Arimaonga
Maranao · numen · Maranao traditional religion; continuing · Recorded classification
Arimaonga is a colossal beast of Maranao cosmology, described variously as a great lion, tiger, or crab, that seizes the sun or the moon and, by attempting to swallow it, brings on the eclipse and its darkness. During an eclipse people beat gongs, drums, and pots to frighten the creature into releasing the captured luminary. Some accounts attribute earthquakes and the trembling of the world to its movements.
Domains
- eclipses
Powers
- seize and swallow the sun or moon
Sources
- Arimaonga is a colossal beast of Maranao cosmology that seizes the sun or moon to cause eclipses; people beat gongs and pots to make it release the luminary.: Damiana L. Eugenio, Philippine Folk Literature: The Myths (1993). (secondary); Mamitua Saber & Abdullah T. Madale, The Maranao (1975). (secondary)