In the beginning, only the gods existed in the black void that was the universe. The gods were ruled by Bathala, the king of creation—the first god to spawn in the black nothingness of the void. Others joined in time—there was Ilaw, the goddess of light, whose aura illuminated the dark cosmos. Then came Tahanan—the god of shelter, who helped make homes for his fellow deities. These homes were the first planets.
These planets needed to be governed. And so came Katotohanan, the god of truth, who kept all the other gods in check, ensuring that none would be deceitful in their dealings with their fellow deities. Enforcing his will was Katapangan, the goddess of courage and war.
The cosmos was peaceful, but it was quiet. It needed life. It needed joy. And so came Musika, the god of music and the arts. His talents brightened the infinitude where the gods resided—black holes themselves would stop and listen to Musika sing
The first two gods, Bathala and Ilaw, looked upon the blossoming universe and saw that it was beautiful. And from their union came their daughter, Ganda, who was the manifestation of everything in creation.
Where there is beauty, there is harmony. Where there is harmony, there is prosperity. Where there is prosperity, there is envy. And where there is envy. . .there is greed.
This greed grew and grew until it was powerful enough to take physical form. And with that, Sakim was born—the last and most selfish of all the gods.
The peaceful coexistence of the gods would have endured until the end of forever—but Sakim’s greed was too powerful. He saw how Bathala was adored and praised—how the gods would present him with gifts and sacrifices. He saw how Bathala could juggle planets and bend and stretch galaxies according to his will. He yearned for that power, and he knew exactly how to get it.
By killing Bathala and swallowing his soul.
However, Sakim was no fool. Challenging Bathala to a fair duel would result in humiliation and defeat. No, Sakim had to be cunning. He had to be shrewd.
So one lonely morning-eve, as Ganda lay down on the stars and watched black holes wrestle in the void of the universe, Sakim burst forth from the depths of the nothingness. He abducted her and brought her to the unexplored inferno beneath the floating sea—an inferno made out of flames that had been burning ever since the cosmos was spawned.
The fire licked at her delicate flesh, and she screamed in pain. Sakim ripped out one of her eyes and threw it to the heavens—her eye became the moon. Bathala heard her cries and rushed down to the unexplored inferno, even though he knew he would be weakened there. He freed Ganda from her prison. Despite the daughter’s wish to battle Sakim by her father’s side, Bathala used his power to teleport her back to the Sphere, which was the home of the gods.
And so began a fierce combat between Bathala, the king of creation, and Sakim, the god of greed.
Both swore never to leave the unexplored inferno until one was dead.
Days became weeks. Weeks became years. Years became centuries. . .and centuries became eons. The universe above them prospered and multiplied and divided, but the unexplored inferno remained stagnant as the two deities waged their endless war.
Growing tired of the endless fighting, Sakim used his powers to create foot soldiers filled with hate, rage, lust, envy, and greed. He blessed these four-limbed, fleshy creatures with the ability to kill Bathala.
Eventually, Bathala and Sakim engaged in what would be their final skirmish. Bathala channeled all his power into killing Sakim, yet the act left him open to attacks from Sakim’s creatures.
As he lay dying, Bathala took pity on the creatures and blessed them with the capability to be good. Once Bathala died, his soul purified the inferno, and took its place as the sun.
Meanwhile, his daughter Ganda had grown worried. She journeyed back down to where she last saw her father, and realized that he was no more. Ganda fell to her knees and wept profusely. Wept for her father, wept for the masterless creatures who now aimlessly wandered the unexplained inferno, searching for a purpose.
Her divine tears flowed throughout the inferno, extinguishing the flames. Grass, trees, and other animals sprung from her mouth as she wailed, creating an environment as beautiful as her. Her hair elongated and elongated until they became strands of time and space. She died of despair, her very being dissipating into countless worlds, linked together by the strands that were once her hair.
Beneath the stars and black holes, beneath the galaxies and multiverses now rests a cosmos unlike any other. Born from a god’s greed, a father’s fury, and a daughter’s despair.
Whenever one feels a tantalizing yearning for that which he cannot have or a toxic longing for what is within sight but out of reach; whenever one takes up a sword to kill a gnat or a bow and arrow to shoot a fly, and whenever one feels an all-consuming emptiness that utterly and unequivocally kills what was, they feel the remnants of the universe beneath universes. From this cosmos emanated greed, fury, and despair—it gnaws at the soul until it explodes in a fusion of emotion.
Where there was once an inferno was now The Unconscious.
Nathan B. Gumba is a 19 year old who studies in De La Salle University (Manila, Philippines). Since 2016, he has been featured in the anthologies of a young writers’ organization called Write Things. In 2023, he released his first book entitled Art and Heart: A Collection of Poems—it’s currently available on online platforms Shopee and Lazada, as well as the Fully Booked branch in Bonifacio Global City. "The Creation Truth" is a mythological interpretation of how emotions as we know them came to
be—it is a fantastical tale inspired by the theory of a "collective unconscious.’" Through deities named using words from the Filipino language, (ex: Bathala = God, Ganda = beauty), Nathan aims to add a unique Filipino twist to fantasy storytelling. All the wonders of the cosmos and all the mysteries of gods can be traced back to something that can only be described as human.
"Observable universe logarithmic illustration" by Unmismoobjetivo is licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.
