Folklore from the Phillipines

[Ejay1]

Has anyone here ever heard of an Aswang? Back when I was small my grandmother used to tell me stories of something called Aswang. Most of these stories cane from the provinces(farmland) of the Phillipines. It looked like a regular human but it can change into wild animals like a wild boar, snake, birds, e.t.c. It also had a taste for human flesh especially kids and newborn babies. I heard that it can smell a pregnant woman without seeing her. And it would wait for her to sleep and than it would climb on top of the woman's house and its tounge would grow longer and the tounge would stab through the woman's stomach while she was sleeping and eat the baby in the stomach killing the mother in the process. An aswang could also fly, during night time the aswang's upper body from the torso to the head would seperate from the lower body. And go flying around for food.An aswang also can't die regularly, one way to kill an aswang is to find the part of the aswang's body and put salt on it. Which prevents it from rejoing its body. :cool:

[LV426]

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, blood-shot 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.

[Ejay1]

You will probably have a hard time finding anything about it. Its kind of a local thing. We get stories about the aswang passed down from generation to generation.

[Atzurné de'Vaste]

I've heard of the Aswang. My parents are from the Philippines. My mom used to tell me those kinds of stories when I was younger, usually when I was bad. e_e Once she said she was gonna feed me to it, if I recall correctly. Basically, all you've described of the aswang is pretty much how I remember it to be but yeah, I've heard of it.

[Marcius]

Never heard of it but it sounds like an intesting critter.

sSomething of a local tale? Curious I will have to look into it as well if you remember anything else like spacific stories you were told, or even just parts of them please share.

[Ragarath Undahn-05]

:D the aswang! old folks in our country use to tell lots of stories about them... i kinda saw in another website a long time ago that a vampire in our country was reffered to as the "aswang"... well that was a shock for me because i never really thought of it that way... but come to think of it... they have similarities... there are also lots of folklore creatures here in the philippines... i'm sorry if i may not be that accurate (coz there are lotsa versions) but i'll try to enumerate everything that i could remember...

um... some people also call the aswang as a "manananggal" which means something like "to remove" because the "manananggal" could separate from her lower body. i heard those two are different creatures... but some say they're the same...

The "Kapre", a different creature, is like a giant ghost dude who smokes cigar and lives in tall trees... as i have heard...

The "Dwende" are like mischievious dwarf dudes who are usually mean and sometimes kidnaps girls or women who they like...

The "Tikbalang" is like the werewolf in our country (i think!) they have the head of a horse and a black body... they're not really human... and can't shift... mostly the folklore creatures here are spirits of the forests or what they call "lamang lupa"...

There are also lot's of ghost, different kinds but the most famous is the white lady, and the most famous of the white lady is the one in valete drive (named after the valete plants) she usually shows up to motorist, sometimes in front of the car, in the passenger seat, at the back where she can be seen through the rear view mirror, almost every part of the car possible.

well thats all i can remember for now... but there are lot's of stories here, specially from the provinces... they got lots of weird things going there... hope i got to add some info... thanks!

[Panyasan]

It is a thing to ponder though as to why many LOCAL LEGENDS have international counter parts. Like The Phillipine's KAPRE which is very similar in discription to the Bigfoot of the west and the Yeti of the himilayas. Only I've heard that the Phillipine version is a sort of shaman... like perhaps the Oni of Japan?

[Ragarath Undahn-05]

:D i don't really know the whole story about the kapre... but if i'd find a counter part... yeah, he'd probably be the yeti... i don't really know what "oni" is... but a kapre is really like a spirit or something... i doubt if he does anything shamanistic... or anything at all... folk creatures here seem to be describe only as how they look... how they attack etc... like they're purpose is really just to scare... anyway when you reach about 9yrs old here, you'd really forget those things... i hardly hear stories about them now... so... i find them not that "really" interesting... not much history whatsoever... if u find any... pls post them here :D

[machokismachok]

These infos are gathered from first-hand experiences,stories and experiences of other people I know, and from other legends...

Aswangs are sort of a mixed werewolf-vampire thing.
There is a kind of aswang called "manananggal", which is closer to the vampire, since it is said to have bat-like qualities.

It can also be the same as the "pontianak" of singapore(or was it malaysia?) Which is one of the creepiest legends in my opinion.

The normal aswang is closer to the werecreatures because it can change into an animal at will.Usually a big dog, a boar or a bird.

Aswangs are called by many names, depending on the sound they make or other factors. There are "wak-waks" and "tik-tiks". Just repeat the name over and over and you get the sound. But they are all the same. They come to eat babies and sick people.

One similarity of these creatures to the pontianak is that if the sound they make is quit loud, it's far away, and if it becomes softer, they are near.

They are also rumored to replace the body of sick people they will eat with a decoy. The decoy would act out as a normal person and would die after some time, so that the relatives wouldn't know that the person was really eaten by the aswang.This is what they call "na-aswang" or if you translate it, the person has been "aswanged" harhar.

The curse can be transferred into other humans in a variety of ways.,Usually, through a dish called "dinuguan" or other exotic dishes consisting of animal innards. A dinguan is a dish that consists mainly of cooked pig blood. Which is delicious by the way. IT's a Philippine delicacy.Others say that a stone is regurgitated into the transferee.

You can tell if a person is an aswang if their nose canal or whatever you call it. (The canal-like thing between your upper lip and nose) is not present. They usually have frizzy hair and bloodshot eyes. They also stay indoors during the day.

Aswangs are afraid of garlic too. But they are also afraid of normal weapons. One unique weakness of this creature is the "buntot ng pagi" or the tail of a stingray,which inflicts a mortal wound upon them.

More to be added later.

[Okami no hi]

Hey, remember me, other than work,I really do not get out enough. The hey, remember me is alot more (dramatic I think is the word) than it sounded. I am happy to read from you again. And thank you, I found that quite interesting, all of you. I will keep reading and see where this thread goes. Thank you all and have a nice day.

[machokismachok]

Thanks for the response. And I really hope someone from southeast asia would start a thread about the pontianak. It gives me the creeps.hahaha...

[Okami no hi]

No promisises that I can get the info, but next time my friend from Japan calls, I'll ask her about it. She has been all over Asia. I do not expect to hear from her for another month though. And I can never get ahold of her myself, but I'll find out what I can. Can I ask you something, it has to do with one of my other posts. No big deal really, just would like another beleivers opinion. And sorry for getting mad about the whole demonic thing, I just had a really bad day. Thank you, I'll see what I can do and good-bye.

[Lord Laracon]

:eek: Uh... Poor women, lol. Did anyone ever kill it, with the salty method? What a interesting vermin. :)

[Okami no hi]

When you say poor women, do you mean in his stories or are you refering to me? Thanks for letting me type.

[machokismachok]

From the stories, I believe. I really don't know anyone who claimed this to be actually true(The salt thing.). For all I know that is what the elders say.