Magwayen is the Bisayan deity of the sea and the Underworld.
This is not meant to be an "accurate" or "historical" depiction of her. I've been having dreams of a woman in black for years, and I've been dreaming of this specific "experience" for the past 3 weeks. I'm just going to assume that this is Magwayen once and for all. For my last offering of 2024, I decided to create a piece inspired by what I saw.
This "place" felt like it was happening during either sunset, or sunrise, but the whole time. It never got dark nor did it get too bright like a sunny day. It felt peaceful and quiet, but there was a heaviness in the air that I couldn't understand. It was beautiful but sad at the same time.
Magwayen was dressed in all black with pearls everywhere, and invited me to go on a boat ride with her. As she was rowing, lotus flowers started appearing out of nowhere, and it spread so far and wide into the distance. There were floating islands, but only one had a waterfall connected to the river (or sea?) she was rowing in. There was also one crocodile following us the whole time, but it seemed gentle.
All of a sudden, it started to rain. She told me that the rain came from tears shed from the people of Earth, and they come "here" to water the lotus flowers. For some reason, I understood that the lotuses represented all the people who have passed away, and that our tears watered them to keep them alive.
I noticed a star or a coment flew by.
I asked her why I wasn't allowed to see her eyes. Usually, I wake up at this point. But this time the dream continued, and she was quietly rowing the boat. I thought she couldn't hear me. But then she stopped rowing, and turned to me. She moved the veil from her face, and was about to lift her hat.
Soon after, I woke up. I woke up with tears in my eyes, and my heart felt so heavy. I felt the loss all over again from the people I've lost, but it also felt like I felt other people's grief because I started to think about all the people who have lost their loved ones this year. It was so painful, that I had to leave my room and cry everything out on my couch lol.
I'm still not sure what this dream truly means but In my head, maybe Magwayen was trying to tell me, that she doesn't like me to see her eyes because she constantly grieves for every soul that comes in her domain. I get it, because I personally hate when people see me cry lol. But yeah, she understands loss, and that she too understands that loss can cause anger and despair and sadness. But by showing me that she takes care of the flowers, it's almost like a reassurance that she takes care of the souls there. She is the Goddess of the Underworld after all. If that was the Underworld, it was very unexpected. But who knows, it could also be purgatory. Anyway, this was all a dream, and this art piece is my best attempt to draw what I saw.