Gugurang

Supreme creator-deity of the pre-Hispanic Bicolano pantheon; the benevolent god who dwells in Mount Mayon and keeps the sacred fire of creation, sending eruptions to punish wrongdoing. Brother and one-time equal of Asuang, the deity of evil; when Asuang tried to steal his fire, Gugurang sealed him beneath Mount Malinao. The Gugurang-Asuang opposition is the central dualism of Bicolano cosmology.

Domains

• supreme creator
• sacred fire
• volcano and judgment

Powers

• Keeps the sacred fire of creation within Mount Mayon
• Sends eruptions of Mayon to punish wrongdoing

Epithets

• Gugurang

Relations

• sibling: Asuang

Sources

• Ibalong epic (Bicolano oral epic); Bicolano cosmological tradition; Felix B. Regalado ethnographic compilation