Aswang
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The document summarizes myths about the aswang, a shapeshifting vampire-like creature from Philippine folklore. It describes various forms the aswang can take, including dogs, birds, pigs, and humans. Common abilities include draining blood from fetuses or small children using a long proboscis, replacing victims with fakes made of plants, and transforming at night to hunt. The document also mentions related creatures like the kikik, wak-wak, and sigbin, as well as shamans and sorcerers from Philippine folklore.
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Aswang
- 4. is a mythical creature in Filipino folklore. The Aswang is an inherently evil vampire-like creature and is the subject of a wide variety of myths and stories. Spanish colonists noted that the Aswang was the most feared among the mythical creatures of the Philippines, even in the 16th century .
- 5. The myth of the Aswang is well known throughout the Philippines, except in the Ilocos region, which is the only region that does not have an equivalent myth. It is especially popular in the Western Visayan regions such as Capiz, Iloilo, Negros, Bohol, Masbate, Aklan, Antique. Other regional names for the aswang include "tik-tik" and "wak-wak".
- 6. "Aswang" is a generic term applied to all types of witches, vampires, manananggals, shape shifters, were beasts and monsters. The original definition referred specifically to a ghoulish were-dog, which is where the word comes from- "Aso ang" ("The dog" in Tagalog).
- 7. This type of creature was an eater of the dead, also called the bal-bal (maninilong in Catanauan, Quezon), which replaces the cadaver with banana trunks after consumption. Aswang stories and definitions vary greatly from region to region and person to person, and no particular set of characteristics can be ascribed to the term. However, the term is mostly used interchangeably with manananggal and are also usually depicted as female.
- 8. •The wide variety of descriptions in the aswang stories make it difficult to settle upon a fixed definition of aswang appearances or activities. • However, several common themes that differentiate aswangs from other mythological creatures do emerge: Aswangs are shape shifters. Stories recount aswangs living as regular townspeople.
- 9. •As regular townspeople, they are quiet, shy and elusive. At night, they transform into creatures such as a cat, pig, bird, or most often, a dog. They enjoy eating unborn fetuses and small children, favoring livers and hearts.
- 10. •Some have long proboscises, which they use to suck the children out of their mothers' wombs or their homes. •Some are so thin that they can hide themselves behind a bamboo post. They are fast and silent. Some also make noises, like the Tik-Tik, (the name was derived from the sound it produces) which are louder the further away the aswang is, to confuse its potential victim; and the Bubuu, an aggressive kind of aswang that makes a sound of a laying hen at midnight.
- 11. •They may also replace their live victims or stolen cadavers with doppelgangers made from tree trunks or other plant materials. This facsimile will return to the victim's home, only to become sick and die. An aswang will also have bloodshot eyes, the result of staying up all night searching for houses where wakes are held to steal the bodies
- 12. The Kikik orWakwakThe Kikik orWakwakThe Kikik orWakwakThe Kikik orWakwakThe Kikik orWakwak •One type of Aswang is the kikik, which transforms into a huge bird/bat at night and prowls. The kikik looks for a sleeping pregnant woman. When it has found one, it extends a very long proboscis into the womb and kills the fetus by draining its blood. It is said that while this is taking place, a 'kik-kik-kik' sound is often heard.
- 13. • In some stories, the kikik is an Aswang's familiar, said to confuse people by its 'kikik' sound. If the Aswang is near, the sound would be faint so that people hearing it would think that the Aswang is still far away.
- 14. • The term wak-wak or wuk-wuk is frequently used for the same creature in the Cebu region. The legends of the wak-wak and kikik are much the same, but the wak-wak is specifically supposed to change into its birdlike form by leaving behind its lower body, much like the Manananggal, another Philippine vampire. The cry of a night bird which makes a "wuk-wuk-wuk" sound is believed to be the call of this monster and is feared by superstitious villagers. As with the call of the kikik, the wak- wak is believed able to make its cry sound distant when the creature is near.
- 15. •In Panitan(Panit'an) Capiz, there is a myth of the Dangga or Agitot. This type of aswang is said to take the form of a handsome gay man that hunts women during the night and drinks blood like a vampire. • One of the most popular legends in the visayas region is the infamous Aswang Tiniente Gimo(lieutenant Gimo) of the town of Dueñas, Iloilo.
- 16. • Another familiar is the sigbin or Zegben Some say that this is another form that the Aswang transforms into and yet some say it is the companion of the kikik. Its appearance is said to be similar to the chupacabra and Tasmanian devil in appearance, although with spotty fur. It supposedly has a wide mouth with large fangs.
- 17. •Shamans -to heal and to save lives. -are referred to locally as the mananambal. They are local healers who use their magic to heal diseases and illnesses that are caused by supernatural causes. All the mananambals claim that their powers also come from supernatural sources like saints or the spirits of dead people.
- 18. •Sorcerers -to destroy or inflict harm. -locally called the mambabarang. They use their powers to inflict pain, disease or even death to their clients’ enemies.