Laon
Supreme Visayan deity
patron god of Mt. Kan Laon
Kan Laon or Laon is the supreme god of the Visayas equal to Bathala of the Tagalogs. His worship was centralized in Negros islands but is widespread all over the Visayan Islands. He is not only worshipped by the tattooed Visayan warriors and their colonies but also by the mountain tribes and also by the pygmy dark skinned tribes called Ati. It is believed that he dwells in the heavens or in a nother world and the access to his domain is the mountain of Kan Laon. Some stories say that he manifested physically to the Visayas not as a man but as a lovely young woman, a goddess. A goddess that is their benefactor for their bountiful harvest and other agricultural aspects. He is known as Lalahon.
In Miguel de Loarca’s passage from his Relación de las Yslas Filipinas in 1582 of Laon he describes her as such.
“El dios lalahon diçen que reside en un volcan que esta en la ysla de negros que heçha fuego y que esta el volcan frontero de la villa de Arevalo, como cinco leguas. A este Lalahon ynvocan para sus sementeras y quando no quieren darselas buenas hechales la langosta que se las hecha a perder y se las come. Esta Lahon es muger. “
In the passage it says that the deity Lalahon was a deity who lived in the island of Negros (that was originally called Buglas) and who was invoked for a good harvest in the fields. Lalahon would sometimes send locusts to eat the crops if the people upset and or angered her.
However in a translation of the passage in the Blair and Robertsons English translation in The Philippine Islands, 1493-1803 (Volume 5) , published from 1903 to 1909 there are parts from the original Spanish passage by Loarca that have been mistranslated. One major mistranslation is of the phrase, “que hecha fuego” meaning “which hurls fire”. This part of the passage does not refer to Laon herself as being a fire breathing Goddess, but to Mt. Kanlaon, an active volcano that is her home and still bears her name until this very day. From this mistranslation in the English version it has caused many to believe she is a also a Goddess of fire and breathes fire or throws them when in reality she is neither.
Her name is also an agricultural term among the Bisayan languages meaning aged crops or grain from the previous years harvest and is still a term used today.
According to Pedro Chirino in his writings in 1604, he mentions that Laon was the Bisayan counterpart of the Tagalogs Bathala Maykapal as being their Surpeme deity.
In Francisco Alcina’s works from 1668, who is widely known as the major contributor of information on pre-colonial Bisayans, he mentions Laon as being called Malaon and says that she was the creator of all things. She was also known as “one who disposes everything and renders everything equal” based on another name she was called by some groups such as the Bisayans of Ibabao, known as Makapatag. From this she was equated to the equality of the divine justice.
Supreme Visayan deity
patron god of Mt. Kan Laon
Kan Laon or Laon is the supreme god of the Visayas equal to Bathala of the Tagalogs. His worship was centralized in Negros islands but is widespread all over the Visayan Islands. He is not only worshipped by the tattooed Visayan warriors and their colonies but also by the mountain tribes and also by the pygmy dark skinned tribes called Ati. It is believed that he dwells in the heavens or in a nother world and the access to his domain is the mountain of Kan Laon. Some stories say that he manifested physically to the Visayas not as a man but as a lovely young woman, a goddess. A goddess that is their benefactor for their bountiful harvest and other agricultural aspects. He is known as Lalahon.
In Miguel de Loarca’s passage from his Relación de las Yslas Filipinas in 1582 of Laon he describes her as such.
“El dios lalahon diçen que reside en un volcan que esta en la ysla de negros que heçha fuego y que esta el volcan frontero de la villa de Arevalo, como cinco leguas. A este Lalahon ynvocan para sus sementeras y quando no quieren darselas buenas hechales la langosta que se las hecha a perder y se las come. Esta Lahon es muger. “
In the passage it says that the deity Lalahon was a deity who lived in the island of Negros (that was originally called Buglas) and who was invoked for a good harvest in the fields. Lalahon would sometimes send locusts to eat the crops if the people upset and or angered her.
However in a translation of the passage in the Blair and Robertsons English translation in The Philippine Islands, 1493-1803 (Volume 5) , published from 1903 to 1909 there are parts from the original Spanish passage by Loarca that have been mistranslated. One major mistranslation is of the phrase, “que hecha fuego” meaning “which hurls fire”. This part of the passage does not refer to Laon herself as being a fire breathing Goddess, but to Mt. Kanlaon, an active volcano that is her home and still bears her name until this very day. From this mistranslation in the English version it has caused many to believe she is a also a Goddess of fire and breathes fire or throws them when in reality she is neither.
Her name is also an agricultural term among the Bisayan languages meaning aged crops or grain from the previous years harvest and is still a term used today.
According to Pedro Chirino in his writings in 1604, he mentions that Laon was the Bisayan counterpart of the Tagalogs Bathala Maykapal as being their Surpeme deity.
In Francisco Alcina’s works from 1668, who is widely known as the major contributor of information on pre-colonial Bisayans, he mentions Laon as being called Malaon and says that she was the creator of all things. She was also known as “one who disposes everything and renders everything equal” based on another name she was called by some groups such as the Bisayans of Ibabao, known as Makapatag. From this she was equated to the equality of the divine justice.
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