The best way to understand the aswang concept is as a collection of beliefs about five different types of mythical creatures that are associated with specific creatures from European tradition: (1) the vampire, (2) the self-segmenting viscera sucker, (3) the weredog, (4) the vindictive or evil-eye witch, and (5) the ghoul that eats carrion. Therefore, the physical characteristics, habitat, or actions of these five categories of mythological beings—and occasionally other mythical beings like the demon, dwarf, and elf—are typically referred to when Philippine folklore speaks of the aswang. Here is a quick explanation of each facet of the aswang, a term mostly used by the nation's Tagalog, Bikol, and Visayan communities.
(Blood Sucker Aspect: Bicol, Cebu, Visayas, Ilokano) According to Philippine folklore, a vampire is a bloodsucking entity that poses as a lovely girl. By marrying an innocent young man, it is able to drink a small amount of his blood every night until he passes away from anemia, at which point the monster finds a new husband. The vampire punctures the jugular vein with the tip of its tongue, which is pointed like a mosquito's proboscis, in order to draw blood.
(Viscera Sucker Aspect: Bicol, Luzon) - According to legend, the viscera sucker—known as naguneg in Iloko, laman luob in Tagalog, and kasudlan in West Visayan—sucks out the internal organs or consumes the patient's evacuated phlegm. Although it is common in Malaysian folklore, this creature is rarely found in European folklore. It is said to have a bright skin, long hair, and a buxom body, making it resemble an attractive woman throughout the day. Its tongue can be enlarged to a considerable length and is long, slender, and tubular like a drinking straw—not pointy like the vampire's. The monster flies, floats, or glides out at night after discarding its lower body from the waist down.
(Were-Beast Aspects: Bicol, Cebu, Western Visayas, Luzon) - The weredog, also known as aso in several Philippine languages, is a mythical creature that is claimed to be a man or woman—often the former—by day and transform into a fierce animal, mostly a dog, at night. The toughest animal in a region is associated with a werewolf; therefore, China has werefoxes, India has weretigers, and Europe has werewolves. The name "weredog" is more acceptable because there are no wolves in the Philippines, while "werebeast" may be even more accurate in some situations. At around midnight, a weredog that lives in a community is reported to transform into a fierce dog, boar, or big cat.
(Witch Aspects: Bicol, Cebu, Eastern Visayas) - Another part of the cluster of mythological conceptions covered by the term aswang is the witch, thought by the folk to be a man or woman—mostly the latter— who is extremely vengeful or who causes sickness without wanting to do so. The Philippine witch punishes people who have put her out by either entering the victim's body herself or by magically introducing various objects—shells, bones, unhusked rice, fish, and insects of various species—through the victim's physical orifices. Alternatively, she can make an equally innocent person ill with a just glance or comment. However, the Philippine witch has no taste for human flesh, in contrast to the European witches. She lives in deserted homes on the fringes of cities and villages and is a shy person. Her eyes are supposed to have an upside-down picture in their pupils, which are thin and elongated like a cat's or lizard's in bright sunlight, which is why she avoids looking people in the eye.
(Ghoul Aspect: Many areas in the Philippines) - According to legend, the Philippine ghoul steals and eats human corpses. Its teeth are pointy and its nails are horned, curled, and sharp for this reason. Although it is usually unseen, the monster is reported to resemble a human when it manifests itself, and its breath and scent are foul. Human communities are home to some ghouls. They gather in big trees close to a cemetery at night, then descend to exhume the recently buried bodies. As they eat their loot, they make sounds that can be heard. It is stated that a ghoul can hear the groans of the dying from a vast distance. Its appetite is stirred when it smells the fragrance of death, and then it takes the mourners as well as the dead.
Source:
The Aswang Complex in Philippine Folklore, Maximo Ramos, 1990, Phoenix Publishing
The Aswang Project by Jordan Clark - https://www.aswangproject.com/creatures-mythical-beings-philippine-folklore-mythology/
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