Serpent Archetype in Philippine and Thai Mythology: Cross-Cultural Themes and Symbolism

This study explored the socio-semiotic dimensions of the Nāga and the Bakunawa, two significant serpent figures from Thailand and the Philippines, respectively, and investigated how these figures generate meaning and become woven into collective memory, identity, social values, and the relationships among humans, nature, and the sacred. Guided by Charles Sanders Peirce’s Semiotic Theory and Émile Durkheim’s Theory of Social Facts, the study employed a qualitative comparative case study design in Bangkok, Thailand, and Iloilo, Philippines. Data were triangulated from documentary analysis, examination of visual and ritual artifacts, and semi-structured interviews with six purposively selected key informants—three Thai and three Filipino cultural experts, educators, and tradition-bearers. The data were analyzed thematically, through denotative and connotative interpretation, Peirce’s triadic model of representamen, object, and interpretant, Durkheimian sociological interpretation, and cross-case comparison. Five themes emerged: the serpent as guardian and protector, as cosmic regulator, as symbol of cultural identity and collective memory, as mediator between the human and sacred worlds, and as living cultural heritage. The Nāga and the Bakunawa share symbolic ties to water, cosmic forces, cultural memory, and the human relationship with nature, yet their cultural roles diverge: the Nāga acts primarily as an institutionalized guardian of sacred space, moral order, prosperity, and spiritual protection within Thai Buddhist tradition, while the Bakunawa embodies cosmic disruption in Visayan mythology and is being reinterpreted as a symbol of collective action, resilience, ancestral memory, and cultural recovery. The study concludes that both figures operate as living socio-semiotic institutions whose meanings are continually produced, reinforced, and reshaped through rituals, institutions, education, art, and communal practices, with implications for comparative mythology, Southeast Asian studies, and heritage preservation.