Growing up in
England I was always scared to go back to the
Philippines (where I was born)-- thanks to my mother emotionally scarring me by telling me stories about the following
freak ass creatures...
Aswang: name translates to "To be
detached from one part of the body". This creature flies around at night
sucking blood and attacking animals and people. It is said that during the daytime, the aswang takes on the appearance of a
dog, whose front legs are longer than the back legs.
Manananggal: The
female aswang. Some say her head and
stomach fly out at night, others say all of her upper body flies out while her lower body
remains. She flies with her arms which turn into
bat-like wings, perching on a roof to suck out the internal organs and
blood of those in the house. Or she hangs beneath the open floor and sucks the rectum or sputum of the sick with her tube-like
tongue which she can extend and control at will. She especially craves the
unborn children of
pregnant mothers.
Sigbin: The Sigbin is said to be the pet of
witches and
warlocks.Their front
limbs of this
quadruped are shorter than their hind limbs thus giving them the impression of standing upside-down (and to most Filipinos, standing upside-down is one of the hallmarks of a
supernatural creature). They are said to be fond of the flowers of the red
squash and of
piglets. Sightings of this creature have been described as a little bit smaller that a two-year-old goat with grey skin.
Tikbalang: The tikbalang is a harmless being, but when he took a fancy to someone, he would lure him to his
haunts and tease him with frightening looks and antics.
The tikbalang is sort of like a "reverse-
centaur" -- its lower body is human while its upper body is that of a
horse.
The Dwende : Elves, or dwendes are divided into two kinds. There is the "puting dwende" (white elf), who were good beings and quite harmless. You could play with them and make them your friends. Then there is the "itim na dwende" (black elf), which you should
fiercely avoid. Itim na dwendes are
evil creatures who
delight in tormenting those poor hapless human beings who had, unfortunately,
trespassedon their homes. Homes include fruit trees, grassy plains, gardens, and
termite mounds (among all others). Once you had violated their territory, you'll develop an
illness, which is incurable by modern medicine. Symptoms include severe
stomachaches, high
fever, strings of diseases, sudden coughs, severe
migraine, etc… The only
cure is to seek the help of a
witch doctor.
Busaw: the Busaw was a
ghoul who was also a
corpse thief. An evil spirit who looked and behaved like
ordinary human beings by day, it listened for sounds of
death in the evenings, and
dwelled in large trees near
cemeteries. It had pointed
teeth, hooked
nails and a long tongue. It took
banana tree trunks to replace the dead as it stole the corpses out of their
coffins. Then, spiriting the corpse off after first turning it into a
pig, the busaw would
feast on it and even try to feed it to their human
neighbors during the day in order to turn them into ghouls like itself
To ward the busaw off, all corpses should be washed completely with
vinegar and strong-smelling
herbs.
Salt is also a busaw
repellant.
Bungisngis: A
giant who lives deep in a cave and has one eye on his
forehead. Two long
tusks stick out of each side of the giant's mouth like an
elephant. When the giant smiles, his upper lip would cover his eye. If one were to ride a
carabou by his
cave in the woods one day, you might run into this giant, who is fond of
smirking and giggling. He is happy to see someone he can deceive. You mustn't stop to laugh with the giant or you will go
insane and spend the rest of your life in a fit of mad
giggles.
Bangungot: a
demon who appears to people in their
dreams and snatches their breath away. He appears as an 18 foot fat man with legs like tree trunks, long black hair and red eyes. He smells
foul like a goat. When he comes to you in your dream he will sit on your chest and
suffocate you.
In order to get rid of the Bangungot you must
bite your
thumb, and
wiggle your big toe and it will leave you and go back to where it came from.
Nuno sa Punso: Nuno sa Punso is a '
dwende' that appears as a very
old bearded man as short as a boy of three, but with comparatively large joints,
belly, head, eyes, nose and mouth. He usually lives
underground, under caves and anthills, which is how he got his name; nuno sa punso means "old man under the
anthill."
He is harmless unless
provoked.In that case he could pinch your
skin, which subsequently would turn blue, or pull the
toes and make them twice as long. Nuno could also give
fever or
chills, or worse cast an
evil spell.
..Update: March 2003- Ok, I'm never going back there again.