Maria Makiling – Guardian of the Forest

About the legend

Being

Diwata (Forest Spirit / Nature Goddess)

Cultural meaning

In Philippine folklore, a diwata is a spirit of nature. Maria Makiling is the diwata of Mount Makiling: in the stories told around the mountain, she guards its forest and animals and helps the villagers who depend on it. In José Rizal's retelling she is kind to the poor, such as the old women who gather wood and wild fruit on her slopes, and she is seldom seen: she appears and vanishes among the trees.

Fun fact

In José Rizal's retelling, Maria gives a hunter a few pieces of ginger. Halfway home they feel heavy, so he throws many away, and the next day his wife finds that the rest have turned to solid gold.

Cultural notes

José Rizal published his retelling, "Mariang Makiling", in La Solidaridad on 31 December 1890. The name means "Maria of Makiling"; in Rizal, no one knew her real name, so people called her Maria. Rizal tells how she lent clothes and jewels to poor villagers for their great occasions, asking only that they bring them back with a white hen that had never laid an egg. When she was no longer seen, some blamed villagers who kept what they borrowed and gave no hen; others said she was offended because friars wanted half her mountain; and an old woodcutter told of a young farmer she had protected, who married another woman. Saying "tabi-tabi po" ("excuse me, may I pass?") is an everyday Filipino way of asking permission before passing places where unseen spirits are believed to live. Salabat, a warm ginger tea, is drunk for coughs and colds, and guava leaves are an old home remedy in the Philippines.

About this retelling

Original story inspired by folklore An original child adventure inspired by traditions about Mariang Makiling, guardian of Mount Makiling.

Maria Makiling and her ginger that turns to gold are traditional, known from José Rizal's retelling and from oral tradition. Grandma's version of the ginger story is adapted for this book, and Maria's words about people who stopped giving thanks soften Rizal's account. Lina, her family, the fire, the axes, the seeds and the planting day are new. Her brother gets well through Maria's gift, his mother's care and rest; the story gives no recipe for the leaves.

Sources

• Jose Rizal, "Mariang Makiling", La Solidaridad, 1890 (Wikisource, Open Library)
• Philippine oral tradition around Mount Makiling, Laguna

Themes

• Gratitude
• Restraint
• Stewardship

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