Philippine mythical creatures
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Philippine folklore, unlike Greek or Roman mythologies, has not been organized into a formal pantheon, does not generally contain long epics, nor has it been relegated to history. To this day, Philippine myths still have an active role in the lives of rural Filipinos. The countless myths circulating throughout the Filipino countryside contain a large variety of mythical creatures. Although there is no scientific evidence for any of these creatures, there is also no shortage in the rural Philippines of people who believe firmly in their existence. This discrepancy is sometimes rationalized by the explanation that only pure and good mortals are able to see these creatures.
[edit] Purpose of Philippine mythological creatures
Traditionally, people create mythology to explain the world around them. Before science and empirical reasoning, myths and legends served mankind by invoking the supernatural to interpret natural events, to explain the nature of the universe, and shed light on the purpose of existence. Filipino mythology is no different. Filipino legends contain a broad spectrum of stories including legends recounting the birth of the Philippine islands, as well as accounts of supernatural creatures that are sometimes invoked to inspire fearful obedience in children or explain disease.
[edit] Philippine mythical creatures
[edit] Aswang
Aswang is a Filipino version of the vampire. They are human-like by day but transform into different monstrous forms to harass and eat awake humans at night, especially pregnant women who are about to give birth.[1] Aswangs can change from a human to an animal form, usually as a bat, a pig or a black dog. Some aswangs can change form at will, others through the use of foul oils concocted by evil magicians. Aswangs appear at night to prey upon unwary travellers or sleeping people. It is said that they have a peculiar liking for the taste of human liver. The myth of the Aswang is popular in the Visayas, especially in provinces such as Capiz, Antique, and Iloilo. Aswangs also have a peculiar liking for the fetus of pregnant women and are said to find their quarry by the scent of the mother, which to the aswang smells like ripe jackfruit. Upon finding the house of the pregnant mother, the aswang alights on the roof from where it stretches its tongue until it is as thin as a thread and uses it to enter the womb and feast on the fetus.
[edit] Bathala
Bathala, Diyos or Apo is the creation god in Filipino myths.[2][3][1]
[edit] Bernardo Carpio
Bernardo Carpio is a big, strong and brave man who got stuck within a cave in Montalban, Rizal.
[edit] Diwata
Diwata, engkantada (from Spanish: encantada, "enchantress, charmed") or engkanto (from Spanish: encanto, "spell, incantation, charm") are fairies, nymphs, goddesses or enchanted persons who are believed to guard natural creations such as forests, seas, mountains, land and air.[1] Diwatas are said to reside in large trees, such as acacia and balete. They are the guardian sprits of nature, bringing blessings or curses upon those who do good or harm to the forests and mountains. One famous diwata is Maria Makiling, guardian of Mount Makiling in Laguna province. Engkanto (sometimes spelled Encanto) is an umbrella term for most supernatural beings. The common connotation is that they are fairies who reside primarily in the forests and the sea. They can also be called encantado (male) or encantada (female).
[edit] Duwende
Duwende are goblins, hobgoblins, elves or dwarfs (Spanish: duende "golbin, elf, charm" < "duen de (casa)", owner of the house). They are little creatures who can provide good fortune or bad fate to humans.[1] In the Philippines, duwendes frequently live in houses, in trees, underground, termite like mound or hill, and in rural areas. They are known to be either good or mischievous, depending on how homeowners treat them. They usually come out at 12 noon for an hour and during the night. Filipinos always mutter words ("tabi-tabi po" or "bari-bari apo ma ka ilabas kami apo") asking them to excuse themselves for bothering the Duwendes. Filipinos usually leave food on the floor, so that the duwende residing (or guarding) the house would not be angry with them.
[edit] Ekek
Ekek are creatures who are bird-like humans. They are winged-humans who at night search for victims. They hunger for flesh and blood.
[edit] Juan Tamad
Juan Tamad is a lazy man who was buried under the soil by monkeys. The monkeys thought he was long dead because of his laziness. He is described as the laziest man on earth.
[edit] Kapre
Kapre is a filthy, dark giant[1] who likes to smoke huge rolls of cigars, and hide within and atop large trees, particularly the balete and old acacia or mango trees. . A Filipino bigfoot, it scares away little children who play at night.[4] If you're stuck in a place and you keep going around in circles, you're said to be played around by a Kapre. To escape its control, you must remove your t-shirt, and wear it inside-out.
[edit] Malakas and Maganda
Malakas and Maganda (literally, Strong One and Beautiful One) are Filipino version of Adam and Eve. They are said to have sprung from a large bamboo tree pecked by a Sarimanok known as Magaul.[5][2][6]
[edit] Mambabarang
Mambabarang (summoner) is a witch who uses insects and spirits to enter the body of any person they hate.[citation needed] A Mambabarang is a kind of a mangkukulam.
[edit] Manananggal
Manananggal is an aswang that can fly after separating itself from the lower half of its body. It eats babies and fetuses from a mothers womb. It eats babies by means of passing their long tongue through a small hole from the roof of a house. The sharp end of the tongue touches the mother's navel to suck the blood of the fetus or unborn child.[7] This creature's name was derived from the Filipino word, tanggal, which means "to separate" because of the manananggal's ability to separate itself from its lower body.[1]
A manananggal can also be a sorceress that visits villages and barrios. To feed, the self-segmenter chooses an isolated place where she will leave her lower torso while she hunts at night. When she separates from her lower torso, she then gains her ability to fly. She then goes off in search of houses where pregnant women reside. Upon choosing a suitable victim, the Manananggal alights on the house and inserts her tongue through the roof. The tongue is long, hollow and extremely flexible. She uses it to puncture the womb of the sleeping woman and to suck out the fetus. At other times, she seduces men with her beauty and lures them to a private place before eating them alive. She usually eats the insides, like the heart, stomach or the liver. Sunlight is deadly to the Manananggal when she is in her monstrous form. Should her two halves still be separate with the coming of dawn, she will be destroyed. According to legend, to destroy the Manananggal, one should search for the lower torso that she leaves behind during her nightly hunts. Salt, ash, and/or garlic should then be placed on the exposed flesh, preventing the monster from combining again and leaving it vulnerable to sunlight. Small containers of salt, ash and raw rice, and the smell of burning rubber are said to deter the Manananggal from approaching one's house.
[edit] Manaul
The manaul is a mythical king who became a bird. He was believed to have caused the seas and the skies to fight against each other. The clash between the seas and skies resulted to the formation of the Philippine islands.[citation needed]
[edit] Mangkukulam
Mangkukulam or bruha (from Spanish: bruja, "witch") are witches, wizards, bruho (Spanish:brujo, "wizard, male witch"), or sorcerers who cast evil spells to humans. This bewitcher is also called manggagaway.[1] The Mangkukulam uses dark magic.
The difference between a mambabarang and a mangkukulam is that the mambabarang uses magical insects to bring harm to his victims. These insects are released after incantations, when they will search for their supposed victim and burrow under the skin, impregnating her. After some time, matruculans return to the house to kill the pregnant mother, open her abdomen, and eat the growing fetus.
[edit] Mariang Makiling
Mariang Makiling is a fairy who dwells atop Laguna's Mount Makiling, an inactive volcano. Oral tradition described that Mount Makiling was once a castle and Mariang Makiling was a princess who fell in love with a mortal.
[edit] Multo
Multo, the Tagalog word for ghost, comes from the Spanish word muerto, which means "dead". Superstitious Filipinos believe that some kind of multo, often a spirit of their former kin, regularly visits them.
[edit] Nuno sa punso
Nuno sa punso (literally, goblin of the mound) are goblins or elves who live within mysterious lumps of soil (ant hills). They can provide a person who steps on their shelter with good luck or misfortune.[1] Superstitious Filipinos, when passing by a mound, will ask the resident nuno's permission to let them pass with the phrase, "Tabi-tabi po". Strange and sudden illnesses that befall a person are sometimes attributed to nunos.
[edit] Pasatsat
Pasatsat is word rooted on the Pangasinense word satsat, meaning "to stab". Pasatsats are ghosts of people who died or were killed in the Second World War. Coffins during the time were so expensive, so the families of the dead wrapped the corpses in reed mats or icamen. The dead were buried in places other than cemeteries because tomb robberies were rampant during that era of extreme poverty. These ghosts usually show up in solitary paths and block passersby. To get rid of such a ghost, one needs to stab (hence pasatsat) the reed mat and unravel it, but doing so will show no presence of a corpse, although the mat will emit a noxious odor, much like that of putrid flesh.
[edit] Santelmo
Santelmo, or Santo Elmo, is a fireball seen by dozens of Filipinos, especially those living in the Sierra Madre Mountains. It was scientifically explained as electric fields which have diverged from the lines. However, the sightings were reported since the Spanish era (1500s-1800s). (See also Shinen and Will-o-Wisps) There were also sightings in the Alps and Himalayas.
[edit] Sarimanok
A Sarimanok is a magical, mythical bird who brings good luck to anyone who are able to catch it. A Sarimanok known as Magaul is associated with the legend of Malakas and Maganda. Magaul was the Sarimanok bird that pecked the bamboo from where Malakas and Maganda were born from.[5][2][6]
[edit] Sirena
Sirena is a mermaid, a sea creature with a human upper body and a fish tail instead of lower extremeties. They attract fishermen and tourists.[1] Sirenas are reportedly often seen ashore by fishermen, especially in the towns bordering the Pacific Ocean.
[edit] Siyokoy
Siyokoy are mermen, sea creatures that have a human form and scaled bodies. The Siyokoy is the male counterpart of the Sirena. The lower extremeties of a Philippine merman can either be a fishtail or scaled legs and webbed feet. They could also have long, green tentacles. They drown mortals for food.[citation needed] Siyokoys have gill slits, are colored brown or green, and have scaly skin, comparable to that of a fish.
[edit] Tikbalang
Tikbalang or tigbalang (demon horse) is a half-man and half-horse creature. It has a horse's head, the body of a human but with the feet of the horse. It travels at night to rape female mortals. The raped women will then give birth to more tikbalang. They are also believed to cause travelers to lose their way particularly in mountainous or forest areas.[1] Tikbalangs are very playful with people, and they usually make a person imagine things that aren't real. Sometimes a Tikbalang will drive a person crazy. Legends say that when rain falls while the sun is shining, a pair of Tikbalangs are being wed. Since horses only arrived in the Philippine archipelago during the Spanish invasion (thus, the borrowed term 'kabayo'), there is a theory that the image of a half-horse, half-man creature was propagated by the conquistadors to keep the natives afraid of the night. There are stories claiming that the Tikbalang are actually half-bird, half-man creatures, much like the Japanese tengu.
[edit] Tiyanak
Tiyanak or impakto are babies who died before receiving baptism rites. After death, they go to a place known as Limbo, a chamber of Hell where unbaptized dead people fall into, and transformed into evil spirits. These phantasms return into the mortal realm in the form of goblins to eat living victims. The tiyanak can also be the offspring between a demon and a human.[1] The tiyanak can also be the offspring of a woman and a demon. It can also be the aborted fetus, which comes to life to take revenge on its mother. Most Tiyanaks are said to live in forests. If they see a human, they transform into what looks like a normal baby. When the person notices the Tiyanak and comes near to take a look at it, that's when the Tiyanak changes back to its true form and eats its prey.
[edit] References
[edit] Specific
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k "Tagalog-English Dictionary by Leo James English, Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer, Manila, distributed by National Book Store, 1583 pages, ISBN 971910550X
- ^ a b c Malakas at Maganda Legend, Bambooman.com, 2006, retrieved on August 5, 2007
- ^ Giovanni, R.C. The Origins of Man, Ancient Mythology, Children of Pearl, Geocities.com (undated), retrieved on: August 5, 2007
- ^ The Kapre, Ancient Mythology, Children of the Pearl, Geocities.com (undated), retrieved on August 5, 2007
- ^ a b The Tale of Malakas and Maganda, Ancient Mythology, Children of the Pearl, Geocities.com (undated), retrieved on August 5, 2007
- ^ a b Story of Malakas and Maganda, Everything2.com, retrieved on: August 5, 2007
- ^ The Manananggal, Ancient Mythology, Children of the Pearl, Geocities.com (undated), retrieved on August 5, 2007
[edit] General
- Young, Johnny. Philippine Myths and Legends and Tanikalang Ginto, the Philippines' Web Directory, June 23, 2003, retrieved on July 29, 2007
- Cole, Mabel Cook. Philippine Folk Tales, Chicago, 1916 and APSIS Editor Johann Stockinger, November 1, 1997 retrieved on: July 29, 2007
- Magical Creatures and Non-human Beings of the Philippines, retrieved on: July 29, 2007
- Contemporary Illustrations of Tikbalang (demon horse), Mambabarang (summoner) and Diwata (goddess), retrieved on: July 30, 2007
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