Lonely is Thy God

His grandmother used to say, "Every child is a curious soul." So, while every adult around him seemed to run away from his questions, only she would patiently listen to his thoughts and explain the things he couldn’t understand.
He would ask, "Why is the sun so much brighter than the moon, Lola?"
And she would say, "That is because when Bathala’s children, Apolaki and Mayari, fought for the crown of heaven, Apolaki blinded one of Mayari’s brilliant eyes. And so, now she shines less brighter than her brother."
When he frowned and asked why a brother would do that to his sister, she would rub his head and tell him, "Because power has a way of awakening the worst amongst all of us."
He didn’t always understand her answers. Lola had a way of speaking that made it seem she was coming from a far away place, and there were times he had to strain to hear what she was saying. Sometimes, her answers were so long and complicated and filled with endless images of magic and gods that he felt he was transported into a whole new world altogether.
His parents would say her stories were mere myths and legends, passed down from generations when science has yet to advance the thinking of mankind.
Still, her explanations were always far easier to comprehend than his mother’s theories, and far more fascinating.
Every afternoon, while the other children were asleep for their siestas, he would climb into his Lola’s rocking chair and make her tell him the story of Bathala, the god who created everything in the world. Gently, she would smile and stare out the window to the dancing leaves and vibrant flowers of her garden, then begin her story with the words, "In the beginning, there was only nothing."
With his mind occupied by the image of a vast expanse of nothingness, she would then say, "From there sprouted three things: Ulilang Kaluluwa, an orphaned soul brimming with darkness; Galang Kaluluwa, a wandering soul overflowing with light and wonder; and Bathala, the god of creation.
"Bathala created the universe, oblivious to the two beings who came to existence alongside him. As his creation expanded, the universe grew. He made a home in one of the little planets and had only the company of the stars in the sky. Time passed as he wandered the world alone. And as he did, he began to feel emotions.
"First, curiousity," she would tap his nose and say, "just like you, he was curious about a lot of things."
"Is that why you named me after him, Lola?" was what he would then say.
She would nod, touch his hair, and kiss his forehead. "Because you are a very special boy, just like Bathala. Except Bathala has no Lola to answer his questions, so he had to find the answers himself. And the answer is often within him. You see, Bathala has a lot of power. And that delighted him. He spent many, many ages experimenting, trying out the extent to which his power could go. And he found it has almost no limits. Whatever he thought, he could make happen. Whatever he desired, he could give life.
"And yet, soon he would experience another emotion - loneliness. For as great as his power was, he was all alone in the universe."
"But isn’t Ulilang Kaluluwa and Galang Kaluluwa with him?"
Shaking her head, she would say, "He doesn’t know that. You see, while Bathala has a body, Ulilang Kaluluwa and Galang Kaluluwa are but spirits. They had no form in the beginning. He couldn’t see them, even though they could quite clearly see him. So when he began to feel desire, he started to want more than what he had. He wanted to create a companion, a creature not unlike himself.
"He took rocks and soil and other materials from different planets and molded them into his shape, cooked them under the fire of his breath, and gave them a piece of his soul. Each time, a different existence came to be - dwarves and elves and fairies and giants - and yet none could satisfy him. None came close to him.
"Soon the universe is filled with creatures, and they all worshipped him, and they all wanted to gain his favor. They fought amongst themselves, schemed and manipulated to see who among them is the strongest.
"Bathala grew weary of them, and he began to isolate himself in his home we call Kawalhatian. There, only he and his most trusted subordinates could enter, and he spent a long time thinking of other ways to make a creature like himself.
"He would think and think and think, and he would create more and more and more until the world is pupulated by even more creatures, but nothing came close to what he had in mind. And he realized his power had limits, because the one thing he truly desired seemed to be out of his grasp.
"Ulilang Kaluluwa was watching him this whole time, and by its own power forged a body for itself, and came out as a serpent with two legs and the body of a man, his scales dark and his horns long. He showed himself to Bathala wishing to become his companion, but Bathala disliked his form and his power, and thought he was a creature who evolved and sought to take his place.
"Bathala and Ulilang Kaluluwa fought, until the earth was splintered into many different sizes, and many creatures were lost. At last, Bathala struck a final blow, hitting Ulilang Kaluluwa’s heart. Still, what truly killed Ulilang Kaluluwa is his grief and sorrow at being misunderstood by Bathala. His body fell to a crack in the Earth, and his soul scattered into pieces, and that was the end of him."
"Bathala is so mean," he would complain. "Ulilang Kaluluwa did nothing to him."
"Yes, but Bathala is ignorant about the hearts of others, for he only ever knew himself. So, little one, you must always remember to look beyond your heart into the hearts of others so you won’t hurt the people around you."
Earnestly, he would nod. "I will, Lola. So, what happened next?"
"Galang Kaluluwa, feeling and hearing the explosion of their fight, journeyed to where Bathala had fallen alongside Ulilang Kaluluwa. See, while Bathala did win, he was also wounded, and none of his creation could heal him. Galang Kaluluwa felt pity for him, and he took Bathala to Kawalhatian and spent seven days and seven nights tending to his injuries. All the while, he would shed tears for the loss of Ulilang Kaluluwa, for while he neither knew nor encountered the other, he felt his death in his heart. After all, Ulilang Kaluluwa and Galang Kaluluwa were made of the same spirit.
"Bathala healed, and was astonished by Galang Kaluluwa’s form, which was of a brilliant angel with wings of gold and hair like silk. He expressed his gratitude to Galang Kaluluwa, and the pair of them struck a friendship. Together, they wandered the earth and met Bathala’s creation, and Bathala no longer felt loneliness. However, his happiness couldn’t last, for Galang Kaluluwa is suddenly struck by illness.
"And for all his power, Bathala was no healer. And so Galang Kaluluwa wasted away, and all she asked of Bathala was to bury her where Ulilang Kaluluwa fell, and when her spirit scattered, Bathala did as she wished, and only when the ground swallowed her winged body did Bathala shed tears.
"And he cried for so much and so long that his tears filled Earth’s cracks, and when he finally stopped crying, a certain tree had grown where he buried the two. It had a hard trunk not unlike Ulilang Kaluluwa’s scaly body, and leaves that reminded him of Galang Kaluluwa’s wings. Astounded, all Bathala could do was stand and look at this strange creation that did not grow from his power. And he could only watch as a naughty little bird pecked it’s body, from where someone who had legs like him and eyes like him and hands like him came out.
"And his last tear fell out when she looked up, and her face was exactly like Galang Kaluluwa.
"And that, my dear, is how humans were created."

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