Mayari is the moon-goddess of Philippine mythology: a beautiful and powerful deity of the moon and the night, the one-eyed goddess who battled her brother the sun-god [apolaki] for rule of the world and, though she lost an eye, won the dominion of the night. She is the gentle but formidable lady of the moon, one of the most beloved of the Filipino deities.
The Goddess of the Moon
Mayari is the goddess of the moon, the night, and (in some traditions) of beauty, war, revolution, and strength — a daughter of the supreme creator [bathala] (in many tellings, his daughter by a mortal woman), and one of the most powerful of his children. Renowned for her beauty and her strength, she is the radiant mistress of the night sky, the moon-light that softly illuminates the darkness. With her sisters — [tala], the goddess of the stars, and (in some accounts) Hanan, the goddess of the morning — she is one of the celestial daughters who govern the heavens.
The Battle and the Lost Eye
Mayari’s great myth is her contest with her brother Apolaki. When their father the great god died, both Mayari and Apolaki claimed the right to rule the world, and neither would yield. Their dispute became a fierce battle, fought (in the famous version) with bamboo canes — and in the struggle, Apolaki struck Mayari a blow that cost her one of her eyes. At the sight of his sister’s wound and her dimmed light, Apolaki was filled with remorse and offered to share the rule. So they divided the heavens: Apolaki to rule the day with the full bright sun, and Mayari to rule the night with her one-eyed, gentler moon-light. This is why, the myth says, the moon shines with a softer, dimmer light than the sun — for the moon-goddess sees with but one eye.
The Lady of the Night
Mayari, the one-eyed moon-goddess who fought for her right and won the rule of the night even at the cost of her eye, is a figure of beauty, strength, and dignity in Filipino myth — a goddess who would not simply yield to her brother but battled him as an equal. Her gentle moon-light governs the night sky and the cycles of the moon. In Mayari, Filipino myth gave form to the moon and the strength of the feminine — the beautiful one-eyed moon-goddess who battled the sun-god for the world and won the dominion of the night, the radiant and formidable lady of the moon.