The 

Bakunawa is a serpent-like dragon in Philippine mythology. It is believed to be the cause

of eclipses, earthquakes, rains, and wind.[1] The movements of the Bakunawa served as
a geomantic calendar system for ancient Filipinos and were part of the shamanistic rituals of
the babaylan. It is usually depicted with a characteristic looped tail and a single horn on the nose.
It was generally believed to be a sea serpent,[2] but are also variously believed to inhabit either
the sky or the underworld.[3]
Due to increasing trade contacts with South Asia and the Indianization of Southeast Asia, the
Bakunawa later became syncretized with the Nāga, Rahu, and Ketu of Hindu-Buddhist
mythology.[2][4]

Etymology[edit]

18th-century engraving of a karakoa warship with a Bakunawa

design [5]

Bakunawa is believed to be originally a compound word meaning "bent snake", from Proto-

Western-Malayo-Polynesian *ba(ŋ)kuq ("bent", "curved") and *sawa ("large snake", "python").[3][6]
[7]
 Spelling variants include Vakonawa, Baconaua, or Bakonaua.[8]

Historical accounts[edit]
"No. 42. When the moon is eclipsed, the Indians of various districts generally go out into the
street or into the open fields, with bells, panastanes, etc. They strike them with great force and
violence in order that they might thereby protect the moon which they say is being eaten or
swallowed by the dragon, tiger, or crocodile. And the worst thing is that if they wish to say "the
eclipse of the moon" it is very common in the Philippines to use this locution, saying "the dragon,
tiger, or crocodile is swallowing the moon." The Tagalogs also make use of it and say, Linamon
[ni] laho [ang] buwan [trans.: "Laho swallowed the moon"]."
Fr. Tomas Ortiz, Practica del Ministerio (1731) via Zuniga's Estadismo (1893) [9]