ASWANG

Aswangs are the most feared mythical creature by the Filipinos. They are Filipino ghouls and shape shifters. They are human-like by day but transform into monsters at night. They can change from human to an animal form like bat, bird, pig, cat, or black dog. The transformation can happen through their own will or through the use of foul concocted oil. They also have the ability to steal cadavers secretly and replace them with the trunk of a banana tree carved in the cadaver’s likeness.

Aswangs wait by the roadsides, preying upon unsuspecting travelers. Some attacks houses to feed on sleeping people. It is said that human liver and heart are their favorite parts. Aswangs prefer pregnant women who are about to give birth. They love human fetus that they have developed the ability to track down pregnant women by the scent of their unborn child. Upon finding the house of a pregnant mother, the aswang positions itself on the roof and digs a hole through which it drops its long thin tongue to enter the woman’s womb and feast  on the fetus.

Since aswangs can take on a human image, it is hard to detect them in a crowd. However, there are many superstitions on how to deal with them. Firstly, it is said that you can determine if another human being is an aswang if you see your own reflection in their eyes as upside down. Also, the presence of an aswang can be revealed by using a bottle of special oil extracted from boiled and decanted coconut meat mixed with certain plant stems. When an aswang comes around, the oil will boil and will continue until the aswang has departed. Further, aswangs are afraid of salt, ginger, garlic, rosary, stingray’s tails (ikog sa pagi) and shiny, sterling silver sword, and so these items can be used as defense weapons against them. These creatures cannot heal themselves, so an injury acquired as an aswang will remain when they revert back to human form.

The myth of Aswang is popular in the Visayas, particularly in the provinces of Capiz, Antique and Iloilo. The aswang is also known as wakwak, tiktik, bal-bal, soc-soc, and yanggaw.

(October 2013 https://sites.google.com/site/catmonanonsabako/tradition/customs-and-beliefs/folklore)

References, Attributions and Further Reading:

•           Philippine mythical creatures – Wikipedia

•           Philippine Myths & Legends: Manananggal – FFE Magazine

•           File:Manananggal.jpg From Wikimedia Commons – Manananggal, mythical creature of the Philippines – Gian Bernal – Creative Commons CC0 1.0 Universal Public Domain Dedication

•https://www.academia.edu/37262886/Supernatural_Creatures_in_Philippine_Folklore