Project
In
English II
(Aswang, Tikbalang, Kapre, White Lady, and
Manananggal)
Submitted by:
Arianne May Amosin
Submitted to:
Mr. Normandy Balasa
An Aswang (also known as Asuwang) is a ghoul
in Philippine Mythology which appears to be an
ordinary human by day, and turns into a blood-
sucking monster as darkness falls. Aswang are
known as shape-shifters that transform into
animals. They prey on weaker victims like children
and old people, but will also attack any single
unguarded individual. They feast on the guts or
inner organs (heart and liver) of their victims. An
aswang can look like ordinary human being, often
appearing as a beautiful woman or an old man. It
may also transform into an ugly beast, usually taking the form of animals like pigs,
dogs, or other monsters like the sigbin, balbal, wak-wak, etc. Hunting its prey, it
will disguise itself as an animal until it finds an opportunity to attack and kill its
victim.
An aswang lives as an ordinary person by day and prefers to take occupations
related to meat, such as butchery. They live in secluded areas of barrios far from
the townsfolk, usually isolating themselves from the public, appearing to be quiet
and shy.
An aswang can be distinguished from a human by its bloodshot eyes. Elderly rural
folks say that in order to detect an aswang one must look at it from an inverted
position.
Fear of the aswang leads many to seek means of warding them off. Rural folk
believe that they can be driven away with burnt animal horns or sharpened bamboo
called bagacay. Aswang are also afraid of bullets, bolos, feathers and canes, and
ever-trusted garlic hung on doors and windows or hung as necklaces. A crucifix
will kill the aswang.
They are the most feared of supernatural creatures on the Philippines. They can
enter the body of a person and through this person they inflict harm on those then
they dislike. Most common are the female variety who 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.
The Tikbalang is a monster in Philippine
Mythology commonly described as a tall, bony,
humanoid creature with disproportionately long
limbs, such that its knees tower over its head when it
squats down. It has the head and sometimes the feet
of an animal, most commonly a horse. It has been
compared to the half-man, half-horse centaur from
Greek mythology.
Like the kapre, the tikbalang is said to reside in big
trees like the balete, and can be seen
smoking tobacco near or on top of the tree. Tikbalang also dwell in swamps or in
the deep woods.
Tikbalangs are said to scare travelers and lead them astray. Tikbalangs play tricks
on travelers such that they keep on returning to an arbitrary path no matter how
far he goes or where he turns. Supposedly this is counteracted by wearing one's
shirt inside out.[3] Another countermeasure is to ask permission out loud to pass by
or, not to produce too much noise while in the woods in order not to offend or
disturb the tikbalang.
A superstition popular with the Tagalog of Rizal Province is that Tikbalangs are
benevolent guardians of elemental kingdoms. They are usually found standing at
the foot of large trees looking around for anyone who dare to bestow malignancy
on their kingdom's territory.
A common saying has it that rain from a clear sky means may kinakasal na
tikbalang.(Filipino, "a tikbalang is getting married".)This was most likely derived
from a similar Spanish proverb that claimed a witch was getting married when
there was rain on a sunny day.
According to traditional folklore, the tikbalang can also transform itself into human
form or turn invisible to humans. They like to lead travelers astray.
Tikbalang are generally associated with dark, sparsely populated, foliage-
overgrown areas, with legends variously identifying their abode as being beneath
bridges, in Bamboo or Banana groves, and atop Kalumpang or Balete trees.
The Kapre (also known as Agta in
the Visayan dialect) is a Philippine mythical
creature with the appearance of an unnaturally
tall, long-legged, black hairy man, that sits in big
trees and smokes. It is often seen waiting for
people as they walk through a path, to scare and
cast spells on them. Kapres enjoy drinking,
smoking, and gambling. It has also been
described as similar to the North American
"bigfoot", but with more human characteristics.
Kapres are said to live in large trees (such as balete, acacia, or mango), or in
abandoned houses or ruins. It is believed that they appear only at night. They are
commonly seen sitting atop a tree, usually an acacia, bamboo, narra, banyan
(known locally as balete) and mango trees while smoking a trunk-sized cigar that
never burns out. Sometimes they can be seen sitting unmindfully under those trees
as well.
Kapres are not necessarily considered to be evil, unlike the manananggal. Kapres
may make contact with people to offer friendship, or if it is attracted to a woman. If
a Kapre befriends any human, especially because of love, the Kapre will
consistently follow its "love interest" throughout life. Also, if one is a friend of the
Kapre then that person has the ability to see it and if they were to sit on it then any
other person could see it.
Kapres are also said to play pranks on people, frequently making travelers become
disoriented and lose their way in the mountains or in thewoods. They are also
believe to have the ability to confuse people even in their own familiar
surroundings; for instance, someone who forgets that they are in their own garden
or home is said to have been tricked by a Kapre. Reports of experiencing Kapre
enchantment include that of witnessing rustling tree branches, even if the wind is
not strong. Some more examples would be hearing loud laughter coming from an
unseen being, witnessing lots of smoke from the top of a tree, seeing big fiery eyes
during night time from a tree, as well as actually seeing a Kapre walking in forested
areas. It is also believed that abundant fireflies in woody areas are the embers from
the Kapre's lit tobacco pipe.
A White Lady is a type of female ghost reportedly
seen in rural areas and associated with some local
legend of tragedy. White Lady legends are found
around the world. Common to many of them is the
theme of losing or being betrayed by a husband or
fiancé. They are often associated with an individual
family line or said to be a harbinger of death similar
to a banshee. White Ladies are popular ghost story
topics in the Philippines. Along with other
Philippine mythological creatures and ghostly
beings like
theManananggal, Tiyanak, Kapre and Wak-Wak, White Ladies are often used as
subjects that tend to convey horror and mystery usually aimed at young children
for storytelling purposes. Sightings of white ladies are common among folk from
around the country, and usually every townand barrio has its own "White Lady"
story to tell.
The most prominent one is the White Lady of Balete Drive, in Quezon City. It is said
that it is a ghost who appears as a long-haired woman in a white dress. According
to legend, she was driving in Balete Drive when she crashed her car resulting to her
death. Most of the stories that have come out about her were told by taxi drivers
doing the graveyard shift. In other instances it is said that when solitary people
drive by Balete Drive in the wee hours of the morning, they tend to see the face of
a woman in white in the rear view mirror for a split second before the apparition
disappears. Some accidents on this road are blamed on the White Lady.
Another story tells about a taxi crossing the dreaded Balete Drive and a very
beautiful woman was asking for a ride. The taxi driver looks behind and the woman
looks like her face was full of blood and bruises. The taxi driver escaped from the
taxi from fear.
Many sources have declared this legend was actually manufactured by a reporter in
the 1950s, and also possibly a combination of multiple stories from the area.
A Manananggal is a ghoul in Philippine
Mythology that resembles a woman with the ability to
detach the two halves of its body at the waist, with the
upper half then sprouting bat-like wings enabling it to
fly in search of prey. It feeds on human blood and
viscera, which leads to it being compared to the
Western vampire.
There are also similar stories about these creatures in
the neighboring countries of Indonesia and Malaysia.
Like the aswang, the manananggal isolates itself from
the townsfolk, residing on mountainsides or in deep
woods. During the day, it lives among people, searching out prospective prey. Its
usual targets are pregnant women and children. At night, it flies to the roof of its
victim's house and looks for holes where it can insert its long, thin, proboscis-like
tongue. With this tongue, it is able to suck the blood of sleeping people, and even
pierce a pregnant woman's belly to feed on the fetus inside. The victim usually dies
as a result. In some stories, a manananggal trails and kills its victim, devouring the
heart and inner organs.
A manananggal is described as being a hideous, scary vampire-like creature (as
opposed to anaswang), capable of severing its upper torso in order to fly into the
night with huge bat-like wings to prey on unsuspecting, pregnant women in their
homes; using an elongated proboscis-like tongue, it sucks the hearts of fetuses or
the blood of an unsuspecting, sleeping victim. It is known to whip its hair in urban
forests, causing hurricanes all over the globe.
The severed lower torso is left standing, and it is said to be the more vulnerable of
the two halves. Sprinkling salt or smearing crushed garlic or ash on top of the
standing torso is fatal to the creature. The upper torso then would not be able to
rejoin and will die at daybreak.
The name of the creature originates from sinalalala used for a severed
torso: manananggal comes from the Tagalog tanggal (cognate of Malay tanggal),
which means "to remove" or "to separate". Manananggalthen means "the one who
separates itself" (in this case, separates itself from its lower body). It is a saying
that a manananggal's attack can be avoided by death.
