In the heart of Negros Island rises Mount Kanlaon, the highest peak in the Visayas and one of the Philippines’ most powerful volcanoes. To scientists, it is a restless natural wonder. To the early Visayans, it was far more: the dwelling of a god, and perhaps the god itself. The ancient deity Kan-Laon — whose name means “One Who Is the Ruler of Time” — embodies creation, destruction, and the eternal rhythm of life governed by nature’s pulse.
The Volcano as a Living God
Long before the Spanish arrived, the people of Negros and nearby islands worshiped Kan-Laon not as a distant being but as a living presence within the mountain. They saw the volcano’s rumblings, smoke, and lava as signs of divine will. Offerings of fruits, animals, and even gold were left at sacred springs and caves around the volcano’s base to appease the spirit dwelling within.
Mount Kanlaon was believed to be the seat of cosmic balance — the center of energy that sustained both the land’s fertility and its destructive storms. For the ancient Visayans, nature and divinity were inseparable. To anger the mountain was to bring calamity; to honor it was to ensure harvest and harmony.
The Legend of Laon and the Dragon
Among the most enduring myths surrounding the deity is the tale of Laon and the dragon. In one version, a monstrous serpent terrorized the island, devouring crops and animals. When the people prayed to Laon for deliverance, the god descended from the mountain and sent a young hero named Kan to slay the beast. After the dragon’s death, Kan was rewarded with the power of Laon, and together their names merged into one: Kan-Laon.
This legend captures a profound truth — that the god’s name carries both the might of nature and the courage of humankind. The union of Kan and Laon symbolizes the interdependence of mortal and divine, man and earth, action and renewal.
The Divine Feminine Aspect
In some oral traditions, Kan-Laon is not a male deity but a goddess — the mother of all life and the guardian of time. This feminine portrayal aligns with precolonial Philippine cosmology, which often revered female deities as creators and keepers of balance. As a goddess, Kan-Laon governed cycles: the turning of seasons, the birth of new lands, and the renewal that follows destruction.
In this aspect, Mount Kanlaon becomes a womb of creation. Its eruptions are both terrifying and generative — fire that destroys, yet also enriches the soil and gives rise to new life. The volcano thus stands as a metaphor for the eternal cycle of death and rebirth in nature.
Kan-Laon in Visayan Cosmology
Kan-Laon was not worshiped in isolation. She formed part of a pantheon of nature spirits that governed the seas, forests, and skies. In ancient belief, the world was alive with diwata — divine forces inhabiting every rock, tree, and river. Among these, Kan-Laon reigned supreme over time and transformation.
Some Visayan shamans, or babaylan, were said to climb the slopes of Kanlaon to receive visions or divine messages. These rituals, blending trance and prayer, sought harmony with the natural order. Even today, many locals treat the mountain with deep reverence, believing it to be a sacred being that must never be disrespected.
Colonial Encounters and Transformation
When the Spanish colonizers arrived, they renamed the volcano Canlaon, framing it as a mere geographic landmark rather than a deity. Yet the old reverence persisted in folk memory. Even under Christianity, many people continued to refer to the mountain as “banal na bundok” — the holy mountain.
Over time, Kan-Laon’s identity blurred between god, mountain, and legend. But her essence endured: a spirit of creation and renewal hidden in the earth’s molten core.
The Sacred Fire That Endures
Today, Mount Kanlaon is a national park, its forests home to rare species and ancient springs. Yet beyond its natural beauty, the mountain retains a quiet, sacred energy. Pilgrims still climb its trails with prayers, sometimes whispering the old name under their breath.
Kan-Laon’s myth continues to remind Filipinos that nature is not separate from the divine — it is the divine. The mountain’s fire is both warning and blessing: a reminder that life, like lava, must flow, change, and begin anew.