Media Log: Philippine Mythology - The Creatures After Dark

Media Log # 5

The last media log to be written is about Philippine culture and to commemorate the passing of Halloween( November 1 & 2). In this log I'll talk about aswangs, tikbalangs, and all those nasty stories you'll hear during this time of the year.

So first and foremost, when did the tradition of telling scary stories during halloween? According to my grandparents, who're from ilo-ilo, the tradition started before the time of their great grandparents. The story telling is usually done between people from the same barrio since every once in awhile they would gather out in the town plaza and share their experiences. They also do these for every other town fiesta's but during halloween the air between the barrio becomes serious and rather mystified.

I think the most popular stories are about ghosts or 'ligaw na kaluluwa'. Stories about these kinds of beings are found all over the world not just from the Philippines. This kind of creature is usually portrayed as a soul of the departed or sometimes as demons. They can be compared to America's poltergeist or even the demons featured in the movie "the Conjuring".

Another type of creature is Aswang, aswangs are practically vampire/werewolf hybrid. A bane existence for Twilight lovers  two of their favorite characters are jammed into one. A thing about aswang is that this creatures are only active at night and have many variations ranging from shape shifting monsters(bagat-visayan-) to baby murderers(tianak) to baby-licking-bats(mananangal). Aswangs have the same qualities of a vampire, although they are not immortal they are basically invulnerable( depending on which region it was told in ilo ilo they are basically untouchable unless you go to an albularyo), they eat flesh of men( in the vampires case they suck the blood) and turn them into one of them. Aswangs are popular around the southern part of visayas, especially Siquijor area.

A typical Filipino Aswang illustrated by an artist

The last one worth mentioning are the earth elementals or in other countries, fairies and dwarves. In our country earth elementals are basically Kapres, Tikbalang, Maligno and the likes. They basically function as guardians unlike the other two types above which are either lost  souls or hungry souls. This creatures are those that govern over there areas and punish those who would desecrate or trespass against them. A classic story is when a townsfolk from Iloilo told me that his whole farm developed pest after he trespassed against their local dwarf. He offered it fruit and the whatnot and his farm was left alone after that.

What I'm trying to point out to is that the Filipino culture is full of supernaturals and that It may not be comparable to other countries( like for example first world countries where their problems are what to do, not how to get money to do it). Although that's just my opinion, Philippines is a country of mystic and religion thus this kinds of things are quite common and is already a part in our daily lives. As such our culture stands out as much as this creature are unique.
With that
I end this media log.

"All beginnings must come to an end"

- anonymous

American Show Courage The Cowardly Dog Portraying Mystical Creatures

References:
Websites:
https://www.facebook.com/aswangmovie <- photos can be found here
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1457767/
Books:
True Philippine Ghost Stories Series