Philippine Mythical Creatures: The Context of Aswang in Filipino Culture
Hello Goodmorning! My article will dig deep and evaluate a very interesting topic that is merely part of the culture and tradition in the norms of every Filipinos. This is about our strong interest and believe in"Aswang". This Filipino Myth is so old thus remains to be one of the most talk about myth in our culture.
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Part of the Filipino culture is our superstitious beliefs. We have a lot of superstitions in the Philippines and they include the belief in creatures we call “Aswang”. The world has stories about mermaids, vampires, werewolves, white ladies, zombies, while the Philippines keep the superstitious culture by telling stories about aswang.
What is Aswang ?
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According to Mythogy.net, the Aswang (æ·swang) is a flesh-eating, shapeshifting monster. During the day, Aswangs appear as regular townspeople, though they may be observed by others to have reclusive habits or magical abilities. At night, Aswangs shift into eerie predatory forms and go hunting for human prey, preferring to feast on children and pregnant women above all else. It is also based on the Sanskrit language Hindu concept of Asura, is a shapeshifting monster in Filipino folklore usually possessing a combination of the traits of either a vampire, a ghoul, a warlock/witch, or different species of werebeast, or even all of them together.
My Grandmother story from Capiz
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At a young age, i already heard stories from my grandmother about this scary creatures. I was very interested back then. When i was just about 7-8 years old my grandmother or lola used to tell us this stories so that we will sleep early. My grandmother came from Capiz, Visayas by the way, whom we knew a very popular place for these myth. She told us that one night their neighbor who was pregnant by that time was attack by a certain creature.
She was just 12 at that time when that scary event happened back then in 1950's. There house were in the middle of a sugarcane plantation and neighbors were afar from each other. It was just brutal event that happened to the pregnant neighbors of her. The husband was out of the town at that time to buy something.
According to my lola, it was about 11pm when the husband run the the neighborhood and shouted" tabang, bulig!" Everyone was in shocked why the husband had a bloodstains all over his shirt. He explained that his wife was attacked by an aswang! The baby was eaten and the wife was dead. That was something my grandmother told us that always comes up to my mind. She also told us many stories of aswang as well.
because of my curiosity i searched about several stories of aswang and why capiz is very known for it. I accidentally found this video.
History of Aswang in Philippine Context
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According to Professor Anthony Lim, a historian, the various definitions of aswang have been around for hundreds of years. “Dinala ng mga sinaunang Malay noong 1200 ang paniniwala natin sa mga aswang,” he says. “Ang term na aswang ay mula sa aso-wang, dahil ang kadalasang anyo nito ay aso.”
Stories about aswang began during the Spanish period, and they are known to be the most fearsome creature in all of Philippine folklore. There are many types of aswang. The aswang is regional. Each region in the Philippines has something they qualify as such. It can apply to witches, shapeshifters, and bloodsuckers.
Popular Aswang Mythical creatures
*Manananggal
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- Why they are called manananggal?
From the tagalog word of ‘’ tanggal’’ or to split. It is believed that they split or separate half of their body, to hunt for food.
Since they are a kind of aswang, they hunt for same food, fresh blood, fetus, human organs especially heart and liver. Usually they attacked on a full moon.
*Tik-tik
The tiktik aswang is an aswang which has long tongue as their instrument to get fetus as their food from pregnant woman. The tiktik aswang is same to the other types of aswang like manananggal which eating humans. This mythical creature is carnivorous due to their primary foods is humans and might animals as well.
*Kapre
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As Filipino it is hard to disregard the existence of the famously mythological creature called " kapre".It is characterized as a menacing creature that seeks refuge in big trees and displays human physical attributes but with taller height at about 7 to 10 feet and more hairy with thick beard, brown skin and deep eyes that makes them appear more menacing than ordinary human beings.
What makes them scary is that they were sitting on large tree smoking tobacco with their eyes staring at those who passed by. It is also said that the strong aroma attracted human that will be their victims, scary, isn't it?
* Sigbin
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My grandmother always had a story about this sigbin or zegben. She said that this creature is like a dog or some sort of animals with the physical appearance that is very hard to described.
Sigbin is a creature of Philippine mythology said to come out at night to suck the blood of victims from their shadows. The creature walks backward with its head lowered between its hind legs. It resembles a hornless goat, emits a very nauseating smell and possess a pair of very large ears which are capable of clapping like a pair of hands.
*Tiyanak
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This is popular in rural areas with most people have something to say about this mythical creature. This creature is baby evil in disguise.They are lost souls and wandering on earth. Known to be an unborn child or died before they are baptized.
Seeking revenge for what happen to them, they rise from their tombs and hunt.
Elders believe that the unborn children was taken by the devil and sent back to the land of mortals to sow terror especially to those who are responsible for their death.
Although there are still many mythical creatures that Filipino believes, those five above are the most talk-about as part of our culture.
Appeal of authority
Filipinos' strong oral tradition and respect for elders' authority are two more reasons for their persistent belief in aswang. It's not unusual for Filipino parents and grandparents to use stories about aswang to keep children from wandering off at night.
Aswang is a strong Part of Filipino Culture
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Either we believed it or not as fantastic as stories of the Aswang might seem, they may actually have been inspired by real life events.
The Aswang legend may be used to explain away horrendous, unsolved crimes in the Philippines. When a person disappears or is brutally murdered, it may be easier for local people to attribute the crime to a demon rather than to one of their fellow humans. Tabloids often attribute crimes to the Aswang, which adds fuel to the mythology.
As Filipino, I can say that our culture and tradition is very rich and diverse. This long history of these Philippine mythological creatures is just one of the living proof of the intensity it brought to our society.
What are your thoughts? do you have something to share about this creatures? Any experiences? stories?
Thank you for reading!
Bibligraphy
- Prof. Geller(2015)Aswang. Retrieved from https://mythology.net/monsters/aswang/
- Kevin(2018)Filipino Culture: Aswang: The Filipino Version of Monsters. Retrieved on https://everything-filipino.com/filipino-culture-aswang-the-filipino-version-of-monsters/
- De Leon, J.(2012)IJuander: Why do Filipinos still believe in aswang?. Retrieved onhttp://www.gmanetwork.com/news/lifestyle/artandculture/267856/ijuander-why-do-filipinos-still-believe-in-aswang/story/
- Philippine Folklore(2010)Manananggal. Retrieved on http://www.mangkukulam.com/folklore/349/Mananggal
- Philippine Folklore(2008)Tiyanak.Retrieved on http://www.mangkukulam.com/folklore/355/tiyanak
- Philippine Folklore(2012)Sigbin. Retrieved on http://www.mythicalcreaturesguide.com/page/Sigbin
- Philippine Folklore(2010)Kapre. Retrieved on http://www.wowparadisephilippines.com/legend-kapre.html
Video
- The Aswang Project(2013)Aswang - Why Capiz? | aswang sa capiz totoo?. Retrieved https://www.youtube.com/
Hi @zam398,
Thank you for crafting an amazing blog that exhibit Philippines' unique Culture and Tradition. This stories about aswang will live thru the ages, even in the city there are still stories about their existence and to some it is just a way of making their children to not go outside especially at nighttime.
And with that, we're grateful we have chosen this blog to be featured and upvoted by @onerace to empower impactful Philippines' Culture and Tradition blogs.
Feel free to click the post :
https://steemit.com/onerace/@onerace/onerace-update-may-21-may-22-2018-empowering-filipino-culture-and-tradition
Yes urban legend indeed maraming Salamat po
When I was little my yayas would tell me stories about these creatures and swore that it happened in their province. To this day, for me, nothing is scarier than the creatures we have in the Philippines.
Thanks for sharing this! It's been a long time since I've heard about Philippine folklore.
Hahahah agree me too, grabi parti na talaga to ng ating kultura. Hilig natin sa mga ganito
Hahhaa we have many urban legends on the Philippines too
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