Filipino Folklore: The 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.
What do you think they really are?
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Folklore, from any country, is super interesting. I would hate to meet one of these Aswangs, they sound nasty.
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Hi RT,
been to da Phils twice, but never heard about things like Aswangs or Shadow people.
Feels kind of spooky to read about them here.
I'm not sure if i should feel happy about it or if i should feel like i missed out on something important …
Michael
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Well i dont know if i would believe aswang im a pinoy and my family live in visayas in masbate specifically and they told me that aswang is real because their old lady neighbor is an aswang, even here in cavite they say that there are aswangs here specially in indang. .i've never seen one but my lola(grandmom) did in masbate. .i dont if its true or not. .
I tried to comment once before, but my comment didn't show up, so I appologize if it looks like a duplicate.
I wonder what the supposed threat of the aswangs is. Why are people afraid of them? Are they supposed to be like demons or something? If they resemble lemurs, then they're probably cute and cuddly.
Then again… Chucky was cute once too.
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i hav already read about some shadow people in ur blog & now reading about this aswang! u r scaring me man…
happy that i dont live in philippines
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In Bohol province, the land of my ancestors, they are called "wok-woks". I've had some strange occurrences in my few trips there mostly in my childhood, but I've never seen one. They are the equivalent of what are black witches here in the US. What I think they really are the fertile imaginations of superstitious minds.
According to my lately passed old man, Incantos have finally reached the Rocky Mtns here in the US. Was in Tucson, AZ for a military reunion last year but didn't see any.
Nice blog you've got here. Found you from a Google Alert for "Filipino American" for your "Politically Incorrect" article. Been surfing around your site since I read that. Quite entertaining. Keep up the good work. Semper Fi!
p.s…are you on Facebook?…jt
I have an account on Facebook, but I never go there. I just don't have the time to mess with stuff like that.
I agree most folklore starts out with something. Sounds like mutiple ones from around the world all rolled into one. Sometimes the locals have good reasons to believe in something tht can not be explained.
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I'm from Central Visayas also but presently based in Southern Luzon now. The existence of ASWANG is more of a fiction than reality however the belief of their existence is very strong particularly in remote villages. Barrio folks would usually suspect people with strange looks specifically older ones to be ASWANG or UNGO in vernacular.
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My wife and I are expecting a baby. She is filipina and I am american. I am one of those people I have to see it to believe it. Well my story is I do believe that there are aswangs among the filipino people. I was there in April and we got married. I was up for a couple of nights cause of wierd sounds. My wife just told me that her and her sister heard again the noises. ALso saw a shadow. Now I am doing alot of research on this and want all the info I can get. I have some now. But need more. Is there anyone out there that can help with this. Please I need info..
Thank you
timberwolf
According to my lately passed old man, Incantos have finally reached the Rocky Mtns here in the US. Was in Tucson, AZ for a military reunion last year but didn't see any. I wonder what the supposed threat of the aswangs is. Why are people afraid of them? Are they supposed to be like demons or something? If they resemble lemurs, then they're probably cute and cuddly.