Here's a catalog
of ghouls and goblins (laman labuad, "earth creatures," the opposite
of heavenly spirits) that terrorized our Kapampangan ancestors:
********
MANGKUKUTUD,
the Kapampangan version of the manananggal, whose torso detached from the rest
of the body to fly in the night in search of cadavers to eat. This is the
reason we never leave our dead unattended, or the mangkukutud would steal the
corpse, slice the flesh and cook it. This creature laid eggs like hens do, and
people who took these eggs by mistake and cracked them open would be shocked to
find a nose, fingers, eyeballs and other body parts inside. The magkukutud got
its name from the ancient Kapampangan word kutud, "to cut."
MANGKUKUSINU,
the Kapampangan version of the mangkukulam, only much more evil. He could
inflict pain on a person even from a great distance, magically able to put
poison, a metal object or even a live chicken inside his victim's body, causing
extreme suffering.
KULARIUT, a
dark, elusive creature with a long white beard who lived in bamboo groves and
forests, perched on branches or rooftops quietly watching people while they
slept in their rooms. Not too long ago a theater group depicted kulariut as the
restless ghost of an American soldier, Col. Elliott.
MANGLILILI, an
invisible entity who caused disorientation in solitary travelers, making them
lose their way in deep forests and mountains. Poor travelers would spend hours,
even days, trying to find their way back. People living at the foot of Mount
Arayat have experienced being led astray by a beautiful lady for what seemed to
be only hours but turn out to be actually months and years.
MAGLALAGE was
the generic term for ghosts, or spirits of the dead stranded on earth because
of an unfinished business.
ASWANG was a
mean, dark creature who rubbed a special ointment on his armpits to fly in
search of the dying instead of the already dead.
MANGUANG ANAK,
fast-running agents of an unseen evil person or spirit who kidnapped children
off the streets and took them to a faraway place where they were bled to death
and their blood sold and used in minting coins (old folks thought dipping coins
in blood was part of the minting process and coins did taste like blood). When
I was a kid we called them Ilonggot, and I remember seeing one apprehended by
the police and tortured before a big crowd in front of the municipio.
BINANGUNAN,
vampirish beings that could suck the blood of children even from a distance.
Thin, anemic children were thought to be victimized by a binangunan. Research
must be made if this word is related to the name of the town Binangonan, Rizal.
KAPRI,
"10 to 15 feet tall, very black and wearing a long black coat, had long
arms, long beard, a long cane which he used to knock the heads of people, and
always had a long cigar in his mouth." He appeared at night during a
slight drizzle, staying under a large tree or squatting on its branches or sometimes
dangling his legs.” The kapri imagery probably originated from black Africans
who worked as slaves for Spaniards; Bergaño referred to these tall,
dark-skilled slaves as "cafre" in his 1732 dictionary (from the
Muslim derogatory term kafir, or heathen).
(An elaborate
description of these Kapampangan beliefs circa 1900 can be found in accounts
compiled by ethnographer H. Otley Beyer, in an unpublished volume at the HAU
Center for Kapampangan Studies courtesy of Beyer’s family.)
PHOTO SOURCES:
PATIANAK: Illustration by Mike Fernando
MANGKUKUTUD: Filipino Heritage, V
MANGLILILI: Rob Mulholland’s Mirror Statues: http://archive.boston.com/bostonglobe/ideas/brainiac/2012/04/rob_mulhollands.html
MAGLALAGE, ASWANG: Haunted Times, Issue 2, Fall 2009
KAPRI: Jbl Tayag FB page
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