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Overview
Gaygayoma, daughter of the great star Bagbagak and the moon Sinag, comes down with star companions to eat Aponitolau’s sugarcane. She removes her star-dress and he sits on it. She insists that he marry her, threatening that the accompanying stars will eat him if he refuses. A basket transports him to her sky home, despite his existing marriage to Aponibolinayen.
Their son Takyayen is born when Aponitolau pricks the space between Gaygayoma’s last two fingers, and grows quickly. Aponitolau is allowed visits to earth, but stars retrieve him when he exceeds the permitted time. The tale eventually allows him to divide his time between households.
Takyayen visits his paternal half-brother Kanag and later marries and lives on earth. Gaygayoma remains above. Her tears when her son departs are given as the reason rain sometimes falls while the sun shines. The star-dress and weather explanation are features of this collected account, not a claim that all Tinguian star traditions share one form.
Origins & earliest records
Tinguian storytelling, Philippines; particular collected witness
Records & interpretation
Complete relevant story, collection preface, regional introduction and attached notes directly read.
Selected bibliography
Documented works and useful reading. This is not a list of every appearance.
- 01
Philippine Folk Tales
Tinguian; Gaygayoma who Lives up Above, pp.37–43, notes42–46
Family, evolution & connections
Aponitolau’s sons by two mothers in Cole’s narratives
Gaygayoma pp. 37–43 and Dumalawi/Kanag pp. 44–55, with Cole’s preface alias note.
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Explicit parentage and half-brother statements in Cole’s English collection; editor’s alias identification retained. These are source-specific translated narratives, not one universal Philippine pantheon. Unnamed attendants are not relatives. Alias equivalence does not erase differences between episodes.
Gaygayoma’s named parents in Cole’s tale
Gaygayoma pp. 37–43; celestial descriptions are narrative identities.
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- Joint parents: Bagbagak (great star) and Sinag (moon)
Explicit parentage and half-brother statements in Cole’s English collection; editor’s alias identification retained. These are source-specific translated narratives, not one universal Philippine pantheon. Unnamed attendants are not relatives. Alias equivalence does not erase differences between episodes.
Sinag (moon, parent of Gaygayoma)
Gaygayoma names Bagbagak and Sinag as her parents. This relation belongs to Cole’s collected tale, not a universal genealogy of the moon.
Takyayen
The text repeatedly calls Takyayen Gaygayoma’s son. Her tears summon him back from visits to earth; the tale does not give the attendant stars the same parentage.
Primary records and illustrations
Mabel Cook Cole, Philippine Folk Tales (Chicago: A. C. McClurg, 1916)
Tinguian section. Gaygayoma who Lives up Above, pp.37–43, notes42–46
Full story, relevant regional introduction and preface read; attached notes checked. Collection mediates oral accounts and earlier print sources without a named individual narrator here. No scientific taxonomy inferred.
References
Sources supporting this profile. Linked pages have their own scope and editorial standards.
- Historical collected narrative and editorial notesCole, Philippine Folk Tales (1916), Gaygayoma who Lives up Above, pp.37–43, notes42–46Research access: 2026-10-05
Image credits
A sourced illustration has not yet been added. This gap is included in the coverage record.