Essence of a folktale: Mariang Makiling

Mariang Makiling is said to be the mysterious fairy guarding Mount Makiling. No one
knows how old she is. It is believed she is as old as the mountain itself. The very few people who
have seen her wandering around the thick forest of Makiling say she is tall and graceful, with
brown skin, deep black eyes, and hair almost touching the ground. Deer hunters have seen her
standing on the edge of a cliff on moonlit nights, with her long hair floating in the air and her
singing echoing throughout the deep valleys. Maria shows how to help poor people and she has a
very good heart, she's willing to help the one's in need. It's really important to be helpful and be
kind to others.
As we can see, the folktale reflects Filipino customs, practices, and beliefs by presenting
some scenarios that involved Filipinos’ daily lives including the ‘hut’ as the representation of a
stilt house indigenous to the cultures of the Philippines. It also includes the hunting of some wild
animals in the forest which was a natural occupation of the Filipinos before to provide food for
their family. One of the best-known stories about Maria Makiling is that she can transform
ginger into gold which she does usually to help someone. In these stories, she often lives in a
village as one of the communities and is called upon to help one of the communities in some
way. Sometimes it is a mother with a sick child, or perhaps a husband may be seeking a cure for
his sick wife. However, when diagnosing the problem Maria recognizes the signs of malnutrition
and poor diet rather than a disease or sickness and gives them ginger to take home. Invariably, by
the time they get home the ginger has turned to gold which they can then sell or exchange. One
foolish villager finding the ginger becoming heavy threw it away rather than carry it home.
Mariang Makiling is also said to be a rejected lover. There is a story that tells she had
fallen in love with a hunter who had wandered into her territory. The two soon formed a
relationship and became lovers and the hunter would climb up the mountain everyday to see her
and they promised eternal love to each other. However, Maria was shocked to discover that her
lover was being unfaithful and had married a mortal woman. There are so many lessons that can
be learned from a single folktale including being kind and helpful to others as showed by
Mariang Makiling, being unable to waste every pieces of what is given to you as shown by the
regretful hunter after throwing some of the gingers, and the lesson that there is a forbidden love
no matter how much we love a person, there are times it’s never enough to be compatible with
each other.
The folktale Mariang Makiling exists to show us, Filipinos, the beauty of our own
literature as it makes our culture and tradition alive. The folktale itself has something more to
show rather than focusing on the idea that there is a maiden living on a mountain. Moreover, it
gives more ideas to the readers and listeners because it depicts how a folktale works with the use
of our imaginative minds. It might be a bedtime story read by our grannies or parents to their
child. But certainly, it’s a piece of literary work which intends to open our minds.