Agtayabun, the Winged Mediator

Bukidnon · deity · Bukidnon traditional religion; continuing · deity

Agtayabun is the third of the three divine persons of the Bukidnon creation myth, his name glossed by commentators as 'adviser' or 'peace-maker'. He is described with a hawk-like head, a human body and powerful wings, and in the cosmogony he is suspended above the other two, holding both the comely creator Magbabaya and the ten-headed Dadanhayan ha Sugay aloft on their balanced platform. Because the two constantly bicker and their heads grow hot, only the winged Agtayabun can cool them, fanning them with the ceaseless beating of his wings; that same beating is said to produce the wind. As the mediating term between the well-formed and ill-formed poles of creation, he completes the triad and resolves its opposition. Demetrio observes that his composite hawk-and-human form, alongside the multi-headed Dadanhayan ha Sugay, suggests the influence of Indic religious imagery that reached Mindanao through early trade contacts.

Domains

Powers

Epithets

Relations

Sources

Open in the interactive app →