Yay Favourite Character! So, Who's Your Favourite Greek Mythology Character (or Any Mythology, Really)?

But what if we combine Mermay and Maynananggal?

Behold, a stingray mermaynananggal 🧜‍♀️🦇

I’ve been itching to share this for a while now. My last project was Cinderella, and since there’s already one version of Cinderella for Far Faria, I decided to do a Filipino version version just to mix it up. 

You can download the app to read it here! 

PHILIPPINE MYTHOLOGY MEME | [1/4 LEGENDS + 1/3 LOCATION] THE LEGEND OF MARIA MAKILING + HER MOUNTAIN DOMAIN

Maria Makiling, sometimes spelled Mariang Makiling, in Philippine Mythology, is a diwata or lambana (fairy or forest nymph) associated with Mount Makiling in Laguna, Philippines. She is the most widely known diwata in Philippine Mythology. Maria Makiling is the guardian spirit of the mountain, responsible for protecting its bounty and thus, is also a benefactor for the townspeople who depend on the mountain’s resources. In addition to being a guardian of the mountain, some legends also identify Laguna de Bay - and the fish caught from it - as part of her domain.

It is often said that Mount Makiling resembles the profile of a woman, said to be Maria herself. This phenomenon is described as true from several different perspectives, so there is no single location associated with this claim. The mountain’s various peaks are said to be Maria’s face and two breasts, respectively, and her hair cascades downwards a gentle slope away from her body.

The most common story is that of Maria turning ginger into gold to help one villager or the other. In these stories, Maria is said to live in a place known to the villagers, and interacts with them regularly. The villager in question is often either a mother seeking a cure for her ill child, or a husband seeking a cure for his wife. The wise Maria recognizes the symptoms as signs not of disease, but of hunger brought about by extreme poverty. She gives the villager some ginger, which, by the time the villager gets home, has magically turned to gold In versions where the villager is going home to his wife, he unwisely throws some of the ginger away because it had become too heavy to carry. In some versions, the villagers love her all the more for her act of kindness. In most, however, greedy villagers break into Maria’s garden to see if her other plants were really gold. Distressed by the villager’s greed, Maria runs away up the mountain, her pristine white clothing soon becoming indistinguishable from the white clouds that play amongst the trees on the upper parts of the mountains.

A speedy doodle.

I’m quite rusty.

College kids young and in love

I fixed it.

✨️📸🇵🇭 Celebrating and honoring our culture and the ancestors through cultural heritage photoshoots.

Here are some photos from a photoshoot I did in the San Francisco Botanical Gardens with a client of mine, Jacqueline, back in November. Together, we honored her Tagalog ancestors by doing a pre-colonial look.

I chose to use this location, as there are several balete trees in the gardens. The balete tree is steeped in Filipino folklore and beliefs, across the islands and different ethnic groups.

During my photoshoots, I tell my clients to bring an atang, a food offering, for their ancestors. For Jacqueline, she gave the offering underneath the balete tree, a perfect place to give them, as the balete tree is believed to be the home of the spirits, and was the place where the katalonan (the term for the Tagalog priestess) would go to do their maganito, (rituals).

For one of the photos, we decided to try and recreate one of the poses of an illustration of a Tagalog woman in the Boxer Codex manuscript.

➡️ Interested in following my work? Follow me on Facebook and on Instagram (@ thepinayphotographer)

✨️Interested in booking a session? Visit my website and fill out my form. Check below for my booking dates.

https://thepinayphotographer.mypixieset.com/contact/

✨️BOOKING DATES!✨️

Jan 10-February 13: NYC

February 24-26: Las Vegas

March 14-16: San Francisco/Daly City/Bay Area

March 19-21: Los Angeles

April 4-6: Chicago

April 11-19: NYC

April 27-28: Boston

May 1-19: NYC

May 23-25: Washington D.C.

Miss International Philippines 2022 National Costume

PAMANA (Heritage) This national costume was Inspired by Hannah’s favourite toy (gifted by her mother) as a child: a Barbie wearing a Maria Clara Filipiniana, which Manny Halasan took inspiration from and mixed it with his own fond childhood memories of his grandfather’s antique tambourine. Manny Halasan wants us to remember our childhood experiences and look back on our past through this classic traditional Filipiniana.

So judging from the amount of surprised messages I got about it, I’m guessing a lot of you didn’t know that I’m Filipina, haha. Shout out to you guys! Here’s Mariang Sinukuan, one of my favorite Filipino folk tale characters. One of my dream projects is to do a comic about her…

A watercolor doodle of Mariang Sinukuan. She ended up not being the subject of my thesis but I’m definitely gonna continue working with her as a side project. As for my actual thesis theme, I am really excited to really delve into it. Can’t wait to show you guys what I’m working on!