Monday, October 15, 2018

97. 10 LAMAN LABUAD (EARTH CREATURES) OF PAMPANGA

by Robby P. Tantingco
Here's a catalog of ghouls and goblins (laman labuad, "earth creatures," the opposite of heavenly spirits) that terrorized our Kapampangan ancestors:
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 PATIANAK, small dark creatures that lived underground, in remote spots marked by termite mounds. Passers-by had to say "Makilabas ku pu!" or "Itábi po, puera nunu!" (“May I pass?" or "Please go away, I hope there is no old dwarf here!”) The word patianak did not come from the Tagalog tiyanak, but from the Bahasa pontianak, the ghost of a stillborn baby. Thus, Kapampangans thought them to be the souls of unbaptized children, who tormented women during childbirth and harassed immoral people (like unchaste priests and unfaithful husbands).


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
MAGLALAGE, ASWANG: Haunted Times, Issue 2, Fall 2009
KAPRI: Jbl Tayag FB page

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