THE STORY OF BOI HENWU AND THE CREATION OF LAKE SEBU
In
the story of Boi Henwu, Lemugut Mangay and Kludan, we see a different dimension of the creation of Lake
Sebu. This is the story as written by Manolete Mora:
It begun when Boi Henwu and Lemugut Mangay
(celestial messenger or angel) began courting. This earth (tonok) was still
being created and the sky and heavens were still very close. After D’wata (the
Supreme deity) created the earth and the sea and he made Boi Henwu and Kludan,
the first man and woman. Lake Sebu had not yet been created.
At
that time Boi Henwu and Kludan were traveling together. Kludan, who was still a
youth served as her helper (nga
nemuhen). Although they were not married he hunted and killed four
or five pigs for her at a time.
Boi Henwu and Kludan together as they were,
lived in different houses for sixteen halay (one
rice harvest season, thus eight years). During this time Boi Henwu frequently
desired to bathe.
One day Kludan told Boi Henwu that he would
go hunting and asked her to wait until he returned. He returned at noon with
eight pigs and water that he had supposedly obtained from the el luos (a
type of rattan that contains water).
This
delighted Boi Henwu. Upon seeing the water she immediately began to bathe,
exclaiming, “How pleasant it is to bathe, I have washed away all the dust.”
She
looked radiant and beautiful with her hair worn in the tuko-en style.
She wore anklets (singkil) up
to her knees, bracelets covering her forearms and eight gold necklaces (lieg kemagi) .
Kludan
had actually found another source of water while he was away but at first kept
it a secret. Finally he told her what he had seen. She asked him excitedly
about where he saw the water: “if you’ve seen water,” she urged him, “tell me
so that I can bathe there.”
I
cannot show you because of your big taboo (bong lii) against men,” said Kludan.
“Pardon
me,” said Boi Henwu, “but you are like my child and I am like your mother.”
So Kludan desired Boi Henwu. Yet he knew that
Lemugot Mangay had been sent by D’wata to bring her to heaven.
“It is better,” said Boi Henwu, “that you
show me the water or our relationship will no longer be the same.”
So Kludan relented and together with Boi
Henwu they searched for eight day and eight nights until they found the source
of water. This was named (Lake) Sebu afer the man who first saw it in its
entirety.
When
they arrived there, Kludan instructed Boi Henwu to stand under the large nabul tree on
the sunny side. From where she stood the tree looked like a crawling python.
She then gazed up into the branches of the tree and her vision weakened as
though she had become giddy.
“This is the nabul tree (Ficus
religiosa),” said Kludan. “Now that you’ve seen it, it’s for you to
find the water.”
When she turned over the takul leaf
at the bottom of the tree, the water of Sebu spurted forth thin as the thread
of the needle (mesut el; which
also signifies ejaculation).
“Ah,”
exclaimed Boi Henwu, “this is the water.”
At
the source of the spouting water sat a frog, which she picked up. It was as
wide as three fingers, and had nails, fingers and feet the color of gold. It
had a beautiful face and was white all over. The frog jumped into the pouch of
her tube skirt (kelofoy; a
pocket tied at the front of the tube skirt for carrying small items, such as
betel nut, money, etc.) and said: “I’ve been hoping and waiting for you; this
water is yours.”
Boi
Henwu’s hair was beautiful and abundant. It would have taken four women to
hold, style and carry it. As she stood by the water of Sebu she wished for the
companionship of a woman. Four suddenly appeared and they carried her hair
until they reached her house.
Boi Henwu then suddenly turned to Kludan and
said, “Now I will leave you and this place. D’wata has finished creating heaven
and earth.”
She
then said, “And I will beat the wooden percussion beam (k’lutang) before
I ascend.” She played it until Lemugot Mangay came for her. As she ascended
with Lemugot Mangay she threw down the two mallets and they transformed into
barbets, a male and a female. In times past, the barbet was the wooden
percussion beam mallet of Boi Henwu.
The
barbets then said to Lemugot Mangay: “But now that you are leaving us in this
world, how shall we survive?”
Lemugot Mangay and Boi Henwu replied to the
barbets: “We shall provide you with food and you will continue to live.”
Boi Henwu had now found her partner. She had
had no man before, only Kludan (the first man but who was also her ‘child
helper’). When Boi Henwu ascended with Lemugot Mangay, Kludan returned to Lake
Sebu, threw himself in and entered the navel of the sea.
The Legend of the Prickly Pear Cactus
The ancient Aztecs believed in many gods, and each god had a job. For example, the sun god brought up the sun. If the sun god was unhappy, he would refuse to bring out the sun and all the crops would die. The Aztecs spent an enormous amount of time making sure that all their gods were happy, time they could have spent gathering food or making needed goods.
The Aztecs solved that problem by assigned the job of keeping their many gods happy to their priests. The people still prayed. But it was the priests with the power to keep the gods happy. The priests believed the only way to keep so many gods happy all at once was to offer the gods human sacrifice. While some people collected food and made goods, Aztec warriors spent their time capturing people from neighboring tribes, people to give to the priests, so the priests would have someone to sacrifice besides Aztec children.
As you can imagine, this did not make the Aztecs popular with their neighbors. The other tribes in an area would even combine forces if that's what it took to rid their neighborhood of the awful Aztecs. Nobody wanted them around.
For about 200 years, the Aztecs were shoved from place to place, never welcome, always on the move.
But the Aztecs had a legend. They believed their god of sun and war had visited their priests long ago, and had promised the priests that one day a priest would spot an eagle, perched on a cactus, holding a snake. This would be the signal that they had found their home. This is where they were supposed to settle down and build a city. Part of the legend was that they were supposed to settle down peacefully, at least for a while, to give themselves times to build strength.
Believe it or not, one day, a priest saw an eagle, perched on a cactus, holding a snake in its mouth! He could not believe his eyes. He ran back to the Aztec camp to tell his people what he had seen. This happened in the Valley of Mexico, along the swampy shores of Lake Texcoco.
Legend says that the Aztec people hurried to the swampy shore of the lake to see this wonderful sight for themselves. As they watched, the cactus grew into an island. The Aztecs settled down on that island. They named the island Tenochtitlan, "the Place of the Prickly Pear Cactus".
The Aztecs solved that problem by assigned the job of keeping their many gods happy to their priests. The people still prayed. But it was the priests with the power to keep the gods happy. The priests believed the only way to keep so many gods happy all at once was to offer the gods human sacrifice. While some people collected food and made goods, Aztec warriors spent their time capturing people from neighboring tribes, people to give to the priests, so the priests would have someone to sacrifice besides Aztec children.
As you can imagine, this did not make the Aztecs popular with their neighbors. The other tribes in an area would even combine forces if that's what it took to rid their neighborhood of the awful Aztecs. Nobody wanted them around.
For about 200 years, the Aztecs were shoved from place to place, never welcome, always on the move.
But the Aztecs had a legend. They believed their god of sun and war had visited their priests long ago, and had promised the priests that one day a priest would spot an eagle, perched on a cactus, holding a snake. This would be the signal that they had found their home. This is where they were supposed to settle down and build a city. Part of the legend was that they were supposed to settle down peacefully, at least for a while, to give themselves times to build strength.
Believe it or not, one day, a priest saw an eagle, perched on a cactus, holding a snake in its mouth! He could not believe his eyes. He ran back to the Aztec camp to tell his people what he had seen. This happened in the Valley of Mexico, along the swampy shores of Lake Texcoco.
Legend says that the Aztec people hurried to the swampy shore of the lake to see this wonderful sight for themselves. As they watched, the cactus grew into an island. The Aztecs settled down on that island. They named the island Tenochtitlan, "the Place of the Prickly Pear Cactus".
Their similarities:
Both story share a common icon of beauty. The legend of the prickly pear cactus is the very origin of creation of Mexico City while the story of Boi Henwu and the creation of Lake Sebu. There is a lot of deciding factor to which one can call a place home. In both story, it is anchored in a simple life of settling down. Maybe we are now lost and it would feel like forever but give it time. Even the Aztecs wandered in circles for 2000 years to find what they call home. The symbolism of an eagle perched on a cactus, holding a snake is very similar to takul leaf at the bottom of the tree, the water of Sebu spurted forth thin as the thread of the needle.
It has the same idea of finding the heart of a place which will flourish and provide them life in a never ending journey.
Both story share a common icon of beauty. The legend of the prickly pear cactus is the very origin of creation of Mexico City while the story of Boi Henwu and the creation of Lake Sebu. There is a lot of deciding factor to which one can call a place home. In both story, it is anchored in a simple life of settling down. Maybe we are now lost and it would feel like forever but give it time. Even the Aztecs wandered in circles for 2000 years to find what they call home. The symbolism of an eagle perched on a cactus, holding a snake is very similar to takul leaf at the bottom of the tree, the water of Sebu spurted forth thin as the thread of the needle.
It has the same idea of finding the heart of a place which will flourish and provide them life in a never ending journey.
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