Episode 03: Aswang the Philippine Ghoul

Join us on a journey to the Philippines as we learn more about this delightfully creepy vampire/witch/ghoul. Surprisingly, aswang make pretty good neighbors!

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Our music is "Danger Storm" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com). Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0

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Transcript

AM: Welcome to Spirits Episode 3, straight at you from the Philippines with the Aswang.

JS: You'll kind of see how we have some pronunciation issues with that.

AM: We don't claim to be experts.

JS: No.

AM: We just like to give you good stories, whether or not we pronounce it exactly correct. You know, we need some room to improve over time, we can't come right out of the gate with the perfect podcast.

JS: Pronunciation is not really our thing anyway.

AM: There's also some excellent attempts at phoneticizing, some interesting animal sounds, you'll get there.

JS: Whooowaaakaaakaaa!

AM: I'm also excited that we're seeing a different part of the world. It's not the, you know? The British Isles and Ireland, which we know well. It's not the States. It's not the Greeks. It's somewhere that at least to me, was new to hear about.

JS: And we look forward over the next few episodes to kind of introduce you guys to places that maybe you don't know so much about.

AM: Exactly, we'll kind of bounce between the classics and the newbies uhm... or places that are a little bit more obscure in the... you know? Canonical education.

JS: Or new to us, because we don't claim to be experts and we're kind of looking for new information to bring you guys as we learn it.

AM: It's an educational journey with booze.

JS: So today we're drinking a blood orange, Bellini. So sparkling wine and blood orange juice, which kind of goes well with our Philippine bloodsucker.

AM: Hint. Hint. Blood is the metaphor.

JS: Blood is the metaphor!

AM: And again, if you support us on Patreon, $5 and up patreons can get exclusive, beautifully designed recipe cards every episode with drinks, snacks, and non-alcoholic drinks to go with every episode.

JS: I would love to get us out once a week but we have to hit our goal in order to do that.

AM: Exactly, until we get some badass sponsors that want to have a profane languaged boozy podcast associated with their brand, we'll be relying on your support.

JS: I mean, why wouldn't they tho?

AM: I don't know. Get in touch.

JS: Get in touch. We like you.

AM: Enjoy Episode 3: Aswang.

Intro Music

JS: So, as I was at a bar the other day, and I saw this guy, I’m like, “This guy is such an Aswang. Well… you go ahead.

AM: Like a dickbag?

JS: Yeah, I mean, a little bit. But an Aswang, actually, is a vampire-like, witch-ghoul, which is like an awesome combo from Philippine folklore.

AM: That's like the center of a great Venn diagram.

JS: It is, it totally is.

AM: Vampires, witches, ghouls.

JS: Absolutely.

AM: Tell me more.

JS: So, it's actually... the myth of the ass-wang is widespread through the Philippines, but like...

AM: Are you sure that's how it's pronounced?

JS: I, I'm like 95% sure, like I had to Google. I'm going to Google it right now, hold on one second.

AM: Like As-waaang, maybe?

JS: Maybe...

AM: We looked it up.

JS: We looked it up.

AM: It's not pronounced Ass-wang. It's Aswang.

JS: Aswang...

AM: Say that, Aswang...

JS: Aswang...

AM: Aswang...

JS: But the laymen would go...

AM: We're so sorry Tagalog speakers.

JS: The layman would look at it and say As-wang though. Like, I stand by that.

AM: Yes.

JS: That's the thing that I think would happen. The Aswang is a widespread mythology throughout the Philippines except for an area called the Ilocos Region, which I think I pronounced correctly. In Spanish colonial reco, recollections in the 16th century, the Aswang was the most feared among the mythological creatures of the Philippines.

AM: Of course.

JS: Yeah.

AM: It's a, it's a ghoul vampire witch.

JS: Yes.

AM: I’ll be afraid.

JS: And you're gonna find out more about it, and it’s even more creepy...

AM: I'm so excited.

JS: Ah, so there's a variety of different stories throughout the regions of the Philippines. Like, you know how we have like, Bigfoot?

AM: Sure.

JS: But there's like different versions of Bigfoot throughout the world.

AM: Depends where you are.

JS: Yeah, it depends on where you are and all those stories are different.

AM: Sasquatch, Yeti.

JS: Those are different things.

AM: Yes.

JS: Yeah, skunk, ape...

AM: Oh okay.

JS: Like they're all...

AM: Cool.

JS: They're all the same thing, but like, just told in different places and have different characteristics but are like the same basic creature.

AM: Sure.

JS: That's what happens with the Aswang. So there's no real like definition of what it is. But we do have those common themes.

AM: Yeah.

JS: So the Aswang is always a shapeshifter.

AM: Lots of shapeshifters.

JS: Yeah, no. It's a different episode, you know what I mean. They're usually just like regular townspeople, pretty much indistinguishable from any other people in the town.

AM: Sounds good. That's always very scary like that... any kind of myth where it's sort of can be anyone among us. That's inherently very scary.

JS: Like, the werewolf. Like it's just like some dude, once a month--

AM: Right. Right.

JS: --starts eating people.

AM: And other times you have no idea.

JS: So they're usually like the quiet shy people who keep to themselves for the most part, you know? Like the way that everyone treats every news outlet treats white murderers.

AM: Yeah.

JS: Yeah, they say like, “Oh, they were always so quiet.” Like, that's basically what the Aswang was in the Philippine mythology. So at night, however, they transform into some sort of animal. Usually, it's like a dog but there's stories of like cats, bats, birds, and boars.

AM: So I'm seeing the witch angle, right?

JS: Yes.

AM: Like, common witchlore...

JS: The kind of have a familiar...

AM: Like, have the familiar? Or can themselves fly--

JS: Right.

AM: -you know? shift.

JS: And you also see that-

AM: -sometimes they become a cat.

JS: -that vampire aspect too, like the bat.

AM: At night, right? Exactly, at night they can be a bat, whatever.

JS: So, in this form, they enjoy eating unborn fetuses and small children.

AM: Oh my God!

JS: Yeah.

AM: Really just going for the, the most fearful and like, raw...

JS: Vulnerable...

AM: Vulnerable thing.

JS: Yeah.

AM: That a monster could do.

JS: So the Aswang favors eating the livers and hearts out of these children.

AM: Oh...

JS: Yeah. Like really? Like, not, not so great. Like...

AM: Gross.

JS: So, they're described for having a long tongue kinda like a butterfly, like butterfly tongue. Like, can you imagine that?

AM: Oh no! Like a straw?

JS: Yeah, similar to that.

AM: Ahhh! Ohhh!

JS: In which they use to suck out the children through the mother's... mother's womb, in the unborn fetuses aspect.

AM: Ohhh…

JS: Yeah, not so cute.

AM: That's horrifying.

JS: Yeah. Uhm so...

AM: Who would think of that?

JS: The Philippines, apparently.

AM: I don't know.

JS: Most likely, these stories are like used to explain miscarriages-

AM: Sure.

JS: -and babies who like died of like, SIDS or just like sudden-

AM: Yeah.

JS: -death and that sort of thing.

AM: Sure.

JS: Which like it makes sense, but--

AM: Right, unfortunately very common.

JS: Right. Especially...

AM: For women to miscarry or for babies die in the first you know? Three months of life.

JS: In any culture.

AM: Yeah.

JS: Which we, I'm sure we'll talk about sometime later on, but like…

AM: Yeah. But again, you know? Explain the inexplicable that's definitely... I haven't thought about it before but it's definitely a, an event that I could see being understood via through a myth.

JS: You gotta explain those baby deaths because there's got to be some reason for them.

AM: Right? Yeah.

JS: You can't just be like...

AM: A very human impulse.

JS: Like, tragedy.

AM: Yeah.

JS: So, Aswangs are also known to steal the newly dead bodies to feast on as well.

AM: Interesting.

JS: Yeah. So like, kind of like a little bit like zombie-esque.

AM: Yeah, grave robbery.

JS: So when the Aswang eats someone, they usually replace their live victims or cadavers with doppelgangers for a while.

AM: Oohhh!

JS: And these doppelgangers are made out of either like tree trunks or plants.

AM: Really?

JS: Yeah.

AM: So sort of like a... you know? I'm seeing lots of parallels here. So it's kind of like a straw... straw man, right? Like, a kind of scarecrow whatever thingy.

JS: Right, this is kind of like the witchy aspect again too.

AM: Oh sure, like en, enchanting the... the natural world.

JS: Right. And it like looks like the person.

AM: Yeah, or like a, a classic Fey changeling-

JS: Yes.

AM: -type myth.

JS: Exactly. So if it's a live person, they usually like, return home and then become sick and die. So it explains like really sudden sickness.

AM: Sure.

JS: Or it explains like just like a random dead body and like it also kind of explains decomposing, if you think about it, like, all of a sudden, it’s like...

AM: Oh yeah. Suddenly the human body seems to be full of things that--

JS: Yes.

AM: --human bodies aren't full of.

AM: Exactly.

JS: So, talking about kind of identifying an Aswang, in comparison to a real human, they usually have bloodshot eyes, which is kind of a result of...

AM: Just nighttime.

JS: Yes, they're staying up all night searching for houses, where wakes are being held to steal their bodies or like where pregnant women are or like small children to... So it's also said that you can spot in an Aswang in the daytime if you look in their eyes, if the person is standing right in front of you, and you see your reflection in their eyes, and instead of it being right side up, it's upside down. That means the person's an Aswang.

AM: I don't know why but seeing things upside down/like a mirror image or, you know? Backward in some way. That's so inherently like, this is the opposite of the natural world-

JS: Yeah.

AM: -it must be bad.

JS: And when you think about it too, that kind of like, it means that their eyes are concave instead of convex. So like it's like creepy like inward setting eyes like super, super weird when you think about it.

AM: Yeah, just unnatural, right? Like the mirror image of what a person should be.

JS: Yeah.

AM: Not just, not just in the eye but the... you know? The eye itself caving in, instead of out.

JS: And then another like super weird way of kind of establishing if someone's an Aswang or not, is if you look at them in a 'tuwad' manner, which is like bending over and looking at the person through your legs upside down.

AM: Interesting, Very specific.

JS: And so, if the person is an Aswang, the image of that person will be different. Like, you'll see like, a weird ghoul image rather than like their actual like human physical form.

AM: Their real self.

JS: Yeah.

AM: Yeah, that's very interesting. So sort of like how you can't see vampires in mirrors traditionally.

JS: Yeah.

AM: Like their, their image is constructed in some way that it doesn't react normally.

JS: Yeah, it's all like an illusion. Yeah. So, kind of talking about their relationship with humans a little bit. The Aswang don't reproduce very often. But if they marry a human, their mate would have to become an Aswang as well.

AM: Oh, yeah.

JS: So like, a lot of times you don't see like married Aswang. So it's also like, kind of that very, like witchy feel like where someone is against the societal norms so...

AM: Exactly, right. They’re quiet, they’re single...

JS: Yeah.

AM: Or they, they otherwise kind of violate the ideal of what you expect a, a human individual to be.

JS: Exactly.

AM: Interesting.

JS: So, if they were to marry and the mate were to become an Aswang as well, the couple might hunt together at night, but they have to go in separate directions. Either to avoid detection or because they don't want to share a meal. Like they're very like kind of territorial in that way, I guess? Kind of like unlike most vampire stories, Aswangs are day walkers. So they can like walk around in the daytime.

AM: Right.

JS: They’re not like...

AM: They don't burn.

JS: They're not like hiding in their hut, like, waiting.

AM: That helps in the tropical Philippines.

JS: Oh yes, absolutely. No one's just like kind of hiding in their hut until-

AM: Right.

JS: -night time falls.

AM: Hopping between palm trees.

JS: ‘Cause, a tiny bit suspicious if that were the case.

AM: Yes.

JS: So they act in like have emotions like normal human beings do. Additionally, Aswangs never... this is super interesting. Aswangs will never harm their neighbors or feed on them.

AM: Really?

JS: Yeah, so there's a Filipino saying actually where it's better an Aswang than a thief. Because like in an Aswang will search for food farther away from town, because it would draw attention to, to themselves as they're looking.

AM: Right. They don't want to disturb their, their you know? Whole setup.

JS: Right. Exactly. And like also like, these are like people that you’d see every day and like an Aswang has like normal human emotions.

AM: Yeah.

JS: Like, they're not gonna be like...

AM: Unlike a vampire, which doesn't interact with the community traditionally you know? Aswang is among us.

JS: Yeah. like there's no like...

AM: Do they eat normal food as well?

JS: I would assume so. Like if your neighbor was like just like not eat a thing. Like, wouldn't that be a little bit sketchy to you?

AM: Right. That’s what I’m saying, yeah.

JS: Exactly. So also like vampires, Aswangs can be repelled or killed using garlic, salt or religious artifacts. Like, holy water and crucifix-

AM: That’s so interesting.

JS: -rosary. But it's also like you have to remember that the, the Spanish came in the-

AM: That’s Post-Colonial.

JS: -in 16th century. So like, there's that crossover like Christianity with local mythology. So obviously that's gonna like kind of affect it. Another like super cool way of like fighting off an Aswang is that they can be killed using a whip made entirely with a stingray’s tail.

AM: Dope.

JS: Super dope.

AM: That you do not see that in Transylvania and, you know? Central Europe this, the stingray tail.

JS: So they can also be, so that's also used to repel the creature. Aswangs are used to... are said to be scared of the sound made by a whip splashing through the air like the  whootshoooo!

AM: Right.

JS: Like, Indiana Jones noise.

AM: That's so curious.

JS: Yeah. Like so you'd be like, you know? walk around, like you're worried about like your newly pregnant wife, you just like walk around the house and then going whootshoo! whoootshoo! whoootshoo!

AM: There are handsome stingray tails around your house.

JS: Pretty much. Like a... like wind chimes but macabre, right? So, it's also said that they cannot step onto Holy consecrated ground and like most mythology decapitation is the way to destroy an Aswang or Aswang.

AM: Very, cery cool. I wonder if this is part of the kind of Post-Colonial, you know? Cracking down on nuclear fa... like sort of making everything more kind of normal as we think of it from a Western Christian perspective. Like, you know? People shouldn't be alone people shouldn't you know, have kind of unnatural to the colonizer's household.

JS: But I think a lot of it has to do with just like human society in general. And then we kind of adapted that Western society later on. Like, the whole like sacred ground, kind of thing, and the rosaries and holy water. That's definitely, that's Western influence but all this like the... the whip and stuff like that stuff that they had already-

AM: Yeah.

JS: -and like stuff that they were like fearful of, which is like super interesting. Because we see these, these mythologies and they're so like widespread doesn't dep... it doesn't really matter where the mythology is from. It's like, there's always that common theme going on.

AM: Right.

JS: Someone who doesn't quite fit societal norms is treated as like a monster or an outcast.

AM: Yeah, and someone who's easy to pin things on, right? The person who is quiet and won't talk back.

JS: Right.

AM: Or the person without family to vouch for them. You know, a, a woman who doesn't have the societal standing to prove her reputation.

JS: Yeah, pretty much there's almost like a biblical way of like keeping an As, Aswang out of your house. So you know how, like, during the plagues of Egypt, they're like, oh, put this like blood prayer over your door-

AM: Right.

JS: -and the Angel of Death won't come to you.

AM: Yeah.

JS: You can put like certain prayers posted on doors that will repel an Aswang from your house.

AM: Cool.

JS: A good example of which is like these red and black bead bracelets that in Philippine culture are worn by newborns. So it's like kind of like prayer bracelets-

AM: Right, to ward off the, the Aswang.

JS: Right. So their are hearts and livers don’t get eaten. Another version of the Aswang is called the Wakwak.

AM: Cool.

JS: Which is a vampiric bird-like creature which steals humans in the night as prey in rural areas of the Philippines.

AM: Yeah.

JS: It's either a form of vampire or a night bird that belongs to a witch, depends on the region.

AM: Interesting. The bird-shaped in all cases.

JS: Yes, but always bird-shaped.

AM: Right, alright.

JS: It's either an individual working on its own.

AM: With a bird, yeah.

JS: Yeah. Or it's like a witch that has like, a bird familiar that's going-

AM: Yeah.

JS:  -and eating people. So it's called a Wakwak due to the sound that it makes when it flaps its wings while flying.

AM: Crow style.

JS: Super crow style. So if the sound of the Wakwak is loud, it actually means that it is far away from you?

AM: Oh sure. Because the scariest thing is it just coming silently in the night-

JS: Right.

AM: -with you having no idea.

JS: So, if it is quiet it means it's sneaking up for attack.

AM: Oooh! Wooh!

JS: It's great. It then slashes its victims and feeds on their hearts.

AM: Sheeesh!

JS: So like, if you're like, “Wakwakwakwak…” Which sounds like I'm doing a fuck bed sound but like...

AM: A bit.

JS: Just a tiny bit. But like the quiet wakwakwak is very very frightening.

AM: Wow!

JS:  As opposed to like if something like if you're wandering through the jungle or whatever during the night...

AM: And you hear the cacophony of jungle around you--

JS: Right.

AM: --that’s normal and that’s comforting.

JS: Exactly. But then if you hear like a really loud noise next you like, wakwakwak, that's like the... that's like the... that's like an okay sound. You're like, oh, it's close, but it's actually not close because it means it's going away somewhere.

AM: That's, that's... I can so understand how that myth kind of came about, right? That people will, will sort of be pacifying themselves. Like, no, you know? The la... I know where the threat is, at least. Wow.

JS: The Wakwak is described as having a... to have like long, sharp talons and then like bat-like wings.

AM: Cool.

JS: Additionally, the wings are supposed to be like, sharp as knives too. So it like uses the wing to like cut open people as well. So like whoosh, whoosh and then talons go in the heart.

AM: Right, who needs a scalpel and just double woosh the chest.

JS: You know? Whatever. And then some like asshole American went in like during the colonial period and tried to explain what the sound of the Wakwak came from. And he was like, "Oh, it's the common house Gecko." And then... but most of the folk, the folklore still persists to this day.

AM: So I see, yeah.

JS: So it’s sort of like the Wakwak and the Aswang are very, they're still like kind of prominent folklore. And I think it's because we always need that like, scapegoat in human society. We need-

AM: Sure.

JS: -something to explain killings and explain like brutal murders. Because we can't like, we're afraid that our, we're afraid that our like, natural environment might kill us. But I think we're more afraid that we, ourselves will kill us.

AM: Sure.

JS: I think that like sort of scary human nature is more dismissable when you have a mythology that explains it for you.

AM: Right. It's easy to point outside the village wall and say the outside is scary the outside will get you but it's... it's much harder to, you know? Turn around and look amongst your village, your family, yourself, right? And say, what went wrong in here?

JS: Exactly.

AM: It was the Wakwak.

JS: It was the Wakwak.

Together: Wakwakwakwakwakwakwak…

Outro Music

AM: Spirits was created by Julia Schifini and me Amanda McLoughlin, it's edited by Eric Schneider with music by Kevin MacLeod. Allyson Wakeman designed our logo.

JS: Subscribe to Spirits in your preferred podcast app to make sure you never miss an episode. Our website is, spiritspodcast.com and you can also find us at @spiritpodcasts on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and SoundCloud.

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AM: Thank you so much for listening, 'til next time.

Transcriptionist: Raiza Love Caparas-Pablico

Proofreader: Krizia Marrie Casil