Formation of the World
Myth from the Kapampangan People
A long, long time ago, the universe is full of gods and goddesses. Of all these gods there existed one supreme god by the name of Mangetchay. He ruled the universe for several millenniums with great power. These gods live in the different planets and their common temple was suspended in the air. These planets were far apart. It took thousands of years to go from one planet to another. The great god hurled over them lived in the sun and his bride lived in the moon. Venus their daughter lived in a planet called after her name. The supreme god sent for all his vassals to meet in great counsel to decide on a certain affair in the universe. The gods responded to the call and the elements were disturbed greatly by the swiftness of their chariots. As soon as they gazed at the beautiful daughter of Mangetchay who was seated on her golden chair the gods were charmed by her beauty. Instead of deciding on the affair of the universe, the gods proposed marriage to the pretty goddess. The great god was troubled and did not know on whom he should confer the hand of his daughter. Finally he decided that the question was to be settled by combat. The gods returned to their respective abodes and made the necessary preparations. The encounter lasted for several thousand years and nearly all the gods perished. During the battle the daughter of Mangetchay died and consequently the trouble ended. The great god, after the combat, looked down and saw the earth of today to his great surprise. The Earth was formed by the great masses of stones used in the fight. The great god, for his daughter's sake, blessed the world with trees and life. From Philippine Folk Literature Series: Vol. III, The Myths (2002), compiled and edited by Damiana L. Eugenio, published by The University of the Philippines Press (shopee, amazon)
Annotations from the Source
This myth seems to had been recorded in Alfredo Nicdao's "Pampangan Folklore," H.O. Beyer's "Ethnography of the Pampangan People," vol. ii, no. 36, pp. 20-21, in Vivencio R. Jose's "Creation and Flood Myths in Philippine Folk Literature" (M.A. thesis, U.P., 1974), pp. 57-58
Mod's Annotations
I cannot find the actual name of the daughter in any of the sources I sought out but could be "Sulungdagis" which I had seen as a native translation of Venus in Kapampangan according to Wikitionary. There isn't a source that uses this word however so take my annotation just as a fun fact that that's the translation for Venus or the morning star in Kapampangan. If this is wrong, which is very possible because I'm not Kapampangan myself, feel free to correct me in the comments.
