What is the Aswang?
“ASWANG” is an umbrella term for the monsters in Filipino folklore. They take the form of human-beast hybrids (like weredogs) and can also be vampires, witches, and most interestingly, the viscera suckers.
For this blog entry, I will be talking more specifically about the Viscera Suckers
The Folklore of Viscera Sucking Aswang
The Viscera Suckers are the most famous and most feared. By day they are an attractive woman, but by night they grow their wings and detatch their body from the waist down. They fly and land on people’s roofs at night and use their long-tubed tongue to poke through windows and suck out the blood and internal organs of victims while they are asleep.
They’re also known to prey on pregnant women, and use their tongues to suck out the fetus.
Some live in trees, while others live alone in houses in the woods. Most of them however live among humans to easily scope out their victims.
The Many Names of the Viscera Suckers
The Philippines is rich with culture, and each region has their own stories and names of the viscera suckers. Here are the names and culture it stems from:
“Abat” is East Visayan
“Awok” is Visayan
“Aswang” is Bikol, Tagalog, Visayan
“Boroka” is Ilocano
“Manananggal” is Tagalog
“Mangalok“ is Cuyonon
The Vulnerabilities of the Aswang
Like the Vampires in other cultures, they are repelled by garlic and salt. This is why eating Adobo, a Filipino dish made with soy sauce, salt, vinegar, and garlic, is considered a way to ward off Aswangs.
Holy water, crucifixes and other religious objects can also keep them away.
They are also afraid of knives, fire, big crabs, and the “buntot pagi,” which is a stingray’s tail.
How to Kill the Aswang
Some ways to kill these creatures is by placing salt or garlic on their bottom half while the top half is away. Destroying the bottom half prevents it from reattaching and turning back into its human form.
Exposing the top half to direct sunlight is also fatal.
Shamans (also known as Albularyos) also have the knowledge and ability to perform rituals that can kill the aswangs.
The Legacy of the Aswang
The Aswang is my favorite creature, and I personally have been inspired and fascinated by it since I was a kid. My Lola (my grandmother) has told me all kinds of stories of the Aswang, along with the “White Lady,” the “Kapre,” and a witch’s curse that was placed upon one of my family members. (They are healed and ok btw)
The spooky stuff just makes life so fascinating.
Just as this story was shared to me, I felt that creating illustrations would be a way to share my culture with you.
The “Aswang Collection” will include products featuring my new art of the Aswang. This creature has a special place in my heart, because it was the starting point of learning more about my culture and channeling it through my art.
Thank you all for supporting me on my journey, and I hope you’ll like this collection as much as I enjoyed making it!
Do you have any experiences or stories of the Aswang? Or if this was your first time learning about this creature, what was your favorite thing to learn about it? I'd love to know in the comments!
Sources
Book:
- “The Creatures of Midnight” by Maximo D. Ramos
Web:
- “From Aswang to Adobo” by Yvette Tan