Example of Legend

The Legend Of Mayon Volcano

At the heart of Pili Ani is the “Giving Tree” or Pili Tree, an amazing feat of nature that
grows in the shadow of the Mayon Volcano. Located in the Albay Province of the Bicol
region, Mayon is the most active volcano in the Philippines. It is renowned for its perfect
cone shape but holds a very sacred place in Philippine mythology. The myth of the creation
of Mayon is a story of star-crossed lovers with a tragic ending that led to the rise of the
volcano.

Legend has it that a beautiful maiden, Magayon, lived in a place called Ibalon. She
was the daughter of Makusog, the chief of the tribe. Magayon was so beautiful that men
from all over visited Ibalon just to get a glimpse of her beauty. One of those suitors was
Pagtuga, a warrior and the chief of Iraga. In an attempt to win her heart, Pagtuga brought
Magayon many precious gifts like gold and jewels, but Magayon was not impressed by
Pagtuga’s gestures. Her heart belonged to someone else.

As a young maiden, Magayon enjoyed bathing in the Yawa river. One day, she
slipped on the rocks and fell in. Not knowing how to swim, she shouted for help. At that
moment, a warrior named Pangaronon was passing by, heard her screams for help and
saved her from drowning. This was the start of their relationship which grew into love and
eventually led to Pangaronon asking Chief Makusog for his daughter’s hand in marriage.

Wanting nothing but happiness for his daughter, Makusog approved of the union.
When news of the wedding reached Pagtuga, he kidnapped Chief Makusog and told
Magayon that he would kill him if she didn’t agree to marry him instead. To save her father,
Magayon agreed to marry Pagtuga.

On the day of the wedding, Pangaronon showed up to fight for Magayon and take
her away from Pagtuga. A battle between the two men took place and Pangaronon fatally
struck Pagtuga. Finally, Pangaronon and Magayon could be together but just as they were
about to embrace, a poisoned arrow struck Magayon. Then, as Pangaronon was kneeling
over his dying Magayon, one of Pagtuga's soldiers stabbed him. To honor their bond, Chief
Makusog decided to bury his daughter and her true love together.

As the years passed, people noticed that the land where Magayon and Pangaronon
were buried started to rise higher and higher. The mountain that grew from the burial
grounds of the star-crossed lovers is now known as the Mayon Volcano.
 Today, people still believe in the legend of the Mayon Volcano. When it is rumbling
and on the verge of erupting, it is said that Magayon is being bothered by Pagtuga. When it
is calm, Pangaronon is embracing Magayon. And when clouds meet at the top of the
volcano, that is when Pangaronon is kissing Magayon.

A recent photo of the ash cloud formations around Mayon piqued the interest of the
internet for its supposed similarity to the volcano's tragic myth. On the left side of the
photo was a grouping of ash clouds which some people think looks like shape of two people
embracing. Those who have seen the photo were reminded of the tragic story of Magayon
and Pangaronon who chose to fight for their love to the very end.

Mt. Mayon isn't only a famous landmark in the Philippines, it's also the source of Pili
Ani's Deep Detox Volcanic Exfoliating Mask, formulated with harvested ash from the
volcano. This ash is incredibly rare and can only be sourced after an eruption, which
happens around every 5 years. Infused with Pili and Elemi Oils, this exfoliating mask gently
clears pores, removes dead skin, and reveals your skin’s natural glow.

Example of Myth

The Story of Pandora’s Box

Written by GreekBoston.com in Greek Mythology

The story of Pandora’s box begins with the story of Zeus, Prometheus, and
Epimetheus. Prometheus and his brother Epimetheus were Titans but pledged their loyalty
to Zeus and the Olympians, since Prometheus was born with the special power of prophecy
and knew that Zeus would defeat the Titans. Zeus rewarded Prometheus and Epimetheus
for their loyalty and gave them the job of creating the first creatures to live on Earth.
Epimetheus formed the animals and gave each a special skill and form of protection.
Prometheus took his time molding man, and was left with no forms of protection since
Epimetheus had already given them all away. Prometheus knew man needed some form of
protection and asked Zeus if he could let man have fire. Zeus refused. Fire was only for the
gods. Prometheus ignored Zeus and gave man fire anyway. For this, Prometheus was
punished. Zeus tied him with chains to a rock far away in the Caucasus Mountains where
nobody would find him. Every day Zeus sent an eagle to feast upon Prometheus’ liver,
which grew back every day so that Prometheus would have to endure this torture daily
until Heracles found Prometheus and killed the eagle and let Prometheus go.

This torture wasn’t enough of a punishment for Zeus who also believed that humans
should be punished for accepting the gift of fire from Prometheus. To punish man, Zeus
created a woman named Pandora. She was molded to look like the beautiful goddess
Aphrodite. She received the gifts of wisdom, beauty, kindness, peace, generosity, and health
from the gods.

Zeus brought her to Earth to be Epimetheus’ wife. Even though Epimetheus’ brother,
Prometheus, had warned him of Zeus’ trickery and told him not to accept gifts from the
gods, Epimetheus was too taken with her beauty and wanted to marry her anyway.

As a wedding present, Zeus gave Pandora a box (in ancient Greece this was called a
jar) but warned her never to open it. Pandora, who was created to be curious, couldn’t stay
away from the box and the urge to open the box overcame her. Horrible things flew out of
the box including greed, envy, hatred, pain, disease, hunger, poverty, war, and death. All of
life’s miseries had been let out into the world. Pandora slammed the lid of the box back
down. The last thing remaining inside of the box was hope. Ever since, humans have been
able to hold onto this hope in order to survive the wickedness that Pandora had let out.

“Pandora’s box” now means anything that is best left untouched, for fear of what
might come out of it.

Example of Fable

The Frog And The Mouse

A young Mouse in search of adventure was running along the bank of a pond where
lived a Frog. When the Frog saw the Mouse, he swam to the bank and croaked:

“Won’t you pay me a visit? I can promise you a good time if you do.”

The Mouse did not need much coaxing, for he was very anxious to see the world and
everything in it. But though he could swim a little, he did not dare risk going into the pond
without some help.

The Frog had a plan. He tied the Mouse’s leg to his own with a tough reed. Then into
the pond he jumped, dragging his foolish companion with him.

The Mouse soon had enough of it and wanted to return to shore; but the treacherous
Frog had other plans. He pulled the Mouse down under the water and drowned him.
 But before he could untie the reed that bound him to the dead Mouse, a Hawk came
sailing over the pond.

Seeing the body of the Mouse floating on the water, the Hawk swooped down, seized
the Mouse and carried it off, with the Frog dangling from its leg. Thus at one swoop he had
caught both meat and fish for his dinner.

Example of Epic

SUMMARY OF BIAG NI LAM-ANG)

Don Juan and his wife Namongan lived in Nalbuan, now part of La Union in the
northern part of the Philippines. They had a son named Lam-ang. Before Lam-ang was
born, Don Juan went to the mountains in order to punish a group of their Igorot enemies.
While he was away, his son Lam-ang was born. It took four people to help Namongan give
birth. As soon as the baby boy popped out, he spoke and asked that he be given the name
Lam-ang. He also chose his godparents and asked where his father was.

After nine months of waiting for his father to return, Lam-ang decided he would go
look for him. Namongan thought  Lam-ang was up to the challenge but she was sad to let
him go.

During his exhausting journey, he decided to rest for awhile. He fell asleep and had a
dream about his father’s head being stuck on a pole by the Igorot. Lam-ang was furious
when he learned what had happened to his father. He rushed to their village and killed
them all, except for one whom he let go so that he could tell other people about Lam-ang’s
greatness.

Upon returning to Nalbuan in triumph, he was bathed by women in the Amburayan

river. All the fish died because of the dirt and odor from Lam-ang’s body.

There was a young woman named Ines Kannoyan whom Lam-ang wanted to woo. 
She lived in Calanutian and he brought along his white rooster and gray dog to visit her. On
the way, Lam-ang met his enemy Sumarang, another suitor of Ines whom he fought and
readily defeated.
 Lam-ang found the house of Ines surrounded by  many suitors all of whom were
trying to catch her attention.  He had his rooster crow, which caused a nearby house to fall. 
This made Ines look out. He had his dog bark and in an instant the fallen house rose up
again. The girl’s parents witnessed this and called for him. The rooster expressed the love
of Lam-ang. The parents agreed to a marriage with their daughter if Lam-ang would give
them a dowry valued at double their wealth. Lam-ang had no problem fulfilling this
condition and he and Ines were married.

It was a tradition to have a newly married man swim in the river for the  rarang fish.
Unfortunately, Lam-ang dove straight into the mouth of the water monster Berkakan. Ines
had Marcos get his bones, which she covered with a piece of cloth. His rooster crowed and
his dog barked and slowly the bones started to move. Back alive, Lam-ang and his wife lived
happily ever after with his white rooster and gray dog.