Bakunawa: The Tale of a Dragon and Seven Moons

 The Bakunawa, a huge serpent-like dragon that coiled around the earth and ruled the oceans, first fell in love with the heavenly magnificence of the "seven sisters" such that he envied the almighty for his creations. But to the people of earth's collective dismay and disappointment, the dragon swallowed the moons one by one, each night, as he yearned to possess them all. This growing yearning turned into envy and greed, so the Bakunawa arose again and again from the waters to swallow the moons. The towering, ferocious dragon successfully devoured all—but one.

According to the ancient people of the Philippines, Bathala—a supreme being or god—created seven moons that illuminated the earth, with one illuminating each of the dark nights of the week. Every evening was ever so bright and so beautiful because of these moons as the moons brought joy and happiness to the people of the earth. This, however, mesmerized one particular dragon that wished to have them all.

The Bathala became conscious of the sudden disappearances of the moons from the heavens. The people of the earth, in turn, learned to arm themselves to protect the last moon from being swallowed by the dragon. Hence, the dragon is not only termed as a "Moon-eater" but as a "Man-eater," as well.

One fateful night, deafening collective and ever-growing screams, moans, music, sounds, and banging of drums coming from the people of earth awakened the almighty to witness the Bakunawa in the process of swallowing the last remaining moon, slowly enveloping the whole world in deep, abysmal darkness. The people of earth shouted altogether, and they screamed "Return our Moon!" among many other unpleasant words. The dragon, taken aback by the multitude of resistances coming from the people of earth, hastily retreated to his caverns in the oceans while the deafening sounds grew louder and louder. The last moon, now returned to the skies above, illuminated the dark skies once more, and the people of earth rejoiced as the dragon hastily returned, hiding inside his caves yet waiting for another right moment to gobble the last remaining moon.

To prevent this from happening again, Bathala planted bamboos that looked like “stains” on the surface of the moon from afar. The bamboo trees can be seen as dark spots in the face of the moon.

The dragon never gave up, as he would attempt to swallow the last remaining moon in the sky from time to time. But the people remained on alert if such an incident were to happen again, ready to create thundering noises for the moon's return, guarding it with their own lives. And as long as the bamboo trees are not killed on the moon, the dragon will never succeed in his malicious deed.

The literary origins of this story, culture and folklore with deep roots about a moon-eating dragon are mostly traced back to two prolific Filipino writers: Damania Eugenio and Fernando Buyser.