Aswang to you too
Name: Aswang
Place of origin: Philippines
Time of first documentation: Not known
Alternative names: "tik-tik", "bayot", "wak-wak", "sok-sok" and "kling-kling"
Appearance: With the description of the Aswang changing per region, it is hard to full pin point exactly what the Aswang looks like. Even though the exact appearance changes, there are a few patterns that have emerged. Aswang are very commonly depicted as being shape-shifters. They will appear as normal townsfolk during the day, and at night they will shift into one of many forms (bat, bird (normally a crow), wild boar, black cat, a big black dog). There is also the belief that they can be so skinny as to easily hide behind bamboo stalks.
Due to their diet of unborn foetuses and the heart/liver of small children – some Aswang are described as having a proboscis (an elongated appendage – such as seen on a mosquito) which they use to suck out the foetus from the sleeping mother’s womb.
There are also some myths that say that the Aswang makes. In the case of the ‘tik-tik’ (the name is derived from the sound the Aswang is said to make) the sound can appear to be louder the further away the Aswang is – this is said to be to confuse its pray.
Name: Aswang
Place of origin: Philippines
Time of first documentation: Not known
Alternative names: "tik-tik", "bayot", "wak-wak", "sok-sok" and "kling-kling"
Appearance: With the description of the Aswang changing per region, it is hard to full pin point exactly what the Aswang looks like. Even though the exact appearance changes, there are a few patterns that have emerged. Aswang are very commonly depicted as being shape-shifters. They will appear as normal townsfolk during the day, and at night they will shift into one of many forms (bat, bird (normally a crow), wild boar, black cat, a big black dog). There is also the belief that they can be so skinny as to easily hide behind bamboo stalks.
Due to their diet of unborn foetuses and the heart/liver of small children – some Aswang are described as having a proboscis (an elongated appendage – such as seen on a mosquito) which they use to suck out the foetus from the sleeping mother’s womb.
There are also some myths that say that the Aswang makes. In the case of the ‘tik-tik’ (the name is derived from the sound the Aswang is said to make) the sound can appear to be louder the further away the Aswang is – this is said to be to confuse its pray.
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The Aswang is an interesting myth to me. Unlike a lot of these myths, it seems aimed mostly at scaring woman, especially mothers, instead of scaring the whole town. It is the type of myth I imagine spread through old wives’ tales – ‘Did you hear about Sarah? One day she was pregnant, the next, the baby is dead’ ‘Oh dear, must have been an Aswang’. It seems to be a myth that was created to explain miscarriages. With our scientific knowledge it is easy to dismiss such myths, to say that we know better now and to claim that we have all the answers, but what if they were right?We live in a city full of creatures born from nightmares, who is to say that a mother’s worse fear isn’t roaming the streets of our fair city? There is no one to say that these terrible myths aren’t our friends, our neighbors – after all, the myths do state that an Aswang is very much human in appearance during the day, they have feelings and can form friendships (even get married). These creatures (and yes, I am aware we are creatures also, humour me) could be stalking this fair city and we would never know it until they caught someone we cared for.
With all that said, you may be wondering why I wrote this column piece, and to be frank with you, I wrote it purely because I find this shit interesting. I love learning about the different creatures that are myth (or, perhaps, very real) to humans, how the human mind created these creatures to explain plague, miscarriages – even murder. It is a fascinating topic to me.
So, as this is my opinion column – I will be writing a piece about the different creatures I find in my research and explaining how I find them interesting – and perhaps seeing if I can get a few of these lovelies to come and speak with me.
If you yourself are an Aswang, please come and say hi. I'd love to get your take on how humans perceive you. Also, if there are any other creatures previously thought of as myth – I implore you to come and speak with me so that I can do a spotlight piece on you.
Well, thats all. Until I next decide to write up something semi-interesting (at least to me.)
