Mythical Creatures Essay Example

apo") asking them to excuse themselves for bothering the Duwendes. Filipinos would leave food on the floor, so that the duwende residing (or guarding) the house would not be angry with them.

They also take your things,and laugh at you when you try to find it. They give it back when they feel like it,or when you tell them to please give it back. Ekek Ekek are creatures who are bird-like humans. They are winged-humans who at night search for victims. They hunger for flesh and blood. In American Literature, it is like a vampire. In Philippine mythology, Ekek (or Ek Ek) are creatures who are bird-like humans. They are winged-humans who search for victims at night. They hunger for flesh and blood.

They are usually described by old folks as flying creatures that look like the Manananggal but are unable to divide or split their body. Apart from the Manananggal, they are also associated to the Wak Wak because of some similar characteristics. The only difference between a Wak Wak and Ekek is that Ekek has a bill like birds whereas the Wak Wak has none. [1] The Ekek can transform into a huge bird/bat at night and prowls. Similar to the Manananggal, the Ekek looks for sleeping pregnant women. Then 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 "ek-ek-ek" sound is often heard. The Ekek fools people into thinking it is far by producing a faint sound when it is actually near. [2] Mambabarang (summoner) is a witch who uses insects and spirits to enter the body

of any person they hate. [citation needed] A Mambabarang is a kind of a mangkukulam. Mambabarangs are ordinary human beings with black magic who torture and later kill their victims by infesting their bodies with insects. They are different from Mangkukulams - the latter only inflict pain or illness.

Mambabarangs use a strand of hair from their chosen victim and tie it to the bugs or worms which they will use as a medium. When they prick the bug, the victim immediately experiences the intended effect. Manananggal is an aswang that can fly after separating itself from the lower half of its body. It eats babies and fetuses from a mothers womb. It eats babies by means of passing their long tongue through a small hole from the roof of a house. The sharp end of the tongue touches the mother's navel to suck the blood of the fetus or unborn child. 7]

This creature's name was derived from the Filipino word, tanggal, which means "to separate" because of the manananggal's ability to separate itself from its lower body. [1] A manananggal can also be a sorceress that visits villages and barrios. To feed, the self-segmenter chooses an isolated place where she will leave her lower torso while she hunts at night. When she separates from her lower torso, she then gains her ability to fly. She then goes off in search of houses where pregnant women reside. Upon choosing a suitable victim, the Manananggal alights on the house and inserts her tongue through the roof.

The tongue is long, hollow and extremely flexible. She uses it to puncture the womb of the sleeping woman and to suck

out the fetus. At other times, she seduces men with her beauty and lures them to a private place before eating them alive. She usually eats the insides, like the heart, stomach or the liver. Sunlight is deadly to the Manananggal when she is in her monstrous form. Should her two halves still be separate with the coming of dawn, she will be destroyed. According to legend, to destroy the Manananggal, one should search for the lower torso that she leaves behind during her nightly hunts.

Salt, ash, and/or garlic should then be placed on the exposed flesh, preventing the monster from combining again and leaving it vulnerable to sunlight. Small containers of salt, ash and raw rice, and the smell of burning rubber are said to deter the Manananggal from approaching one's house. Mangkukulam or bruha (from Spanish: bruja, "witch") are witches, wizards, bruho (Spanish:brujo, "wizard, male witch"), or sorcerers who cast evil spells to humans. This bewitcher is also called manggagaway. [1] The Mangkukulam uses dark magic.

The difference between a mambabarang and a mangkukulam is that the mambabarang uses magical insects to bring harm to his victims. These insects are released after incantations, when they will search for their supposed victim and burrow under the skin, impregnating her. After some time, matruculans return to the house to kill the pregnant mother, open her abdomen, and eat the growing fetus. Mangkukulam From WikiPilipinas: The Hip 'n Free Philippine Encyclopedia Jump to: navigation, search The Mangkukulam is the Filipino equivalent of a western witch or sorcerer, the name deriving from the word kulam.

Another term is brujo ('bruho' for warlocks), bruja ('bruha' for witches ). The verb

kulamin (/koo-lah-min/) means "to place a hex". And a curse in Filipino is a sumpa (/soom-pah/). Activities Mangkukulam uses “black magic” to do harm to others. He/she starts the ritual with a spell, incantations or prayer. With the use of manyika (doll or in other call are antiqrwa)this doll is said to be powerful and this is use in ancient filipino, afrikan and carraibian and needles by pricking the dolls body causes the victim to feel immense pain in the part of the body which has been pricked.

To kill a victim, the mangkukulam pricks the doll in the heart or on certain vital organs. In order for a kulam to be effective, one must obtain a certain personal body parts or belongings of the person you want to cause pain to (e. g. hair). Usually, one can get the service of a mangkukulam by bribing. Superstitious folks still attribute certain illnesses or diseases to kulam. This most often happens in the provinces, where an herbal doctor, albularyo (/al-boo-lar-yoh/), treats them. In some rural areas, people completely rely on tSample spell To summon rain: “ |Mamumuo ang ulap, didilim ang kalawakan; sa kapangyarihan ng tatlong ulit na espiritu luluha ang sangkatauhan. |” | Clouds will form, the sky will blacken; with the power of the three spirits the people of the earth shall wail. to stop the rain: "hindi na mamumuo ang ulap, liliwanag na ang kalawakan; sa kapangyarihan ng tatlong ulit na espiritu hindi na luluha ang sangkatauhan. " he albularyo to reverse the witches' spell. Multo, the Tagalog word for ghost, comes from the Spanish word muerto, which means "dead". Superstitious Filipinos believe that

some kind of multo, often a spirit of their former kin, regularly visits them.

Nuno sa punso (literally, goblin of the mound) are goblins or elves who live within mysterious lumps of soil (ant hills). They can provide a person who steps on their shelter with good luck or misfortune. [1] Superstitious Filipinos, when passing by a mound, will ask the resident nuno's permission to let them pass with the phrase, "Tabi-tabi po". Strange and sudden illnesses that befall a person are sometimes attributed to nunos. [edit] Pasatsat Pasatsat is word rooted on the Pangasinense word satsat, meaning "to stab". Pasatsats are ghosts of people who died or were killed in the Second World War.

Coffins during the time were so expensive, so the families of the dead wrapped the corpses in reed mats or icamen. The dead were buried in places other than cemeteries because tomb robberies were rampant during that era of extreme poverty. These ghosts usually show up in solitary paths and block passersby. To get rid of such a ghost, one needs to stab (hence pasatsat) the reed mat and unravel it, but doing so will show no presence of a corpse, although the mat will emit a noxious odor, much like that of putrid flesh The Santelmo (St. Elmo's Fire) is a creature of Philippine mythology.

The term santelmo is the shortened form of the Tagalog words"Apoy ni San Elmo "-"St. Elmo's Fire". St. Elmo's Fire has long served as an omen of heavenly intervention to sailors. The ancient Greeks termed a single jet of the fire, Helena, and a double jet, Castor and Pollux. It has also been known by the names

St. Nicholas and St. Hermes, corpusante and Corpus Santos. The name of St. Elmo is attributed to an Italian derivation of Sant 'Ermo or St. Erasmus (circa 300), the patron saint of the early Mediterranean sailors challenging the powers of storm and sea in small sailing vessels. 1] St. Elmo's Fire have ranged from a ghostly dancing flame to natural fireworks. It usually is of a blue or bluish-white colour attached to fixed, grounded conductors and has a lifetime of minutes. The flame is heatless and non-consuming, occasionally accompanied by a hissing sound.

These latter properties promote the myths of spiritual presence. The biblical burning bush that was not consumed may have been displaying one form of St. Elmo's Fire Sirena is a mermaid, a sea creature with a human upper body and a fish tail instead of lower extremities. They attract fishermen and tourists. 1] Sirenas are reportedly often seen ashore by fishermen, especially in the towns bordering the Pacific Ocean. [edit] Siyokoy Main article: Siyokoy (Philippine Mythology) Siyokoy are mermen, sea creatures that have a human form and scaled bodies. The Siyokoy is the male counterpart of the Sirena. The lower extremities of a Philippine merman can either be a fishtail or scaled legs and webbed feet. They could also have long, green tentacles. They drown mortals for food. [citation needed] Siyokoys have gill slits, are colored brown or green, and have scaly skin, comparable to that of a fish.

Tikbalang or tigbalang (demon horse) is a half-man and half-horse creature. It has a horse's head, the body of a human but with the feet of the horse. It travels at night to rape female

mortals. The raped women will then give birth to more tikbalang. They are also believed to cause travelers to lose their way particularly in mountainous or forest areas. [1] Tikbalangs are very playful with people, and they usually make a person imagine things that aren't real. Sometimes a Tikbalang will drive a person crazy. Legends say that when rain falls while the sun is shining, a pair of Tikbalangs are being wed.

Since horses only arrived in the Philippine archipelago during the Spanish colonization (thus, the borrowed term 'kabayo'), there is a theory that the image of a half-horse, half-man creature was propagated by the conquistadors to keep the natives afraid of the night. There are stories claiming that the Tikbalang are actually half-bird, half-man creatures, much like the Japanese tengu. Tiyanak Main article: Tiyanak Tiyanak or impakto are babies who died before receiving baptism rites. After death, they go to a place known as Limbo, a chamber of Hell where unbaptized dead people fall into, and transformed into evil spirits.

These phantasms return into the mortal realm in the form of goblins to eat living victims. The tiyanak can also be the offspring of a woman and a demon. It can also be the aborted fetus, which comes to life to take revenge on its mother. Most Tiyanaks are said to live in forests. If they see a human, they transform into what looks like a normal baby. When the person notices the Tiyanak and comes near to take a look at it, that's when the Tiyanak changes back to its true form and eats its prey. Wakwak Witch or night bird belonging to a witch.

Also said to be a vampire like creature who can take the form of a night bird.

In Philippine mythology, a Diwata or Lambana is a mythological figure similar to fairies or nymphs, although this trivializes the importance of diawata in pre-colonial Philippine culture. 400+ years ago, diawata were seen as gods and goddesses. They were benevolent or neutral and could be called upon ritually for positive crop growth, health, and fortune; however, they also caused illness or misfortune if not given proper respect[1]. They are said to reside in large trees, such as acacia and balete and are the guardian spirits of nature, casting blessings or curses upon those who bring benefits or harm to the forests and mountains.

They have their origin in the Hindu Devata, with the term Diwata originating from the Indonesian Dewata. The term "diwata" has taken on various levels of meaning since its concept's being assimilated into the mythology of the pre-colonial Filipinos. It is sometimes loosely used to refer to a generic type of beings much like "elf" or "fairy," or very specific ones as mentioned above. It has been noted that the term "diwata" is synonymous to "anito," and that the usage of the word "diwata" is more prevalent in the Southern Philippines, while "anito" takes its place in the Northern areas.