or "Lahon" by the

conquistador Conquistadors (, ) or conquistadores (; ; ) were Spanish Empire, Spanish and Portuguese Empire, Portuguese colonizers who explored, traded with and colonized parts of the Americas, Africa, Oceania and Asia during the Age of Discovery. Sailing ...

Miguel de Loarca in ''Relación de las Yslas Filipinas'' (1582). De Loarca specifically identifies her as female and records that Lalahon was an agricultural deity invoked by the natives for good harvests. When she was displeased, she would send

locust Locusts (derived from the Latin ''locusta'', locust or lobster) are various species of short-horned grasshoppers in the family Acrididae that have a swarming phase. These insects are usually solitary, but under certain circumstances they b ...

s to spoil the crops. De Loarca also specifically mentions that she dwells in the Kanlaon volcano. Laon is sometimes erroneously identified as a goddess of fire, due to the English mistranslation of De Loarca's description in ''

The Philippine Islands, 1493–1898 ''The Philippine Islands, 1493–1898'', often referred to as ''Blair and Robertson'' after its two authors, was a 55-volume series of Philippine historical documents. They were translated by Emma Helen Blair and James Alexander Robertson, a direc ...

'' (Blair & Robertson, 1903). The book mistranslates the original Spanish () as "''she'' hurls fire" instead of the correct " 'the volcano''.. which hurls fire". In ''Relación de las Islas Filipinas'' (1604), the

Jesuit The Society of Jesus (; abbreviation: S.J. or SJ), also known as the Jesuit Order or the Jesuits ( ; ), is a religious order (Catholic), religious order of clerics regular of pontifical right for men in the Catholic Church headquartered in Rom ...

priest Pedro Chirino records the name of the spirit as "Laon" and identifies it as a

creator deity A creator deity or creator god is a deity responsible for the creation of the Earth, world, and universe in human religion and mythology. In monotheism, the single God is often also the creator. A number of monolatristic traditions separate a ...

, equivalent to the Tagalog Bathala. In ''Historia natural del sitio, fertilidad y calidad de las Islas e Indios de Bisayas'' (1668), the Jesuit priest Francisco Ignacio Alcina records her name among the

as "Malaon", a creator deity and the female aspect of the Malaon-Makapatag duality. In the Hinilawod epic of the

Suludnon people The Suludnon, also known as the Panay-Bukidnon, Pan-ayanon, or Tumandok, are a Visayan group of people who reside in the Capiz- Antique-Iloilo mountainous area of Panay in the Visayan islands of the Philippines. They are one of the two only mo ...

Panay Panay is the sixth-largest and fourth-most populous island in the Philippines, with a total land area of and a total population of 4,542,926, as of 2020 census. Panay comprises 4.4 percent of the entire population of the country. The City of Il ...

, she was known as "Laonsina" (also "Alunsina") and was regarded as the goddess of the sky. Along with Tungkung Langit, they were the first two primordial deities in Suludnon creation myths. The suffix "sina" means "foreigner" and is likely a reference to her origin as an introduced deity from the other Visayan neighbors of the Suludnon. Laonsina is also regarded as a sky goddess among the neighboring Karay-a and Capiznon people.

In other beliefs

Among the

Bicolano people The Bicolano people (Bikol languages, Bikol: ''Mga Bikolnon'') are the fourth-largest Ethnic groups in the Philippines, Filipino ethnolinguistic group. Their native region is commonly referred to as Bicol Region, Bicol, which comprises the entir ...

, Kalaon was instead regarded as the evil god of destruction, the main adversary of Batala, a minor deity of protection and luck (not to be confused with the Tagalog supreme deity Bathala). The Bicolano supreme deity was instead Gugurang (whose name also means "the old one") whose domain was the Mayon Volcano. Among the

Batak people Batak is a collective term used to identify a number of closely related Austronesian peoples, Austronesian ethnic groups predominantly found in North Sumatra, Indonesia, who speak Batak languages. The term is used to include the Karo people ( ...

Sumatra Sumatra () is one of the Sunda Islands of western Indonesia. It is the largest island that is fully within Indonesian territory, as well as the list of islands by area, sixth-largest island in the world at 482,286.55 km2 (182,812 mi. ...

, the oldest ancestor spirits are also known as ''silaon''.

Notes

References

Visayan deities Creator goddesses Time and fate goddesses Tutelary deities Filipino goddesses Culture of Negros Oriental Culture of Negros Occidental Volcano goddesses {{Asia-myth-stub

Description

In other beliefs

See also

Notes

References