Philippine Mythical Creature Part 1

Amalanhig
Hiligaynon believe in a certain being called Amalanhig. They are Aswangs who failed to transfer their monstrosity causing them to rise from their graves to kill humans by biting their necks. In order to escape from the Amanlanhigs, you need to run in zigzag direction since they can only walk in straight direction due to the stiffness of their body. You should also climb trees or high platforms enough for you be out of their reach. You can also run into lakes and rivers since Amanlanhigs are scared of deep bodies of water.

Bungisngis
Bungisngis is a one-eyed giant. This Philippine folklore giant lives in forest and woods. It is a happy and a playful cyclops.

Aswang
Aswang is a Filipino version of the vampire. They are human-like by day but transform into different monstrous forms to harass and eat awake humans at night, especially pregnant women who are about to give birth.[1] Aswangs can change from a human to an animal form, usually as a bat, a pig or a black dog. Some aswangs can change form at will, others through the use of foul oils concocted by evil magicians. Aswangs appear at night to prey upon unwary travellers or sleeping people. It is said that they have a peculiar liking for the taste of human liver. The myth of the Aswang is popular in the Visayas, especially in provinces such as Capiz, Antique, and Iloilo. Aswangs also have a peculiar liking for the fetus of pregnant women and are said to find their quarry by the scent of the mother, which to the aswang smells like ripe jackfruit. Upon finding the house of the pregnant mother, the aswang alights on the roof from where it stretches its tongue until it is as thin as a thread and uses it to enter the womb and feast on the fetus.

Bathala
Bathala, Diyos or Apo is the creation god in Filipino myths.

Diwata
Diwata, engkantada (from Spanish: encantada, “enchantress, charmed”) or engkanto (from Spanish: encanto, “spell, incantation, charm”) are fairies, nymphs, goddesses or enchanted persons who are believed to guard natural creations such as forests, seas, mountains, land and air. Diwatas are said to reside in large trees, such as acacia and balete. They are the guardian sprits of nature, bringing blessings or curses upon those who do good or harm to the forests and mountains. One famous diwata is Maria Makiling, guardian of Mount Makiling in Laguna province. Engkanto (sometimes spelled Encanto) is an umbrella term for most supernatural beings. The common connotation is that they are fairies who reside primarily in the forests and the sea. They can also be called encantado (male) or encantada (female).

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.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 usually leave food on the floor, so that the duwende residing (or guarding) the house would not be angry with them.

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.

Juan Tamad
Juan Tamad is a lazy man who was buried under the soil by monkeys. The monkeys thought he was long dead because of his laziness. He is described as the laziest man on earth.

Kapre
Kapre is a filthy, dark giant who likes to smoke huge rolls of cigars, and hide within and atop large trees, particularly the balete and old acacia or mango trees. A Filipino bigfoot, it scares away little children who play at night. If you’re stuck in a place and you keep going around in circles, you’re said to be played around by a Kapre. To escape its control, you must remove your t-shirt, and wear it inside-out.

Malakas and Maganda
Malakas and Maganda (literally, Strong One and Beautiful One)
are Filipino version of Adam and Eve. They are said to have sprung from a large bamboo tree pecked by a Sarimanok known as Magaul.

Mambabarang
Mambabarang (summoner) is a witch who uses insects and spirits to enter the body of any person they hate.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.

Source : Wikipedia

Pre-hispanic Culture

The Filipinos lived in settlements called barangays before the colonization of the Philippines by the Spaniards. As the unit of government, a barangay consisted from 30 to 100 families. It was headed by a datubarangay came from the Malay word balangay, a boat that transported them to the islands.) and was independent from the other groups. (The Tagalog word

Usually, several barangays settled near each other to help one another in case of war or any emergency. The position of datu was passed on by the holder of the position to the eldest son or, if none, the eldest daughter. However, later, any member of the barangay could be chieftain, based on his talent and ability. He had the usual responsibilities of leading and protecting the members of his barangay. In turn, they had to pay tribute to the datu, help him till the land, and help him fight for the barangay in case of war.

In the old days, a datu had a council of elders to advise him, especially whenever he wanted a law to be enacted. The law was written and announced to the whole barangay by a town crier, called the umalohokan.

The People’s Commandments.

Pre-college Filipino textbooks teach that the only written laws of pre-colonial Philippines that have survived are the Maragtas Code and the Code of Kalantiaw, both prepared in Panay. Some historians believe that the Maragtas Code was written by Datu Sumakwel, one of the chieftains from Borneo who settled there. As for the Code of Kalantiaw, it was said to have been promulgated by the third chief of Panay and possibly a descendant of Datu Sumakwel, Rajah Kalantiaw, in 1433. W. Henry Scott, however, has disputed the authenticity of the Code of Kalantiaw.

Classes of Society.

There were four classes of society. They were the ruling class (datu), the freemen and notable persons (maharlika), the commoners

(timawa), and the dependents and slaves (alipin). The alipin were of two kinds: the aliping namamahay, who were

household servants, and the aliping

saguiguilid, who were slave workers.

Clothing and Ornaments.

The natives already wore clothes and personal ornaments. The men wore short-sleeved and collarless jackets, whose length reached slightly below the waist. The color of the jacket appeared to indicate the position of the wearer in society, e.g., red for the chief, and blue or black for those below him, depending on the societal class. For the lower part, they wore a bahag, a strip of cloth wrapped around the waist, passing between the thighs. Their thighs and legs were left exposed.

A piece of cloth wrapped around the head, called a putong, served as a head gear. The kind of putong one wore was important. For example, a red putong meant the wearer had killed a man in war while one who had killed at least seven people signified so by wearing an embroidered putong. They also wore necklaces, armlets or kalombiga, earrings, rings, and anklets, usually made of gold and precious stones.

The women’s upper garment was a sleeved jacket, called a baro. Over their skirts (saya or patadyong) was wrapped a strip of cloth called tapis. They also wore gem-studded bracelets, necklaces, rings, and gold earrings.

Tattoos were part of the body ornaments of pre-Hispanic Filipinos, men and women alike. These were also sported as war “medals.” The more tattoos, the more impressive was a man’s war record.

The Filipinos from the Visayas Islands were the most tattooed, which was why early Spanish writers referred to them as Pintados or painted people. The writers referred to their Islands as Islas del Pintados or Islands of the Painted People.

Rice and More Rice. Agriculture was the early Filipinos’ main means of livelihood. They also grew an abundance of rice, sugarcane, cotton, hemp, coconuts, bananas, and many other fruits and vegetables. Land cultivation was by tilling or by the kaingin system. With the kaingin system, the land was cleared by burning the shrubs and bushes. After that, it was planted with rice and other crops, which were watered by irrigation ditches.

The world-famous Ifugao rice terraces of Mountain Province, which have stone walls and run for thousands of feet on the mountain sides, are irrigated by a system of ditches. From afar, the terraces seem to be a giant stairway leading to the sky. From end to end, the length could be about 12,000 miles or halfway around the Earth.

There were public and private lands. Those along the mountainsides and less arable lands were public property. They were open to everyone who wanted to till them. Private lands were usually exclusively for nobles and datus.