Aswang

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Philippine mythology
Title Aswang
Description Philippine ghoul
Gender Male/female
Region Western Visayas
Equivalent Tik-tik, Wak-wak
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An Aswang (or Asuwang) is a ghoul in Filipino folklore. The aswangs are the most feared of supernatural creatures on the Philippines and are the subject of a wide variety of myths and stories, the details of which often vary greatly. The myth of the Aswang is popular in the Western Visayan regions such as Capiz, Iloilo and Antique. Other regional names for the aswang, especially in Capiz, are tik-tik and wak-wak.

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[edit] Definition

Aswang is occasionally used as a generic term applied to all types of witches, manananggals, shapeshifters, lycanthropes, and monsters. "Aswang" is often used interchangibly with "manananggal", but they are distinct creatures. There are no set characteristics or features for the Aswang as the stories and definitions vary greatly from region to region and person to person.

[edit] Superstitions

Before modern medicine and science, Aswangs served to explain miscarriages and other maladies. Today, aside from entertainment value, Filipino mothers often tell their children Aswang stories to keep them off the streets and keep them home at night. Like UFO stories, Aswang stories are one of the favorites of sensationalist tabloids, especially when there are grave robberies, child kidnappings, people with eccentric or peculiar habits, and other incidents that can somehow be attributed to them.

The myth of the Aswang is popular in the Visayan region of the Philippines, especially in the western provinces of Capiz (a province on Panay island), Iloilo, Antique. In tabloids, Capiz is often singled out as the home of many Aswang, and other types of mythological creatures such as goblins, ghouls, manananggal, and giant half-horse men (tikbalang).

Capiz in particular is home to many superstitious folk who believe in the existence of Aswangs. Those who believe in the existence of Aswang typically adorn windows and rooms with garlic bulbs, holy water, and other anti-Aswang paraphernalia in order to repel these creatures. Because of the many stories recounting the Aswang's fondness for eating unborn children, pregnancy is a time of great fear for superstitious Filipinos.

[edit] Appearance and activities

There are a wide variety of stories about the Aswang circulating between rural Filipinos, making it impossible to settle upon any fixed definition of their appearance or activities. However, one trademark or defining feature of Aswangs which distinguishes them from other Filipino mythological creatures is their propensity to replace live victims or stolen cadavers with a facsimile that it creates out of tree trunks and other plant materials. Aswangs are particularly feared for their fondness for eating unborn fetuses and small children. Their favorite body parts are the liver and heart.

By some accounts, Aswangs are said to be able to enter the body of a person and through this person they inflict harm on those the they dislike. Most commonly, they are female and appear as an ugly old woman with long, unkempt hair, blood-shot eyes, long nails, and a long, black tongue. She has holes in her armpits which contain oil. This gives her power of flight.

A being of enormous power, an Aswang can transform itself into any shape, even inanimate objects. It preys on children, pregnant women, and ill people. Once an aswang has overpowered a victim, it will take a bundle of sticks, talahib grass, and rice or banana stalks, and transform these into a replica of its victim. This replica is sent home while the Aswang takes the real person away to be killed and eaten. The replica person, upon reaching its home, will become sick and die.

In many stories, an Aswang lives as regular townsperson by day, and prefers an occupation related to meat, such as butchery or making sausages. By some accounts, Aswangs have an ageless appearance and a quiet, shy and elusive manner. They can be distinguished from humans by two signs. One is the bloodshot eyes from staying up all night looking for opportunities to sneak into houses where funeral wakes are being held, and stealing the dead bodies.

Among its many talents, the Aswang can transform itself from human to animal and animal to human. The Aswang can disguise him/herself as a pig, dog, snake, bat, or black bird. Supposedly if a person looks at them in the eyes, the reflection would appear inverted. During their nocturnal activities, they walk with their feet facing backwards and toenails reversed.

One type of Aswang is the kikik, which transforms into a huge bird/bat at night and prowls. The kikik looks for a sleeping pregnant woman. When it has found one, it extends a very long proboscis into the womb and kills the fetus by draining its blood. It is said that while this is taking place, a 'kik-kik-kik' sound is often heard.

In some stories, the kikik is an Aswang's familiar, said to confuse people by its 'kikik' sound. If the Aswang is near, the sound would be faint so that people hearing it would think that the Aswang is still far away.

The term wak-wak or wuk-wuk is frequently used for the same creature in the Cebu region. The legends of the wak-wak and kikik are much the same, but the wak-wak is specifically supposed to change into its birdlike form by leaving behind its lower body, much like the Manananggal, another Philippine vampire. The cry of a night bird which makes a "wuk-wuk-wuk" sound is believed to be the call of this monster and is feared by superstitious villagers. As with the call of the kikik, the wak-wak is believed able to make its cry sound distant when the creature is near.[citation needed]

In Panitan(Panit'an) Capiz, there is a myth of the Dangga or Agitot. This type of aswang is said to take the form of a handsome gay man that hunts women during the night and drinks blood like a vampire.

Another familiar is the sigbin or Zegben[citation needed]. Some say that this is another form that the Aswang transforms into and yet some say it is the companion of the kikik. Its appearance is said to be similar to the chupacabra and Tasmanian devil in appearance, although with spotty fur. It supposedly has a wide mouth with large fangs.

One of the most popular legends in the visayas region is the infamous Aswang Tiniente Gimo(lieutenant Gimo) of the town of Dueñas, Iloilo.

[edit] Dealing with Aswangs

Superstition says that an Aswang can be revealed by using a bottle of a special oil extracted from boiled and decanted coconut meat and mixed with certain plant stems upon which special prayers were said. When an Aswang comes near or walks outside the house at night, the oil is supposed to boil (or froth into bubbles) and continue boiling until the aswang leaves the area.

A Buntot Pagi, a stingray's tail, is also a very effective weapon against such beings, if one is brave enough to face the Aswang in combat, a shiny sword made of sterling silver or an image of an old crone (a grandmother's) would effectively dispel their presence according to local folklore. The myth of silver weapons dispelling evil creatures is probably taken from western mythology.

In the case of the Agitot type of Aswang, freshly drawn seminal fluids thrown or whisked at the creature is said to distract it from attacking as it will lap up the precious fluids before pursuing its intended victim.

Throwing salt at Aswangs is said to cause their skin to burn due. This belief may stem from the purifying powers attributed to salt crystals by various traditions of witchcraft.

[edit] Appearances in other media

The short-lived FOX science-fiction television program Freaky Links featured an episode in which the protagonists had to deal with an Aswang. Unwittingly released from a mystical box, this incarnation was a creature that lacked any shape and chose to remain in the shadows. Instead of stealing dead bodies, the creature instead chose to steal a person's shadow and eventually, their life essence.

Lynda Barry's book One! Hundred! Demons! features a chapter on the Aswang. In her version, the Aswang is a dog during the day whose hind legs are longer than the front. During the night, she becomes a woman, sheds her legs and flies around looking for prey.

[edit] Other Filipino mythological creatures

[edit] See also