Mythical Creatures in the Philippines

Childhood years - age where our curiosity is on its peak.  I, being one of the individuals who undergo this age, of course, have always been inquisitive. My odd mind has always been fascinated by Myths.  From Greek Myths to Egyptian Legends and even Filipino folklores, these things have always kept my probing mind busy. I don’t know what’s into them, but somehow they always have ways in hooking my attention.

            Today, my likeness towards them never diminished, plus here comes our project, publish 8 articles (I was like, what sort of articles can I create? I’m doomed!). Then, an idea came into my mind, “What if I create articles regarding Philippine Mythical Creatures?” That gave me motivation; I get to create my project and at the same time, feeding my hungry myth maniac brain with new ideas. It’s just like hitting 2 birds with one stone! What a splendid idea it is. (Yeah, I need to appraise myself once in a while). We’ll so much for talking to myself (LOL), these articles I decided to publish are my 8 Favorite Philippine Mythical Creatures, some may be known by you or not, well it’s my project so you have no choice. So, here goes:

BAKUNAWA

            Bakunawa is another mythical giant that brings with it a fascinating glimpse of how our ancestors deal with natural phenomena. Hailed as god of the underworld, Bakunawa is a half-dragon, half-snake that allegedly appears once or twice in a man’s lifetime to bring eclipse.

            Bakunawa’s origins can be traced back to a Hiligaynon folklore which describes this mythical creature as a giant sea serpent blessed with “a mouth the size of a lake, a red tongue, whiskers, gills, small wires at its sides, and two sets of wings.” It is actually a deity that was represented as a serpentine dragon. Although the dragon was known as a “moon eater” it was also known as a “man eater”.

            The Visayan term bakunawa is directly translated to the word eclipse. Binakunawa is a verb to mean "to cause an eclipse".

            During ancient times, Filipinos believe that there are seven moons created by Bathala to light up the sky. The Bakunawa, amazed by their beauty, would rise from the ocean and swallow the moons whole, angering Bathala and causing them to be mortal enemies.

            Other tales tell that the Bakunawa has a sister in the form of a sea turtle. The sea turtle would visit a certain island in the Philippines in order to lay its eggs. However, locals soon discovered that every time the sea turtle went to shore, the water seemed to follow her, thus reducing the island’s size. Worried that their island would eventually disappear, the locals killed the sea turtle. When the Bakunawa found out about this, it arose from the sea and ate the moon. The people were afraid so they prayed to Bathala to punish the creature. Bathala refused but instead told them to bang some pots and pans in order to disturb the serpent. The moon is then regurgitated while the Bakunawa disappeared, never to be seen again.

            The island where the sea turtle lays its eggs is said to exist today. Some sources say that the island might just be one of the Turtle Islands.

            Others tell how the Bakunawa fell in love with a human girl in one of the native tribes. The head of the tribe found out about their affair and had their house burned to ashes. The Bakunawa, finding out about this, became immersed in anger and tried to take revenge by eating all the 7 moons. When the Bakunawa was about to eat the last one, Bathala took action and punished the Bakunawa by banishing it from its home away from the sea.

            To keep the Bakunawa moons from completely being swallowed, ancient Filipinos would go out of their homes with pans and pots, and would make noise in order to scare the Bakonawa into spitting out the moon back into the sky. Some of the people in the villages would play soothing sounds with their musical instruments, in hopes that the dragon would fall into a deep sleep. Thus, the brave men of the village hoped that while the dragon was hypnotized by the musical sounds they could somehow slay the dragon.

            There is a short Hiligaynon song in 3/4 time that children used to sing during lunar eclipses:

Ang bulan namon sang una, sang una
Guin ka-on sang bakunawa
Malo-oy ka man, i-uli, i-uli
Korona sang amon hari.

            Other serpentine/dragon deities are also found in other myths in the Philippines. These include the Bawa, the Bauta, Mameleu or Mamelen or Nanreben, and Marcupo or Macupo of Hiligaynon mythology, Buwaya or Nono of Tagalog mythology, and Mikonawa or Mikunawa or Minokawa of Bagobo mythology.

            Figures of the Bakunawa's head decorate the hilts of many ancient Filipino swords. These swords that originate in Panay are said to bestow upon the hangaway or mandirigma (sacred warriors) the fearful presence and power of the Bakunawa. 

BATIBAT

            In Visayas, where I reside today, deaths during sleep usually are connected to bangungot. Have you ever considered on asking what might be the possible causes of those scenarios? Well, there might be scientific explanations now that could enlighten your mind. But long ago, without the aid of these scientific whatnots, folks usually run for the unnatural creatures and spirits to believe on. Batibat, being one of those spirits/demons, are one of them.

            Batibat is another tree dwelling 'demon' who takes the form of an obese woman. She is a very vengeful demon in the Ilocano folklore. She is blamed as the cause of fatal nocturnal diseases called bangungot where she took her other name, Bangungot.

            This demon’s way is very similar to the methods used by the traditional incubus/succubus demons in European mythology. The difference is that there are no sexual activities linked to Batibat compared to the European demons.

            They usually come in contact with humans when the tree that they reside in is felled and made into a support post for a house. This causes them to migrate into holes found in the post. The batibat forbids humans from sleeping near its post. When a person does sleep near it, the batibat transforms to its true form and attacks that person. It sits upon the chest of its victim until he suffocates.

            To ward off the batibat, one should bite one’s thumb or wiggle one’s toes. In this way, the person will awaken from the nightmare induced by the batibat.

KAPRE

            The name Kapre came from the Arabic word Kaffir which means Non-believer of Islam. The early Arabs and the Moors used it to refer to the non-Muslim Dravidians who were dark-skinned. The term was later brought to the Philippines by the Spanish who had previous contact with the Moors. Some historians speculate that the legend was propagated by the Spanish to prevent Filipinos from assisting any escaped African slaves.

            The Kapre is a Demon Tree, but with more human characteristics. They are giants with glowing red eyes, sharp teeth, very long fingernails, huge trunk-like legs, brown hair and usually have a beard, they are as tall as 7 to 9 ft. They are similar to Agta.  Kapre is a filthy, dark giant who likes to smoke a big ganja pipe that never burns out, and hide within and atop large trees, particularly the balete and old acacia or mango trees. They like to wear indigenous Northern Philippine cloth call Bahag, and a belt that can make him invisible. The area around Mount Banahao, Luzon, is well known for having a lot of activity from this creature.

                These creatures also have different types: Tama is a wicked giant of the Manobo myth who entices travelers with cunning calls and other ruses, said to live in balete trees; Tamas are also believed to be giant spirits of unknown wilds; Apila and Mandayangan are Manobo giant creatures who wrestle each other and are harmless to humans and; Mangaluk is a giant forest monster, described as a black, human-like creature with wings and talon claws.

            Unlike most of Filipino monsters, they are not evil, or like to eat people or fetuses, they just enjoy to scare children that like to stay late at night. Also they are known because they like to drink, smoke and gamble. Some myths describe them as pranksters; their most common pranks consist in making travelers get lost, confusing people in their own familiar surroundings, sometimes even taking away little bits of their memories so they can’t find their way home or while humans sleep, Kapre would put them on top of a tree while they are still in bed.

            They are friendly beings, sometimes they get in contact with humans and offer their friendship, or if they are attracted to a woman, they follow her all the time. Another interesting thing is that if you become friends with him, you will be able to see it, and if you sit on it, the rest of the people will see it as well. But be careful, if you take them for granted or offend them, they will harm you, usually peeling your skin off.

            Some myths say that he always carries a beautiful white stone, and if you manage to obtain it, he will grant you wishes. A tradition that is still being followed is to put fruits and sweets such as papaya or tamarind on a coconut shell, as a token of respect towards the creature, in exchange he would leave fish and rice.

            The poor saps are highly romantic and are said to follow around their female love interest for her entire life.  They become very possessive of their female ‘lovers’ or women they fall in love with, and often won’t let any human male have her.  Recall that generally they are gentle pranksters, but once they become jealous lovers they turn quite violent.

            There are various ways to know if there is one of them nearby: At night you can see big fiery eyes from a tree. If the trees sway when there is no breeze. It is believed that abundant fireflies in woody areas are the embers from his pipe. There is a loud laughter that comes from an invisible being. You see faint smoke coming from above, which is the one that comes from its pipe.

            In the old stories, is found that a one eyed Kapre, whose name was Agyo, fought against the first Spanish conquistadors.This creature is probably is related to Big Foot from North America.

TIKBALANG

            In Greek mythology, centaurs are one of my favorite creatures. It has a reverse counterpart here in our lands, the Tikabalang. Reverse in a way that instead of a body of a horse and a human torso, it has a horse’s torso and a man’s legs. I would never want to see one of those, they’re hideous. But, like the other creatures in our mythology, these creatures help in giving us a rich culture and beliefs.

            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. They are considered as the benevolent guardians of the elemental kingdoms. Actually, these creatures are summoned by the native’s shamans and landlords to secure and protect their lands. These humanoids are shapeshifters, they could transform into a human. They could also turn invisible.

            Tikbalang are generally associated with dark, sparsely populated, foliage-overgrown areas, with legends variously identifying their abode as being beneath bridges, in bamboo clumps or banana groves, and atop Kalumpang or Balete trees. They also dwell in swamps or in the deep woods.

            Other legends depict the Tikbalang as a monster of the night, with eyes that glow red. This version of the Tikbalang casts it as a fearsome creature, a real danger to people. It is believed that when it is angered - and it is easily angered - it stomps on people with its hooves until they die. In these tales, the Tikbalang is always accompanied by the stench of burning hair and smokes great big cigars. It is said that they take a bath only during full moons.

            Since horses only arrived in the Philippine archipelago during the Spanish colonization, 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.

            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. 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. When targeting a person, it mimics the appearance, voice and mannerisms of someone close to the person, such as a friend or relative. Thus the victim is tricked into follow the tikbalang to nowhere until they are lost, sometimes never to be seen again.

             Legends say that when rain falls while the sun is shining, a pair of tikbalangs is being wed.

            When experiencing these creature’s tricks, some countermeasures could be done. Typical trick of them is when travelers 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. 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.

            By one account a tikbalang has a mane of sharp spines, with the three thickest of these being of particular importance. A person who obtains one of these spines can use them as an anting-anting (talisman) in order to keep the tikbalang as his servant. The tikbalang must first be subdued, however, by leaping onto it and tying it with a specially-prepared cord. The would-be-tamer must then hang on while the creature flies through the air, fighting madly to dislodge its unwelcome rider, until it is exhausted and acknowledges its defeat or you can look on his mane and you will see 3 golden hairs and if you pluck 3 of them before he/she eats you, they will serve you until you die. There are also stories where a tikbalang asks its intended prey a riddle. Someone who manages to answer correctly will be rewarded with a pot of gold.

            Meeting one spells out only two things, the creature's submission to you or the creature making you lost. Fail on making the tikbalang succumb, insanity or death will strike.

TIYANAK

           Some mythical creatures have their origin in tradition and tales from the distant past. However, each culture is associated with a multitude of interesting and odd creatures; many of these beings are humanoids. One of these legendary humanoids is the tiyanak. Demon babies, geez the thought of it creeps the hell out of me. I love babies, but seeing them with sharp teeth and hideous features, well that is way too different from what I expect.

            It is said and believed that tiyanaks are from aborted fetuses from a mother’s womb and are very vengeful creatures giving them birth, offspring from a woman and a demon or babies who died before receiving baptism. After death, they go to a place known as Limbo, a chamber of hell which unbaptized dead people fall into and are transformed into evil spirits.

            However, the true origin of Tiyanak came from the Malaysian creature, Pontianak or Mantianak – a female viscera. Pontianak is the mother who died while pregnant, Tianak is the ghost of the child, not the mother herself.

            With the Spanish colonization of the Philippines in the 16th century, the tiyanak myth was integrated into Christianity. The tiyanak in the Christian version were supposedly the souls of infants that died before being baptized. In modern-day Philippines, this definition has extended to that of aborted fetuses that returned from death to seek revenge on those who deprived them of life.

            These babies are known to live in forests. During the day a tiyanak might appear to be an ordinary baby. By night, however, it grows sharp teeth, long fingernails, and black and hairy skin. They are similar to that of changelings, or a demon spirit in the form of a child. Usually, aswangs use them as substitutes for the children they snatched away as victims. In some instances, it is said that once given the chance to suck milk from the breast of a mother, the tiyanak will drain all her blood.

            When hunting humans, they transform into what looks like a normal baby. They cry in the jungle to attract unwary travelers. When the person notices the tiyanak and comes near to take a look at it, it changes back to its true form and eats its prey. They are also depicted for their malevolent delight in leading travelers astray and I abducting children.

            Like the aswangs, tiyanaks can be classified into two types: The Mantianak, described as a baby with a long beard. Pregnant women who hear its cries end up miscarrying and Muntianak, a baby who died in the womb. Lives in the forest and terrorizes people.

            In local belief, various countermeasures are supposedly effective against the tiyanak. Those that were led astray by the creature's cries are believed to be able to break the enchantment by turning their clothes inside out. The tiyanak finds the method humorous enough to let go of the traveler and go back to the jungles. Loud noises such as a New Year's celebration are also thought to be enough to drive the tiyanak away from the vicinity. Objects believed to repel Aswang, like garlic and the rosary, are also commonly believed to be effective against the tiyanak. You can kill this monster by means of any pointed instruments, more specifically pointed metal made of silver.

NUNO SA PUNSO

            People usually say in our community that if you go to places you aren’t familiar with, or when you pass by mounds of soil forming small mountains, you should say “tabi-tabi po”. This has always been the precaution said in order to avoid disturbing unnatural creatures that are present there. Well, nothing will be lost if I follow it right? Extra precaution is always necessary if you want to return home in your whole self without anything sprouting or swollen in your body parts. Geez I couldn’t imagine having a pair of horns sprouting on my head or my feet swollen when I return home. Good thing for me because I’m a homebody, but for persons fond of exploring well it wouldn’t hurt if you try to follow with the traditions.

            Nuno sa punso, literally speaking, means goblin of the mound. Nuno is a dwarf-like creature in the Philippine Mythology. They are goblins or elves who live in mysterious lumps of soil (anthills) called punso. Their actual size id disputed, some claim they are invisible to the human eye, others say they are between 3 feet tall and others say it is about the size of a small insect. Their appearance is said to resemble that of an old man: small, bearded brown men who typically wear a loincloth, woven hat and walk barefooted. Nuno’s are usually related to duwende however there are qualities that make them different. Duwende is a hobgoblin who shows himself to children and tends to be playful and mischievous creatures while nuno is a temperamental goblin easily angered and will inflict a whole slew of terrible vengeance to those who damage or disturb his mound.          

            When passing by a nuno’s shelter, a person should ask permission on the resident of the mound to let them pass with the phrase, “Tabi-tabi po”. Also, to avoid punishments, children are always reminded not to play outside between noon and 3 pm. Thay are also cautioned not to be noisy in places where a nuno might dwell.

            They are said to provide people who steps on their shelter with good luck or misfortune, in some cases, inflicting harsh punishments to those who offend them (Swelling or any part of the body, vomiting of blood, urinating black liquid, or excessive hair growth on the back.).Usually, people who purposely trample around in tall grassy areas or urinate on suspected nuno anthills in order to display dominance over the nuno are likely to become the victims of curses. If the trespasser is within range, the nuno can spit at them. The effects of the curse are localized to where the spit landed on the human’s body. The worst punishment a nuno can enact is possession.

              People who are punished are called namatanda and must be brought to an albularyo for healing. The albularyo will perform a simple ceremony called tawas in which a piece of candle is melted in a disc or spoon. Once melted, the wax is poured into the water. An image will appear in the wax, either that of the nuno or of a certain place or situation. The albularyo will then interpret the image to determine the possible cause of the sickness. In order to be cured, the victim’s family will provide an offering to the nuno such as fruits or other foods, drinks, or material goods. If the offering fails to cure the sickness, it may be necessary to ask personally the nuno’s forgiveness.

            In order to kill a nuno, catching it and crushing its head between one’s fingers should be done. This will remove any enchantment casted by that particular nuno. However, this should be avoided for it is likely to evoke the wrath of that nuno’s friends and relatives. Legends also say that the nuno has an odd affinity for large bodied mammals of the opposite sex so, placing an obese or festively plump female on the side of the road after midnight is said to attract the nuno out of hiding, thus allowing those afflicted to seek revenge on the goblin.