Bakunawa
Philippine mythological dragon
The Bakunawa, also called the Philippine moon-eating dragon, the Philippine moon dragon, moon dragon, or the moon-eating dragon, is a dragon-like serpent in Philippine mythology that causes several natural phenomena, primarily eclipses. The movements of the Bakunawa served as a geomantic calendar system for ancient Filipinos and were part of the rituals of the babaylan priestess. It is usually depicted with a characteristic looped tail and a single horn on the nose. It was believed to inhabit either the sky or the underworld.
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.
Etymology
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"). Spelling variants include Vakonawa, Baconaua, or Bakonaua.
Historical accounts
"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.
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This entry incorporates text from “Bakunawa” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.