Filipino Mythical Creatures II

MANANANGGAL

A manananggal is described as being an older, beautiful woman (as opposed to an aswang), capable of severing its upper torso in order to fly into the night with huge bat-like wings to prey on unsuspecting, pregnant women in their homes; using an elongated proboscis-like tongue, it sucks the hearts of fetuses or blood of an unsuspecting, sleeping victim. The severed lower torso is left standing and it is said to be the more vulnerable of the two halves. Sprinkling salt or smearing crushed garlic or ash on top of the standing torso is fatal to the creature. The upper torso then would not be able to rejoin and will die at daybreak. The name of the creature originates from an expression used for a severed torso: manananggal comes from the Tagalog, tanggal (cognate of Malay tanggal) which means to remove or to separate. Manananggal then means the one who separates itself (in this case, separates itself from its lower body).

TIYANAK

There are various theories on how tianaks came to being. The Mandaya people of Mindanao claims that the tianak is the spirit of a child whose mother died before giving birth. This caused it to be "born in the ground", thus gaining its current state.[2] The Malay supernatural creature called Pontianak was a woman who died before giving birth. Another theory suggests that the tianak is formed from the soul of an infant which died before being baptized.[6] A variant of this theory suggests that the tianak is an aborted fetus that returned from death to seek revenge on those who deprived it of life. Finally, the tianak is simply an imp or a demon from the start.[1]

DUWENDE

Duwende are goblins, hobgoblins, elves or dwarfs (Spanish: duende "golbin, elf, charm" < "duen de (casa)", owner of the house). They are little creatures who can provide good fortune or bad fate to humans.[1] In the Philippines, duwendes frequently live in houses, in trees, underground, termite like mound or hill, and in rural areas. They are known to be either good or mischievous, depending on how homeowners treat them. They usually come out at 12 noon for an hour and during the night. Filipinos always mutter words ("tabi-tabi po" or "bari-bari apo ma ka ilabas kami 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.