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e 5. Aswang Cite/print/rate article Send comment References Aswang by Micha F. Lindemans The awang are the most feared of supernatural creatures on the Philippines. They can enter the body of a person and through this person they inflict harm on those the they dislike. Most common are the female variety who appear as an ugly old woman with long, unkempt hair, bloodshot eyes, long nails, and a long, black tongue. She has holes in her armpits which contain oil. This gives her power of flight. A being of enormous power, she can transform herself into any shape, even inanimate objects. She preys on children, pregnant women, and ill people. Once she has overpowered a victim, she will take a bundle of sticks, talahib grass, and rice or banana stalks, and transform these into a replica of her victim. This replica is sent home while she takes the real person back with her. Upon reaching its home, the replica will become sick and die. The victim will then be killed and eaten. She is said to be particularly fond of the liver. Aswangs are drawn to blood and raw flesh, particularly organs like the heart and the liver. In human form, most aswangs can be found working as butchers, morticians, or gravediggers. The beast hunts at night, preying on most people that cross its path if they appear to be particularly vulnerable. Inebriated men and women, lone commuters, and small children are all said to have been preyed upon by the aswang. Its favorite victims by far, however, are pregnant women. Some stories about the aswang describe winged monster-witches perched on top of a roof under which a woman with child may reside. When it chances upon its mark, it will extend an uncommonly long proboscis into the female's belly and suck the unborn baby from the mother's womb. Aswangs are said to lead incredibly long lives and are credited with all sorts of powers. These powers come from a special kind of stone, which is passed on from generation to generation. Aswangs usually come from witching families, and siblings may share one stone among themselves. The effects of the stone on normal human beings is unspecified. To detect an aswang in its human form, one must look at a person's eyes. Due to the aswang's nocturnal hunting activities, the aswang's eyes will be bloodshot. An aswang's eyes are also said to reflect images in an upside down manner. To fight an aswang, one must arm one's self with a buntot ng pagi, or the tail of a stingray, holy water, and salt. These "weapons" are the only things that can effectively inflict wounds on an aswang. To the Filipinos, the aswang is a creature as real as any other creature on the face of the Earth. I live around these people and trust me when I tell you that you can't change their beliefs regarding this creature. I once asked my wife why we never heard of things like this in the US and she couldn't explain it rationally.

The Wikipedia Article on "Aswang"

My wife was born in the Visayan islands (also called the Visayas), another group of islands in the Philippines. It's on those islands where the aswang belief is the strongest. My wife's family lives here on the island of Luzon now, but their beliefs came with them. The Wikipedia article describes aswangs exactly as my wife describes them: The red eyes, the reclusiveness, the proboscis and the shape-shifting. Recent Occurrences When the girlfriend of one of my brothers-in-law was pregnant, he (Joshua) spent many nights awake because he thought an aswang was nearby. I tried to persuade him that it was nothing more than superstition, but he wouldn't have any of that. I didn't see what he saw and or hear what he heard. One night, an old lady tumbled down the hill in front of our house. I can't describe the terrain, but we live in the mountains and she was someone who lived further up. Anyway, she was taken by tricycle to the local hospital. When the tricycle returned to this area, the same old lady was already back and sitting on the side of the road. It was physically impossible for her be back before the tricycle, never mind the amount of time she would have had to spend at the hospital getting checked out. I don't have an explanation for what happened, but every person in this neighborhood believed she was an aswang. She hasn't been seen in this area since that night. What are they, really? Some people theorize that people have seen lemurs and colugos, shortly after being around particular individuals, and have attached those images to the people they believe are aswangs. Aswangs, as far as the descriptions go, are a combination of vampire, werewolf and witch and are almost always female. How much of the folklore is true, I can't tell you. It's proven, however, that all myths and legends start with a basis of historical fact that gets exaggerated and altered as time goes by. Hmmm hmmm hmmm hmmm The Philippines also has its trickster images. This country has always been big on supernatural phenomena, and stories of magic, surreal entities, and strange happenings abound in Filipino culture. Every area of the country has its own healers and sorcerers (I've been to a few myself, but that's another story). Filipino folklore shares many traditions with Indonesia and Cambodia, a reality that belies the stereotype that the Philippines is completely different than its Southeast Asian neighbors. These supernatural belief systems are mostly pre-Christian, and feature bargaining and exchange relationships with supernatural beings. Filipino cosmology features ready explanations for crises that occur because of nature (floods, volcanoes, earthquakes) or society (sorcery, war). However, when events occur that are irrational or don't fit neatly into the accepted cosmology, traditional (and for that matter modern) Filipinos often explain things in terms of one of their own Trickster figures - the dreaded aswang. An aswang can take the form of a dog, pig, horse, or carabao, although most commonly he/she/it

is a beautiful girl by day. But at night, the aswang transforms into one of several types of creatures, with corpse-eaters and bloodsuckers being the worst. At night, the beautiful (and perhaps betrayed) wife/bloodsucker transforms herself, using her hollow, needle-pointed tongue to stab her unsuspecting husband in the neck while hugging him, then sucking out his blood until he dies. (Sounds a bit like my wife in one of her every-five-year jealous rages, although I refuse to believe she is a true aswang). Self-segmenters, another type of aswang, feast on unborn babies, which they can smell from a mile away. The self-segmenter (also a beautiful lass by day) discards her arms and legs, leaves her lower body in a closet (or perhaps in bed), and takes flight through the dark night. She lands on the roof of the unsuspecting victim, an expectant mother, then lowers her tongue down through the shingles. She finds her way into the victim's body through the eyes, nostrils, ears, mouth, navel, anus or genitals. (Practical tips: (a) If you're ever walking at night and see a strand of a cobweb hanging down from a tree, get the heck away from there, it might be an aswang's tongue; and (b) Don't sleep with your belly exposed lest an aswang steal your intestines while you're dreaming). The Philippines - Aswang, Bebarlangs, Danag, Mandurugo One must admit that the subject of Philippine vampires is quite difficult and confusing. To my understanding there are over fifty ethnic groups in the Philippines, and each one has its own dialect. Moreover, there are specific names for different types of Philippine vampires. But, at the same time, these names are interchangeable as you go from one place to another. (The same problem of variable, inter-changing names for different types of vampires also occurs in European lore, such as Romania.) Aswang: The Aswang was seen as a beautiful maiden by day and a fearsome flying fiend by night. The Aswang can live a normal life during daylight hours. At night however the creature is led to the houses of its victims by night birds, where it lands on the roof of the victim and proceeds to feed via a long pointed tubular tongue which reaches from the roof to the bed below and pierces the skin of the sleeping victim. Its nourishment is always blood, and it prefers to feed on children. The creature is recognized by its swollen form after feeding, it looks almost pregnant. It is said if the Aswang licks a person's shadow it is believed that the person will die soon afterwards. Reportedly when the Aswang flies home before dawn (looking pregnant from the blood) it then breast-feeds her children. Possibly also known as Aswang-Mananaggal. Recently I found even more information to stir into the pot and make it more confusing. In the Philippine Islands today, the term Aswang, in its broadest meaning, applies to all the vampiric witches and sorcerers in Philippine lore. One type of Aswang is a woman who changes into the form of a large bird at night. In this form, she has a very long, hollow tongue with a sharp point at the end. She lands on the thatched roof of her victims. The tongue reaches down through a crack in the roof. The tip of this tongue inserts into the neck of a sleeping person and draws up the blood. The favorite victims are young children and pregnant women. When this type of Aswang returns to her own home before dawn, she changes back into human form. But her breasts and belly are swollen with blood. She then breast feeds the blood to her own children. Sometimes this type of Aswang is called the tik-tik or wak-wak. But in some Philippine lore the name tik-tik is given to a small owl-like bird which accompanies this type of Aswang at night. The smaller bird makes the sound "tik-tik" which forewarns the potential victims of the nearby presence of the Aswang. (According to a woman who grew up on the Philippine island of Mindanao, this type of Aswang was called the Tyanak. Her American husband mentioned that the correspondence between different names for different types of Philippine vampires tended to be switched around as you go from one region to another. But the name Tiyanak often applies to an infant who becomes a vampire as the result of having died without being baptized. Another type of Aswang is a man or woman who separates at the waist at night. The top half then grows wings and flies off to seek victims. This type of Aswang is also sometimes said to have a long tongue. It has a reputation for snatching unborn babies from the wombs of pregnant women. He or she can be destroyed by casting salt onto the lower part of his body after he

becomes detached. The upper half can then no longer re-connect with the lower half. According to one source, a woman from Mindanao, this vampire is called the Aswang. But, according to two other Philippine informants, the specific name for this type of Aswang is mannananggal. This name derives from the Philippine word tanggal which means "to separate." You might recognize a resemblance here with the Malaysian penanggalan. The Penanggalan of Malaysia is quite similar. The similarity in names might simply be due to the fact that Malaysian and Philippine languages share common roots. But then it is also possible that Malaysian and Philippine beliefs in the supernatural have common roots. A third type of Aswang is a man or women who can change into all sorts of animal forms, including that of a bird, a dog, or a pig. Again, it is frequently said that the favorite victims are young children and pregnant women. This type seems to correspond the more specific meaning of the name Aswang. Most often such an Aswang is a man but there are also female Aswangs of this type. A fourth type of Aswang, the mandurugo, occurs in a Tagalog folk tale. According to this tale, at one time a certain girl was the most beautiful woman on her island. She was also a mandurugo. When she was 16 years old, she married a husky young man. He withered away and died within a year after the marriage. She next married another man soon after, and he suffered the same fate as the first husband. The same sequence was repeated with her third husband. She then married a fourth husband. But he was warned in time. He went to bed one night, with a knife under his pillow, and feigned sleep. When he felt something over him pricking his neck, he struck with his knife and stabbed the creature on top of him. It was too dark to see the creature, but he heard a screech and the sound of flapping wings. In the following morning, his wife was found dead at some distance from his cottage with a knife wound in her chest. There is much more to be said about Philippine lore concerning the Aswang. The subject really deserves a whole lot more time. In the Philippine Islands today, the term Aswang, in its broadest meaning, applies to all the vampiric witches and sorcerers in Philippine lore. There is some chance that this creature was also known as Asuwang. Bebarlangs: A tribe found in the Philippines that had members that practiced a form of psychic vampirism. They apparently sent out there astral bodies and fed on the life forces and vitality of individuals. Danag: A Filipino vampire held to be very ancient as a species, responsible for having planted taro on the islands long ago. The Danag worked with humans for many years but the partnership ended one day when a woman cut her finger and a Danag sucked her wound, enjoying the taste so much that it drained her body completely of blood. Mandurugo (possibly also seen as Mandurago): A Filipino vampire found in the region of Capiz, said to appear as a beautiful woman during the day and as a foul flying fiend at night. The Mandurugo ("bloodsucker") uses her beauty to attract and wed young men, thus providing her with a constant blood supply. Aswang (Asuang) The god of evil is the younger brother of Gugurang, the good god, whose fire Aswang wanted, but Gugurang would not let him have it knowing how careless he was. The ambitious Aswang then stole Gugurangs fire, the symbol of his power. The darkness which covered the world greatly aided the evil gods in their doings, and caused consternation among the good gods. And now the proud Aswang began to belch fire, lava, and smoke through the top of Mount Malinao. However Gugurang managed to get his fire back, and retained supremacy among the deities of the Bikols, but had to repair the damage Aswang made. The world was on fire, immediately Gugurang bade the heavens to rain continuously. Soon, the hard rain stopped the conflagration; and in revenge his thunderbolt destroyed Mount Malinao, the abode of Aswang for defying him. Then the people noticed that Mount Malinao is half now. To this day, one will still see that grim reminder when Gugurang struck and tore up the huge mountain. The rites offered to Aswang were performed regularly as expiation because of the pre-Hispanic Bicolano's belief that

he is an evil spirit and the prime reason behind all the harm and troubles that befell them. Asuang had to be placated, using all available means including human sacrifice. The medicine men or priests of his cult were also known to administered native methods of contraceptives to control fertility among males and females, asides from hexing and causing death and illnesses. Sorcery The powers of sorcery may be gained after a practitioner "learns methods of malign magic and establishes a relationship with a spirit that supports this magic".[5] Some forms of sorcery include: * Barang - the use of beetles to inflict pain and sickness in a person * Haplit - using a doll to represent the victim; the Filipino sorcerer's equivalent of using a voodoo doll * Paktol - paktol means to "knock on the head"; the use of a skull or some other representation of the victim. Any insult done the representation, the victim feels the corresponding harm * Anyaw - the art of courting the favor of malign spirits with food containing no salt; the sorcerer then asks the spirit to bring harm on an intended victim * L-g - "to boil", the sorcerer boils objects belonging to the victim; the victim suffers from unease, sleeplessness, fatigue, malaise and later, death These forms of sorcery equate with the Tagalog term, Kulam and are resistant to the ministrations of Western medicine. Only a mananambal can reverse the effects of such sorcery. [edit] See

Wapedia v Wiki: Barang (Cebuano term) Search Wikipedia! For the Khmer term, see Barang (Khmer word). Barang is a Cebuano term taken to mean all forms of malign magic or sorcery. [1] In Tagalog, the word is used to refer to small insects and beetles, especially the fungus beetle. At least one source identifies the specific species of this beetle as Alphitobius laevigatus. These beetles, the size of a common house fly, or other similar insects are said to be employed by Filipino shamans to perform sorcery or witchcraft in order to inflict pain or disease upon a victim. [2

Wapedia v Wiki: Barang (Cebuano term) Search Wikipedia! For the Khmer term, see Barang (Khmer word). Barang is a Cebuano term taken to mean all forms of malign magic or sorcery. [1] In Tagalog, the word is used to refer to small insects and beetles, especially the fungus beetle. At least one source identifies the specific species of this beetle as Alphitobius laevigatus. These beetles, the size of a common house fly, or other similar insects are said to be employed by Filipino shamans to perform sorcery or witchcraft in order to inflict pain or disease upon a victim. [2] Contents: 1. Usage and related terms 2. The Mambabarang 3. See also

4. External links 5. References Philippine mythology Title Mambabarang Description Warlock / witch Gender Male / female Region Philippines Equivalent Shaman, Mangkukulam This box: view [[|talk]] 1. Usage and related terms Barang is a noun used to describe malign sorcery or tiny fungus beetles. Other synonymous words used in the island of Siquijor in the Philippines include haplit, paktol and anyaw. The proper term for engaging in sorcery or witchcraft employing barang in Tagalog is Pambabarang, a verb. Mambabarang (noun) is a practitioner of this specific type of sorcery or witchcraft. Binabarang (noun) is the target of the sorcery or witchcraft. Nabarang (adjective) means someone or something experiencing the effects of the curse or hex. 2. The Mambabarang The Mambabarang is the Filipino version of a sorcerer; the witch is a Mamalarang. The the name is derived from the word barang. Other synonymous terms include the Hiligaynon word manog hiwit, which is also synonymous to kulam. The verb barangin or hiwitan means "to place a hex"; a curse in Filipino is a sumpa. The mambabarang keeps his beetles in a bottle or a section of bamboo, carefully feeding them ginger root. When the practitioner decides to employ his dark art, he performs a prayer ritual wherein he whispers instructions and identifies the victim to the beetles. The insects are then set free and to seek out the victim and gain entry into the body via any bodily orifice: the nose, mouth, ears, anus or dermal breaks such as open wounds. The victim will then feel the effects of the invasion through manifestations depending on the area of entry; hemorrhoids if through the anus, ear ache if through the ears and other similar cases. The resulting illness is resistant to conventional medical treatment and only reveals its true nature when the victim succumbs and flying insects issue forth from bodily cavities. Superstitious folks still attribute certain illnesses or diseases to barang. This most often happens in the provinces, where an herbal doctor, albularyo or a faith healer, a mananambal or sorhuana (female) / sorhuano (male) treats such diseases. In some rural provincial areas, people completely rely on the albularyo and mananambal for treatment. aswang: aswang: sorcery (from www.bisaya.com) Cebuano: aswang English: sorcery Edit barang: barang: black magic; sorcery; voodoo (from www.bisaya.com) Cebuano: barang English: black magic, sorcery, voodoo Edit da-ut: da-ut: destroy; sorcery (from www.bisaya.com) Cebuano: da-ut English: destroy, sorcery Edit paktol: paktol: sorcery (from www.bisaya.com) Cebuano: paktol English: sorcery Edit pamalbal: pamalbal: sorcery (from www.bisaya.com) Cebuano: pamalbal