The Kapampangan people of the Philippines have a fascinating –and tragic– mythological take on the origin of day and night. The creator of the world had a son named Apolaki, and a daughter named Mayari. When he died, the two siblings fought each other for the throne with wooden clubs. Eventually, Apolaki struck Mayari in the face and she became blind in one eye.

“𝘞𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘢𝘸 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘴𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘪𝘤𝘬𝘦𝘯, 𝘈𝘱𝘰𝘭𝘢𝘬𝘪 𝘵𝘰𝘰𝘬 𝘱𝘪𝘵𝘺 𝘰𝘯 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘢𝘪𝘥, “𝘓𝘦𝘵 𝘶𝘴 𝘧𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘯𝘰 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦, 𝘮𝘺 𝘴𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘳. 𝘓𝘦𝘵 𝘶𝘴 𝘴𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘧𝘢𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳’𝘴 𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘥𝘰𝘮 𝘦𝘲𝘶𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘣𝘦𝘵𝘸𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘶𝘴. 𝘓𝘦𝘵 𝘶𝘴 𝘳𝘦𝘪𝘨𝘯 𝘣𝘺 𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘯𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘣𝘦 𝘧𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘴.”

𝘔𝘢𝘺𝘢𝘳𝘪 𝘢𝘨𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘥, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘰𝘯, 𝘈𝘱𝘰𝘭𝘢𝘬𝘪, 𝘸𝘩𝘰𝘮 𝘸𝘦 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘵𝘰𝘥𝘢𝘺 𝘢𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘚𝘶𝘯, 𝘩𝘢𝘴 𝘳𝘶𝘭𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘭𝘥 𝘩𝘢𝘭𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦. 𝘔𝘢𝘺𝘢𝘳𝘪, 𝘸𝘩𝘰𝘮 𝘸𝘦 𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘢𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘔𝘰𝘰𝘯, 𝘩𝘢𝘴 𝘵𝘢𝘬𝘦𝘯 𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘯𝘴 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘣𝘳𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘪𝘯 𝘳𝘶𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘭𝘥. 𝘞𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘈𝘱𝘰𝘭𝘢𝘬𝘪 𝘪𝘴 𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘰𝘯𝘦, 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘭𝘥 𝘪𝘴 𝘧𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘥𝘦𝘥 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘸𝘢𝘳𝘮 𝘭𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵, 𝘣𝘦𝘤𝘢𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘣𝘦𝘢𝘮𝘴 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘸𝘰 𝘣𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘦𝘺𝘦𝘴. 𝘖𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘥, 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘔𝘢𝘺𝘢𝘳𝘪 𝘪𝘴 𝘳𝘦𝘪𝘨𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨, 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘭𝘥 𝘪𝘴 𝘣𝘢𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘥 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘤𝘰𝘰𝘭 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘨𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘭𝘦 𝘭𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵; 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘪𝘴 𝘣𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘥 𝘪𝘯 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘦𝘺𝘦.”

As someone who regularly picked sibling fights with my brother, this story spoke to me. Despite the bittersweet ending, Mayari’s story is tragic because she was forever changed. So I focused on capturing her emotions at the moment she was struck and became the ruler of the night!

Source: The Aswang Project @aswangproject
Maximo Ramos, Philippine Myths, Legends, and Folktales (1990)