Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1900-04-28
FILIPINO MYTHS.
Queer Superstitlons Of the Natives Of
the Philippines.
Weird Beliefs That Have Survived the Intro.
duction Of Christianity.

Superstitions of most weird and elab-
crate character are rife among the ma
tives. of the Philippines. notwithstanding
generally introduced among them. Even
among people of the higher classes more
or less of the ancient beliefs of their an
cestors survive, the debris of the old
faith lingering in practices of witchcraft
and in the shape of myths curious to the
student of folklore. Naturally. accep-
lance OF such notions Is most common
and firmly rooted among the very ignor-
ant. and from their standpoint the saints
of the Roman Catholic calendar have nc
more substantial recognition than null
titude of genii, vampires. devl-manikins
and animal ghosts which have been
brought down from period far back OF
the earliest appearance of the Spaniards
The natives here referred to are the
dominant Malays. of course. whose myths
and superstitions afford material for a
Is eP BY 3D. " a sssaf 1 lie paS
that the ''jins' or genii in the Malay my
thology ire a sort of connecting link be-
be an indefinite number. of them, and
they dwell customarily In such retreats
as hollows in the hills, solitary patches
of primeva forest. and in trees. There
mer are perfectly formed in the fashion
of a man, while the latter are fearfully
of proper position. Though they have
voices like mortals, they cannot be seen
under ordinary circumstances.
One of the most frightful Of the super
natural beings known to these people is
the Spectre Huntsman who pursues
night and day through the forest chase
without end. He is accompanied by sew
eral ghostly dogs. whose appearance is
the forerunner of disease or death. ru
cross the path of this demon is fatal, d
wasting sickness soon destroying the I'M
fortunate person. In short. he is a sort
of terrestrial Va 4 iecken, himself
doomed to perpetual wandering:
In the forest also rOams the Mawas a
great man-like ape. which seems to b., Il
"Reminiscences of the orang-utang of Po.
neo Like the latter it makes shelter
for itself in the forks of trees, but 1t H.
the notable advantage of being born win
the blade of cutlass in place of the bone
of its right forearm, so that it is able
through the jungle. Occasionally It car
ries off and mates with human kind.
Monkeys and men are intimately asso-
ciated in Malay folklore, and this seems
not surprising in part of the world
where there are. as in Borneo. huge. man
like apes. and likewise, as both in Borneo
and the Philippines human beings nearly
approaching the apes in their appear
ance.
The PenanggaIan is a kind of mon
strous vampire which delights in sucking
the blood of children. The story goes
that once upon time woman, to per
form a religious penance. was sitting in
large wooden vinegar vat. when uneX-
pectedly man came in and threa tened
her so that in the excitement of trying to
escape, she kicked her chin with such
force that the skin split round her neck,
and her head. with the inteStneS hang
ing from it. became separated from the
trunk and flew off to perch upon the
nearest trees. Ever. since she has exist
ed spirit of evil, and small children
are tOrmented by the appearance of
fearful face that comes to haunt them,
dragging many feet of bloody entrafls in
lis wake.
Another terror is the Polong. which IS
a diminutive female figure or manikin,
about as big as the top joint of the mid
die finger. II will fly through the air
whithersocVer 1t is told to go, and will
torment people when instructed to do so
by its owner. The way to get a Polong
is to take some of the blood of a muir
dered man, put it in a boul and perform
certain rites over it. At the end of two
weeks chirping will be heard in the bot
tie the operator then cuts his finger, in
serting 1t into the vial so that the little
demon may suck it. Every day the Po
long must be fed in this way, and, when
envy. The latter when attacked, eXhib-
its all the symptoms of a severe case of
fits. crying out, throwing off his or her
clothing and biting and striking at peo-
pie.
The Polong is in some respects not very
unlike the Malay conception of human
of ''Thumbling"-a tiny human image,
usually invisible, but supposed to be
about as big as ones thumb. Though on
so small scale, 1t corresponds exactly in
shape, proportions, and even in complex
ion to the body in which it has residence
1t is able to fly very quickly from place
to place, and temporarily absents itself
from the body in sleep or trance. depart
ing altogether at death. Disease is often
ascribed to the temporary absence of this
manikin, which must be WOOed back
again with various charms in order that
the sick may recover.
If one knows how to call a soul in the
right way 1t VIII hear and obey, and thus
person who is expert in this kind of
witchcraft is able sometimes to abduct
the soul OF another individual and get IT.
into his power. Thus secured. the soul
may he persuaded to take up its home for
the time being in a specially prepared re-
ceptacle. such a lump of earth or a
proper owner. The latter may then b.
caused to suffer terribly by sticking pins
into the wax manikin or by otherwise
abusing 1t.
Animals are frequently only demons
disguised. and charms must be used to
avert injury by them. Ghosts of ele-
plants are not uncommon. though they
are popularity believed to be harmless.
They are inVulnerable and as a rule eX
hbit some outward and visible sign Of
their sanctity, such as are stunted tusk
shrunken foot. They are the tute-
larry gcni of certain localities, and when
they are killed the good fortune Of the
neighborhood is likely to depart. t.Ie-
plants said to he much frightened
IL they see Il tree stump that has been
felled at a great height from the ground,
because they think that giants must nave
cut IL down. and. as ordinary sized men
are more than a match for them. they
are in dread Of being caught by creatures
many times more powerful than their
masters. Some of the larger insects of
the grasshoppcr kind are understood to
be objects Of terror to elephants.
In the Sulus. of course, Christianity t.
not the prevailing religion the popu
faith being Mohamm"dan. and. as might
be expected. all sorts OF s@mi-savagc su-
perstitions are articles OF belief. If a
person is sick. one ius nod of curing him
is to entice the evl. pirits that are, the
cause Of the ma lady on board OF a boat
and then shove them off to sea. Charm
must he used to 4 considerable extent Tor
the purpose. and the craft employed 81 "
he mere raft. though in the case OF
important parsonage it Is apt to be OF
great size and costly finish. Offerings are
loaded upon the vessel. incense is burned,
and, when the spirits are believed to have
gone aboard. the boat is set adrift at ebb-
tide It is customary tn mention. in re-
citing the charms. the name of the coun-
try TO which the devils are to BE- carried.
4 very remarkable piece Of magic.
which consists in drawing water from the
steel blade of kris. or Malay dagger, Is
said to be performed by wizards among
those people. and some Europeans have