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A brief introduction to Filipino folklore and mythology

By circletimessquare in Culture
Sat Jun 21, 2003 at 01:44:30 PM EST
Tags: Culture (all tags) 		Culture

A lot of us in the West have heard of trolls, leprechauns, and vampires.

Yawn.

Have you heard of Manananggal? Tikbalang? Maria Makiling?

Read on then, because folklore and mythology is important, all over the world. And the Philippines has an extremely rich and fascinating folklore. "Ang siyang di lumingon sa pinanggalingan ay di makararating sa paroroonan (Whoever does not look back at a starting point, will not arrive at a destination)". It is bad to lose touch with one's cultural roots, and the cultural roots, in turn, of the world, the least reason for which is so as to not wind up as bitter as this guy.

Manananggal

Manananggal are similar to Pennangalan in Malaysia, to which the Philippines is linguistically and culturally related. Also called Wakwak in the Visayas (The Philippines can be roughly understood in 3 pieces: Luzon in the North, the Visayas in the middle, and Mindanao in the south... each is linguistically and culturally somewhat distinct).

What are Manananggal? The scariest goriest bad ass vampires you are ever to come across.

By day, they look like beautiful women. In fact, the more adoring males they come across they often turn into their consorts who guard their queen fanatically, especially when her inanimate body is most vulnerable: at night. The word Manananggal roughly means "self-remover" in Tagalog. This is because at night, a Manananggal's head lifts from her body cavity, and she flies about, her internal organs hanging from her floating head. Alternatively, she turns her arms into wings, or spouts wings, and severs at the torso instead. Here is a sketch of that form from Dion Fernandez.

The smell of vinegar gives them away, the fluid that preserves their ghastly parasitical cohabitation with their daytime body. Manananggal prey on pregnant women, specifically the fetus, almost exclusively. They have a tube which comes out of their mouth to perform the feeding, like this (Warning: annoying midi music ahead).

You kill a Manananggal by putting salt on its lower body while the head is flying about. But of course, you have to get past the fanatical consorts which guard her vulnerable lower half first. If a Manananggal cannot reunite with its lower half by sunrise, she dies. The salt prevents this. They are part of a larger group of corpse-loving changelings called Aswang, of which they are perhaps the strongest and most powerful.

Maria Makiling

Maria Makiling is a diwata, a filipino fairy. She is a trickster forest spirit. She is alternatively malevolent, especially to hunters, and helpful. She is also sad in a way. Her story is attached to Mt. Makiling on the big island of Luzon. This page has a good write up about Maria and the mountain:

Makiling is one of the most famous mountain in the archipelago and with that comes a lot of folklore and legends about the mountain and the goddess that lives in the mountain, Mariang Makiling. In fact people living within the towns under the shadow of the mountains has always describe the silhouette of the mountain peak as that of Makiling lying down.

One of the famous stories is about an enchanted woman who lived in the quiet woods at the foot of Mt. Makiling. The people named her Maria Makiling because of where she lived. She was a young and beautiful woman. The beauty abundance and serenity of this enchanted place complimented her rare qualities. She was kind and compassionate to the town people. She shared the full and rich abundance of her enchanted places; fishes in the lake, food and crops, fruits and trees. All were for free. People could borrow from her whatever they need, whatever they wanted. Her kindness was known far and wide. One afternoon, a hunter came by and wandered into her kingdom. When he saw her beauty, he fell in love with her and she too felt the same way for him. They met and talk everyday and promised to love each other forever. Until one day Maria waited for him but he did not come. Maria discovered that he found a real woman and got married. She was very sad and frustrated. She felt deeply hurt and realized that the town people could not be trusted because she was different from them and they were just using her. Forgiving was really difficult. Her sadness and frustration turned into anger that she refused to give fruits to the trees. Animals and birds were no more. Fish no longer abound the lakes. People seldom saw her. It was only during pale moonlit nights that they sometimes see her.

Another story is about three suitors who intensely battled for the heart of Makiling. One was a Spanish soldier, another, a Spanish-Filipino mestizo and the third, a Filipino farmer named Juan. In the end the Filipino won the heart of Maria Makiling which angered the two other suitor. They have plotted to kill him through a fire that broke down on the garrison, which they blamed against Filipinos including Juan. They shot Juan as punishment and before dying he shouted the name of Maria. Maria went down in the mountain and cursed the two as well as the other men who cannot accept failure in love then she went back in the mountains never to be seen again. The Spanish soldier died during the revolution while the mestizo died of illness. When somebody gets lost in the mountains, people attribute it to the curse on Makiling.

Here is a more thorough telling of Maria's experience with her 3 suitors. Here is a good abstract portrait of her by Arnold Arre. Here is another one of her legends. The legends usually revolve around hunters getting lost in the woods and falling in lover with her, and her alternately being helpful at first, and then wrathful when promises to her are broken, or just plain mean to hunters lost in the woods to begin with, perhaps due to prior experiences? There is always a theme of lost or forbidden love as well with Maria.

Tikbalang

A tikbalang is sort of a centaur in reverse- like a minotaur. They are sometimes harmless, and sometimes downright malevolent creatures, depending upon the myth, but they are never stupid. They are tricksters, and are very playful and intelligent. They often riddle whomever they meet, and if successfully beaten at their riddling, they will allow their victims to pass, or reward with gold. A little off-topic: "Tame the Tikbalang" is also the name of a great Pinoy Punk band! More. Pictures.

Kapre

Kapre are strange tree demons that smoke huge cigars. Warning: annoying midi music ahead.

The term kapre was derived from the Spanish "kapfre", in turn from the Moors, from the Arabic Kaffir, an African non-believer. It is suggested that when the conquistadors first came to the Philippines, they heard about the mystical creatures approximating their kafre, and soon the conqueror's lexicon prevailed in any areas.  
Be very careful when trees move without wind. This means that a kapre is present at the very top of the tree. The kapre sits quietly smoking a leg-sized cigar that never burns out. It terrifies passerby with its size, glowing eyes and cigar, but it is otherwise harmless. It is said to live in trees, abandoned houses and ruined buildings. They are believed to appear only at night.

Mangkukulam

Mangkukulam is Filipino black magic. A great practitioner of Mangkukulam is called a Mambabarang. Do not mess with it. I won't even talk that much about it, besides to quote this tale:

A woman friend (let's call her Lita) of ours from Batangas (Philippines) had an ugly fight with an old man regarding a coconut tree. After sometime, Lita finds her tummy getting big. Thinking she was pregnant, she announced it to almost everyone in the barrio. Days passed she became aware that there is something wrong with her preganancy. Her tummy gets bigger way too fast - considering that she had only been "pregnant" for two months. When she went to a doctor, the doctor tells her that there's some kind of a "mass" inside her tummy, and it's definitely not a baby. So she had surgery. When the doctor opened her tummy, nata de coco (a processed coconut) spilled out of her. Almost 2 bags were taken out. "Binarang ka siguro ng matandang nakaaway mo, kilala iyon sa lugar namin bilang mambabarang" (The old man you had a fight with is well known to be a mambabarang and you had become his victim) says one of our ka-barrio.

Siquijor

I once talked to a guy from Siquijor. I told him I wanted to go to that island because of its fascinating connection with the supernatural. And he was like, "Why would you ever want to go there?" It's not a particularly large or impressive island. It's quite tiny and charming, actually, it's just a little out of the way. But for some reason, its infamy in the Visayas as a center of witchcraft and Mangkukulam is well-establish. The guy said he was constantly teased at school in Cebu for being from there. And whatever you do, according to those "in the know," if you go to Siquijor, if you let anyone there touch you, you MUST immediately touch them back! Or you will be doomed to the world of black magic and be at the mercy of Mangkukulam. Here is a good examination of the quaint little island with the strange reputation.

You have only scratched the surface! You need to find out about Dwende, the Filipino equivalent of elves, or gnomes, Engkantos, Baconaua- huge dragon sharks, etc. More links:

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Related Links
o destinatio n
o bitter as this guy
o Here is a sketch of that form
o Dion Fernandez.
o like this
o This page
o 3 suitors
o Here
o Arnold Arre
o another one
o Pinoy Punk band
o More
o Pictures
o Warning: annoying midi music ahead.
o this tale
o quite tiny
o charming
o well-estab lish
o Here is a good examination
o Engkantos
o List of creatures
o Filipino folklore links
o Mythology and stories
o Categorize d stories
o A fanciful gaming site, but with a good survey of creatures from real mythology
o Even more creatures
o Also by circletimessquare

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A brief introduction to Filipino folklore and mythology | 112 comments (80 topical, 32 editorial, 0 hidden)
Can I ax you a question? (3.55 / 9) (#1)
by A Proud American on Fri Jun 20, 2003 at 09:09:51 PM EST

What about voodoo?

____________________________
The weak are killed and eaten...
But (1.13 / 52) (#2)
by bayou on Fri Jun 20, 2003 at 10:17:07 PM EST

do they have slanted vaginas?

You bastard! (2.66 / 6) (#4)
by Fredrick Doulton on Fri Jun 20, 2003 at 10:54:58 PM EST

Tikbalang stole my hubcaps! :(

Bush/Cheney 2004! - "Because we've still got more people to kill"

A brief introduction to anal sex (1.07 / 64) (#15)
by lowlife on Sat Jun 21, 2003 at 01:28:35 AM EST

Here's the info u wanted, rusty.
kthxbye
Some notes:
This is a strictly physical how-to guide. Anal sex is obviously not for everyone but it is my belief that if done right it can be lots of fun with a partner or with a favorite sex toy.  It is my intent to provide a step by step how-to with common sense advice, as a result this will not be even remotely erotic.

Please read the Everything2 medical disclaimer before making any decisions based on this node.

Preparation:
There are a few things that you will need before attempting this for the first time:

lubricant: some women can just move some excess vaginal lubricant down to the anus and it will work fine. But this is not the case for all women. If you aren't particularly juicy , or you're a guy, go to your local sex toy shop and pick up some lubricant. I recommend Astroglide. It's the only brand I've ever used but it works wonders and I have friends who have experimented with other brands and prefer this one. Please follow the astroglide link for more details. Spit can get you started but it doesn't generally last long. K-y is probably the best known lube but it gets sticky too quickly.
a very caring partner, or a vibrator/dildo.

Getting there:
Ok, before you even get to the point of inserting anything sizeable into your anus I recommend moistening your middle finger and lightly running it over your anus while you are masturbating or being sexually stimulated in any other way. It is very important that you don't clench it up. If you do the more sensitive part will get sucked in and it won't feel terribly interesting. This stimulation alone can feel quite good but if it doesn't to you I don't think you're going to enjoy taking it any further. Take your time with the following steps. Some people may get all the way to full anal sex the first time while some may take many times to relax enough.

Everything from this point on is dependant on you being able to relax your anus. This can be difficult the first couple times as you're whole life you've been working on keeping that hole closed. It can also depend on you feeling emotionally relaxed enough to let yourself physically relax that much in the presence of another person. Deep breathing can be very helpful in relaxing the anus. Also, just getting used to being touched there can help you to relax. It should go without saying, that you should not do this if you have to poop , unless, of course, you or your partner are into excrement. Also remember that the anus is not a sanitary environment so nothing you insert should go anywhere near a vagina without being thoroughly cleaned first. It is also very important that your fingernails are short and don't have any sharp edges. This is also a very good rule when inserting them into a vagina as long or sharp nails can create micro-lesions on the vulnerable inside walls which can lead to infection. This is not something you want in either place. Like everything else in life, take a break if it hurts and stop if you see blood.

When you are ready relax your anus and slowly insert your finger; I don't recommend moving up to anything larger yet. Go slow and use a back and forth motion to get it in. A straight push may hurt depending on how much lubricant you have and how relaxed you are. Once it's in there you'll probably be a bit tight. Just leave it there without moving it until you fully relax. The sensation can feel similar to having to poop. In my experience this goes away after the first couple times or possibly after you get to the stage of actually having anal sex. Once you have relaxed enough try moving your finger in and out and wiggling it around inside. You will start to learn what does and does not feel good for you but this is only the tip of the iceberg.

If you press your fingertip into the side near the opening yoiu should be able to feel the two sphincter muscles. They are about a quarter of an inch apart. The outside one is controlled by you. The inside one is controlled by the autonomic part of your nervous system and will react to fear and anxiety. So you really need to be comfortable with your partner and surroundings.

Moving your finger around in ther may feel interesting but not be all that you hoped for. Don't worry, the sensations get more interesting when you finally move to something larger. Some people will find this to be more than enough fun and actually more pleasurable than actual anal intercourse. Be careful what you do with that finger when you're done.

When you finally move to something larger you will find that you only want to insert it so far. After that it will start poking into uncomfortable parts. Some angles may also be uncomfortable for you. Be sure to use plenty of lube. You will generally find that , like vaginal sex, you need to start off slowly. If you're moving up to a penis be sure that you have a caring and sensitive partner with you who will pay attention to your needs. Anal sex can be uncomfortable, or even painful, if done without paying attention to what the receiver needs.

"Diet contributes to the enjoyment of anal sex. Regular bowel movements are the major function of the anus and rectum. There must be sufficient fiber in a person's diet to make his or her feces soft, bulky and well formed. This allows a bowel movement to be produced without force or effort. Forced evacuations irritate anal tissues, causing discomfort and adding to muscular tensions. Fresh fruits, vegetables, whole grains or unprocessed bran are important sources of fiber. " -sexuality.org

Now, that you know the basic mechanics let's move on to how to make the experience as pleasurable as possible.

Satisfying the anus:

with vibrator/dildos
Be careful not to turn vibrators up too high. Otherwise, your anus can go a bit numb for a while afterwards. This is because the sphincter closes much more tightly around it than a vulva usually can and thus absorbs more vibration.
with a penis:
Beware of penises that are too large. Too large is uncomfortable. Penises that are too small can occasionally get pushed out when you clench too hard. You don't have this problem with a dildo because you can hold it in. The man penetrating you won't be expecting it and will usually get pushed out at least a little bit.
as long as you are lubricated you shouldn't notice a difference between a penis with or without a condom in terms of friction.
with either:
Most of the sensation for you and your partner comes from the sphincter muscles at the opening. In and out motion can be very stimulating here, the more the better. Like vaginal sex, really fast is a completely different sensation from really slow. Just be sure to not poke in to far or at the wrong angle. Like vaginal sex there really isn't that much to it. It's simple, and fun.
Doggie Style is not the only position you can do this in. Some people find lying on their backs with their butt and lower back propped up with pillows to be a great position for receiving. You can also do it while spooning, bent over a table, riding your lovers penis, or strap-on, or any other position that sounds interesting to you.
If the receiver here is a male don't forget to stimulate the prostate "which is just beyond the rectal wall, a few inches in, towards the front of the body - can be a source of pleasure when massaged by a finger, an object, or a penis. Also, the lower end of the penis, or "bulb," is near the anal opening opening. It is stimulated indirectly by most types of anal sex" -sexuality.org
after orgasm some people find it uncomfortable to keep anything inserted into them.

Satisfying the penis and man:

Clenching your anus can enhance the sensation for a man penetrating you
The greater their range of motion the more stimulating it is for them. So, the more deeply they can move in and out the better.
Men generally find anal sex to be very pleasurable because of how tight it can get, so don't forget to squeeze.
Some men also find it visually stimulating with a doggie style position because , unlike with vaginal sex, they can see everything that is going on.
Some men also find the taboo of not using a condom (which I don't recommend for many reasons) to be a turn on. There is of course the whole argument about it being more sensitive without one but I will leave that up to you.
Afterwards:

Obviously be sure to thoroughly clean off anything you've inserted before it touches anything. You may want to have a washcloth or saran wrap or paper towel nearby to set your dildos on without having to get up wash stuff in the middle of
If you want to go quickly from anal sex to vaginal sex just be sure to have condoms on your partner or dildo and change them between orifices.
When you're all done you may feel a warm, almost tingly, sensation for up to 30 minutes afterwards. Not everyone experiences this and it isn't a bad feeling at all. You may also feel like pooping. It seems that sometimes that much action seems to set things in motion and you end up going sooner than you would normally expect.
Common Questions:

Isn't it dirty? Not really so long as you have pooped recently and/or don't feel you'll have to go any time soon. But, remember that sooner or later you are bound to encounter a little piece of brown. Don't get freaked. It 's not going to hurt you and if the penis in question wore a condom it will have never actually come into contact. Your dildo/vibrator won't care in the least.

Will it hurt? Not if done correctly.

Can I come from anal sex alone? Yes, well, some of you will be able to but we're actually a minority. Most people will also need some genital stimulation to reach orgasm.

What about condoms? Use 'em. Just because you can't get pregnant this way (under most circumstances) doesn't mean you can't catch a disease this way.

Will I go to hell for this? Only if you die before you make it to confession.
Is this really illegal? In America almost every sex act that isn't heterosexual missionary position sex is illegal . I can't comment on other countries.

What about analingus/rimming? That's another node entirely. I'll link to it once I get it written.

From: http://www.everything2.com/index.pl?node_id=762128

Your mind begins to clear.

filipino culture is interesting (4.00 / 2) (#18)
by gt3 on Sat Jun 21, 2003 at 03:29:32 AM EST

Nice article. I've only really read about the history and folklore of Filipino Martial Arts, like balisong butterfly knife, yo-yo's and stick fighting, which is also very interesting.

Fascinating. (5.00 / 1) (#28)
by Akshay on Sat Jun 21, 2003 at 05:19:56 AM EST

I'd love to learn more of course! +1, FP.

Incidentally, your article gives enough gist to prove this guy wrong, particularly where he says that the Philippines is the only South East Asian country not to be affected by Indic culture in the early 5-6th century AD.

That is obviously false, proved not only by the fact that the Tagalog script was derived from the 4th century Brahmi script, but also by the (Tagalog?) word, "diwata", clearly influenced by the Sanskrit "deevata", a sort of demi-god.

Chap with the cigar (5.00 / 1) (#33)
by Three Pi Mesons on Sat Jun 21, 2003 at 07:18:54 AM EST

What's the history of smoking in the Philippines - and is that a tobacco cigar, or something else? How old is the kapre story? The link you gave suggested a connection with the conquistadors, at least as regards the name. I'm just surprised to see a cigar in a mythological context.

:: "Every problem in the world can be fixed with either flowers, or duct tape, or both." - illuzion
They had a Johnny Quest episode... (5.00 / 1) (#34)
by debacle on Sat Jun 21, 2003 at 07:21:14 AM EST

About one of those wakwak vampire things, or whatever. It was pretty sweet. The Indian dude was totally taken over by the bitch, and then Johnny got hurt, and that redheaded girl had to save his ass.

And yeah, I'm talking about the newer ones, not the older ones where all they did was follow rocket men and black circles with needle legs.

JQ is sweet, and, thusly, +1 for the great article.

It tastes sweet.

K00l (1.50 / 8) (#43)
by Hide The Hamster on Sat Jun 21, 2003 at 11:02:46 AM EST

I await your next installment: Social traditions of African Pygmies on the Subject of Marriage.


Free spirits are a liability.

August 8, 2004: "it certainly is" and I had engaged in a homosexual tryst.
Manananggal or Penanggalan? (5.00 / 1) (#55)
by danceswithcrows on Sat Jun 21, 2003 at 06:44:45 PM EST

I've heard of the Manananggal, and so have thousands of other folks who played AD&D at some point... except the creature was called a Penanggalan in the Fiend Folio and several other places on the Web. ISTR the Penanggalan was mentioned in a book called "The Vampire Encyclopedia", which was a compilation of vampire legends from many sources. Interesting read if you're into that kind of thing. Anyway, is the Manananggal/Penanggalan thing a transliteration artifact, like Qaddafi/Khadafi, or are these variants of the same creature? I don't recall the AD&D book or the Vampire Encyclopedia mentioning the Penanggalan feeding off pregnant women exclusively; both sources said that it fed on males and females alike.

Is "Dwende" similar to the Mexican "duendes"? I was unaware of the other mythological beasts mentioned. I don't know that the Philippines need scary critters in mythology though, since scary things are routinely served up as bar food there. Thanks for bringing this to k5's attention!

Matt G (aka Dances With Crows) There is no Darkness in Eternity/But only Light too dim for us to see

Vedic influence? (none / 0) (#56)
by gmol on Sat Jun 21, 2003 at 06:49:06 PM EST

There is a diffuse smearing out of vedic mythology (character stories etc.) from India across through Indo-China, does the indegnous Phillpine culture share any of this influence as Malaysia, Indonesia, Laos, Cambodia, Thailand etc. do?

Good Article (5.00 / 1) (#58)
by PhillipW on Sat Jun 21, 2003 at 07:43:03 PM EST

I knew this filipino girl once that fit the description you gave of the Manananggal almost perfectly. She wasn't vampire by night though, only when you got to know her, and she tended to suck will to live rather than blood. Maybe they aren't a myth after all.

That aside, very good article. I tend to find the mythology of other culture much more interesting than I do American mythology. I don't know why, but other cultures seem to be much more fun with their myths. Maybe it has something to do with them being so old, when people really honestly didn't know how to explain things. Whereas America is fairly young, and capable of explaining just about everything we came across in a scientific way.

-Phil
You forgot to mention The greatest Filipnio myth (1.05 / 17) (#59)
by Nigga on Sat Jun 21, 2003 at 08:08:51 PM EST

It's actually of western origin regarding Filipinas in that they are all mostly pretty fuckin fine. In reality though, the vast majority of filipinas are nasty, gross, ugly, funky, and just downright hideous. With about .05% of filipinas just being INSANELY FUCKIN FINE! It's so strange because there's no like gray area.. in between like there's no sorta hot filipinas... they're either disgustingly hideous are some of the finest shit you've ever seen. Wait, was jessica alba filipina? I speak of her in the past tense because she fucked her career up pretty bad when she decided to target her babe-aliciousness to nerds in that dark angel bullshit. Yawn how boring was that show? Fucking nerd entertainment man. Anyways, the point is the vast majority of other asian countries have a normal ratio of hot to not hot chicks, and you should go teach english there... and read about their folklore... so you don't end up always sticking your dick into a chubby filipina.

They're insanely christian over there now too I hear.

--------
The fuck happened to Nigga?

Nessecary Simpsons quote: (none / 0) (#60)
by faustus on Sat Jun 21, 2003 at 08:23:57 PM EST

Comic Boy Guy: "No! No, freakin' kids. I do not need this, I've got a masters degree in folklore mythology."

Game Ka Na Ba? (none / 0) (#61)
by buck on Sat Jun 21, 2003 at 08:43:51 PM EST

Game Na!
-----
“You, on the other hand, just spew forth your mental phlegmwads all over the place and don't have the goddamned courtesy to throw us a tissue afterwards.” -- kitten
I love Tagalog. (4.00 / 1) (#64)
by radicalskptc on Sat Jun 21, 2003 at 09:30:58 PM EST

To me, Tagalog is the coolest language on Earth, easily. It sounds great and looks cool. Do you know what their phrase for sex is? "Ang pagkalalaki o pagkababae." ELEVEN SYLLABLES LONG! For "sex"! Imagine how long their word for "foreplay" must be! Here's a bad/free Tagalog/English dictionary: http://www.foreignword.com/dictionary/Tagalog/default.htm

What's your interest in all of this? (5.00 / 1) (#66)
by Wayfarer on Sun Jun 22, 2003 at 02:21:06 AM EST

To wit, how did you end up with an interest in Filipino folklore?

I find that the stories authors tell about the origins of their articles tend to be just as interesting as the articles themselves.  ^_^

-W-

"Is it all journey, or is there landfall?"
-Ellison & van Vogt, "The Human Operators"


Thank you! (5.00 / 1) (#70)
by salvadorange on Sun Jun 22, 2003 at 03:48:47 AM EST

Hello! I thought your culture piece was awesome. I have an incredible interest in Filipino culture, as I have done Filipino folk dancing for several years. Also, the anthropology aspect was very cool. Did you dig all that info up for specific research, or have you always known it? Let me know please, and if you did research it, I'd love your resources.
Salvador Naranja
Tikbalang pictures (none / 0) (#74)
by edo on Sun Jun 22, 2003 at 07:59:52 AM EST

Am I the only one who was disappointed to find out that the promised Tikbalang pictures were of the band, not of the beast? Oh well. Very interesting little article, otherwise. Any more mythology/folklore buffs out there willing to write an article?
-- 
Sentimentality is merely the Bank Holiday of cynicism.
 - Oscar Wilde
when i regress (none / 0) (#80)
by the sixth replicant on Sun Jun 22, 2003 at 01:58:00 PM EST

back to playing D&D and I suddenly meet a reverse minotaur with some cigar smoking tree by its side that my western forged +3 sword can't touch..I know who to blame :)

"Aswang" (1.50 / 2) (#85)
by mcgrew on Sun Jun 22, 2003 at 10:17:30 PM EST

"Aswang"- now that is a hilarious cross-language pun! It's almost as good as Thailand's "Fuckit Island" (spelled "Phu-ket" on an atlas; remember, they have a different alphabet).

Anybody else have any good cross-language puns? Besides "nose" and "nova?"

"The entire neocon movement is dedicated to revoking mcgrew's posting priviliges. This is why we went to war with Iraq." -LilDebbie

There's something about East Asian folklore (5.00 / 1) (#89)
by nebbish on Mon Jun 23, 2003 at 11:30:39 AM EST

It seems to have the most imaginative mythical creatures. When I was a kid I was fascinated by Japanese Kappa (I forget all about it until it was brought back to me playing Shenmue II on the Dreamcast!).

And you don't get much scarier than Chinese ghosts.

Great article, really interesting.

---------
Kicking someone in the head is like punching them in the foot - Bruce Lee

This is excellent (4.00 / 2) (#93)
by CwazyWabbit on Mon Jun 23, 2003 at 01:14:29 PM EST

+ 1FP You have rekindled my own interest in mythologies, thanks. I'm sure I have read about similar creatures in other cultures' myths - do you have any idea about cross-pollination of myths between cultures, and possibly how the creatures you describe entered Filipino lore and where they could have gone from there? Or how I could go about finding out about it?
--
"But here's the thing: if people hand me ammunition, what kind of misanthrope would I be if I didn't use it?" - Sarah-Katherine
Folklore and the Catholic Church (5.00 / 1) (#96)
by lpret on Mon Jun 23, 2003 at 10:15:07 PM EST

I'm an American but I lived in the Philippines for 12 years, mostly in Manila, but in Batangas a few years. The thing that always was fascinating to me was how Catholic beliefs were assimilated into the local belief system. This is standard of most countries that Spain was colonizing at the time (ie Latin America) and what is interesting is to see the similarities between the Filipino/Catholic folklore and the Bolivian/Catholic folklore for instance. It's as if Catholicism validated the folklore and allowed it to survive much longer.

A society grows great when old men plant trees whose shade they know they shall never sit in. - Greek proverb

this is nice (5.00 / 1) (#101)
by chashiineriiya on Wed Jun 25, 2003 at 08:41:33 AM EST

i'm from hk but i've lived in the philippines ever since I was born... am studying in an int'l school there. a story about filipino folklore is really great to see on here :) i remember being told the story about the ibong adarna on mt. makiling... its a really scary story every time I hear it

Always Good To Come Across a New Subject (5.00 / 1) (#109)
by t reductase on Sun Jun 29, 2003 at 09:30:25 PM EST

A lot of times the same old questions with no really new inputs get debated endlessly. I at least was unfamiliar with this area. So I thought the article was good.

Mysterious title (none / 0) (#110)
by t reductase on Fri Jul 04, 2003 at 11:51:40 PM EST

This is Japanese anime. This has the same relationship to indigenous Philipino culture Pecos Bill does.

A brief introduction to Filipino folklore and mythology | 112 comments (80 topical, 32 editorial, 0 hidden)
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