Star of the night
It’s funny how old people’s tales could change
your personal perspective, especially if it has been told to you since you were
an innocent chump. These certain tales come from our grandmother and other old
people who were once listeners of these tales too. Usually, these tales are
used to scare naughty little children or just told out of the blue by
grandparents.
I keep on coining the word “tale” all
this time. What do I really mean about these “tales”? These are stories passed
on from our forefathers that could be or could not be true. These usually house
supernatural beings beyond our common knowledge. Supernatural entities in these
tales are commonly called mythical creatures.
When I was still a young sprout, I
dreamt of having supernatural powers. Together with my friends, I imagine that
I have superpowers and often imitate superheroes. I usually pick the abilities
to fly with wings and to get my strength from the moon. It so happens that my
grandmother tells a story about a “mananangal” or “aswang”. Coincidence really
strikes anytime, whether you benefit from it or not. And so my superpower
fantasy went down the drain.
Well what is in a “mananangal” that made
me change my perspective? It is a ‘big shot’ in the list of the Philippine
mythical creatures. It actually enjoys the popularity of being in almost all
reference lists of mythical creatures in the Philippines. As described, this
creature goes out during a full moon. On normal days it may be just your
beautiful neighbor who sweeps its yard every morning, discreetly waiting for
the right time to attack. Before ‘show time’ arrives, it exercises rituals just
right before doing its purpose to ease its craving. According to the stories of
the old, a mananangal keeps self-made oils in its house. It uses these oils,
applying these to its whole body, to transform into its real appearance. When
the moon is at its peak, it goes out of its house and finds a place to
transform. Trees are its usual spots. From there, it will grow black wings and
separate its body into two leaving the lower half behind. Moreover, its appearance
is usually described having ‘bad hair days’ with unbrushed teeth and fairly
disgusting intestines just hanging loose from its upper half when it’s doing
its usual rounds in the wee hours. I am telling you that logic just doesn’t
stand a chance on this one.
Some old story tellers claim that they
actually saw a mananangal. They add to their stories how brutally it kills the prey
may it be animal or human. To counteract it, putting a fair amount of salt on
top of its lower body does the trick. This would make it weak and unable to
combine to its lower body. If it is not yet combined to its lower half when
morning light comes, then it would burn to ashes.
I’ve mentioned earlier that this creature
is actually popular. Popular up to the point, that the film industry in the
Philippines actually made a movie about it. The movie heightened the
mananangal’s popularity and made some people believe that it actually exists.
Having the advance technology and the internet in our generation made spreading
and sharing of information, photos and other proofs about the mananangal over
the internet , may it be reliable or not, a piece of cake. Other people even go
the extent of editing pictures to make it look like a proof of the mananangal’s
existence. This spreading of information creates fuss over people with
different opinions about the mananangal’s existence. Personally, I don’t have a
stand whether to believe in it or not. I just enjoy how such a tale could
ignite people’s own stand about it.
After reading about the mananangal, do you
believe in it? Are you one of its fans or haters? I’ll leave that to your
decision, let you play on your imagination and let you ride on your curiosity
to find out whether it exists or not.
