Aswangs are a traditional creature in Filipino folklore, but these monsters are complex and diverse shape-shifters, making them somewhat difficult to define. There are many common traits that aswangs may share, with lots of interpretations and beliefs about the beasts and their diverse abilities. In Filipino folklore, they take on many different roles in storytelling, all of which are interesting narrative devices for the overall mythology.
What is an aswang?
Aswangs are a creature that means something slightly different to everyone, but for the most part, they are portrayed as either evil or revenge-seeking in some way, and they usually have multiple forms.
Melissa Chadburn, a Filipino American author, wrote the novel "A Tiny Unpward Shove", a story that heavily features aswangs and Filipino folklore elements. It puts the aswang tale into a modern American setting, exploring how myth would interact with more modern elements and conflicts.
"The histories that [the main character] carries in her body burst forth at the moment of her death in the form of an Aswang—a Philippine mythological creature known for its shapeshifting powers and immortality. Growing up in the Philippines, my knowledge of the Aswang was limited to what I saw in horror movies and occasionally in children’s books, its depictions as a malevolent female being often bearing similarities to the witch of European lore," Monica Macansantos writes in Electric Literature about Chadburn's work.
A "Tiny Upward Shove" shows the aswang that comes from the main character's death early in the novel, and how she wakes up as an aswang and has to now see and understand the evil in the world, facing her own life and death as well as those of many others. She remains a compassionate character in this dark, emotional novel about one interpretation of the folkloric Filipino creature of the aswang.
"Depending on who you ask, you’ll get a different answer as to what an Aswang is. She can be a shapeshifter, or a werewolf or a vampire, a spinster. In truth, the Aswang is a monster born out of enlightenment and colonialism, a narrative tool once used to get a whole country of heathen women to behave," Chadburn said in her interview with Electric Literature. "In time, the Aswang became a tool to get children to behave. My lola used to warn: you better be good or the Aswang will get you."
The term aswang is sometimes capitalized in media, but when it relates to the creatures at large, it seems to be written in the lower case. This, like the different beliefs and ideas of what aswangs are, is likely to vary from person to person.
The Aswang Project is a website founded by a passionate individual with a love for Filipino folklore, specifically the mysterious shapeshifters. On the website, it lists many, though not all, of the types of aswangs that have been recognized been different regions of the Philippines across all time.
"This list includes ‘creatures,’ ‘monsters,’ spirits, folkloric beings, ‘witches’ and mythical beasts, who are generally thought to cause harm or illness to people if they are not properly respected or given offering," The Aswang Project reads.
Given that there are well over 7000 islands in the Philippines, with nearly 200 living languages spoken there today, it makes sense that the fearsome creature would have many varying features across the various Filipino subcultures. Additionally, what makes each aswang different is a large part of what makes them interesting. Although there are hundreds of iterations, there are some commonalities that many share.
Aswang's abilities
According to The Aswang Project, it was Dr. Maximo Ramos who, in the 1960s, "undertook the monumental task of creating taxonomical classification of folkloric beings throughout the Philippines," and came away with five main categories.
The five categories, also called aspects, are shared between various types of aswangs or the telling of their stories. They include the blood sucker, the viscera sucker, the were-beast, the witch and the ghoul. Some aswangs might have multiple of these aspects, but at least one of these five attributes will be present in any aswang.
The blood sucker, also called a vampire, is traditionally portrayed as a beautiful, young woman who marries a man that has no idea what she is. This way, she can slowly drink a little bit of his blood each night, until eventually she kills him.
"Whereupon the monster gets itself another husband. To suck blood the vampire uses the tip of its tongue, pointed like the proboscis of a mosquito, to pierce the jugular vein," The Aswang Project writes, in regards to a blood sucking aswang who has recently killed her husband.
The viscera sucker is not dissimilar to the blood sucker, though it definitely takes things up a notch. Also taking the form of a pretty girl by day, the viscera sucker feeds on either a person's internal organs or the phlegm of sick people, for the most part.
"Its tongue is extended, narrow, and tubular like a drinking straw — but not pointed like the vampire’s— and it is capable of being distended to a great length. At night the monster discards its lower body from the waist down and flies or floats or glides out," The Aswang Project describes.
The werebeast, unlike the previous two categories, is not exclusively associated with women, and is actually more commonly assumed to be men. By day, werebeasts look just like any other person would, but by night, they take the form of a region's most ferocious predator.
"Since there are no wolves in the Philippines, the term weredog is more appropriate; although the term werebeast may, in some cases, be even more applicable," The Aswang Project says. "A weredog is said to reside in a village and turn into a ferocious dog, boar, or large cat at about midnight."
The witch is shown in Filipino folktales to be able to be either a man or a woman, although it is more closely associated with women. Witches are known to cause sickness in the people around them, either intentionally, due to their vindictiveness, or sometimes by accident.
"By magically intruding various objects...through the victim’s bodily orifices or by herself entering the victim’s body, the Philippine witch punishes those by whom she has been put out. Or by an innocent look or remark, she also makes an equally innocent victim ill," The Aswang Project says.
The ghoul has long, sharp nails and teeth, which it uses to consume human bodies. Ghouls are often invisible, though they are capable of showing themselves and looking similar to humans. They are capable of living in human communities, and are said to reek of death.
"At night they congregate in large trees near a cemetery and then descend [upon] the newly buried corpses. They devour their plunder, making audible noises as they do so," The Aswang Project describes.
From these five aspects of aswangs, it is clear that the monsters can take on many different forms. Each is unique, but they can also overlap or take on a form that is unique. Most of them shapeshift and blend into town or consume some part of the human body, making it understandable why the creatures are so terrifying.
Living beliefs of the aswang
As with any culture, the folklore of the Philippines still plays a key role into Filipino culture for many individuals, depending on the person and what their community believes. For some communities, aswangs are still a valid fear.
"Although, you and I both know many people do not consider the Aswang fiction, and still consider her a very real threat today," Chadburn said. This is important to keep in mind when engaging in conversations surrounding the mythological creature.
Even if the aswang is still considered to be alive and looming by many people, it has seemingly changed over time, or between story iterations, as can be seen by the five main characteristics that aswangs may take on.
Joseph Casibual explores the intersection of gender and folklore in his essay "Of Women and Monsters", published in the Southeastern Philippines Journal. The essay looks at aswangs in Filipino folklore and how they often went hand in hand with women and gender stereotypes, making women out to be monsters.
"Creatures in folklore and mythology are coded as women, whom all spoke to men's fear of women's destructive potential," Casibual writes. People can see this reflected in many of the tales of viscera suckers and vampires, which are most often portrayed as female.
However, when looking at the aswang more broadly, there are many aswangs that are portrayed as being more aligned with stereotypical male attributes and behaviors, such as the werebeast. While this may vary across different regions or across the history of these tales being passed down, it is still worth noting that this is a large part of the history and beliefs behind some views of aswangs.
"It was clear that aswang or other creatures function as a symbol that allows Filipino to communicate or express a state of fear, anxiety, or apprehension felt during times of personal or communal stress," Casibual says.
Aswangs are a fascinating creature traditional to the Philippines, with lots of various interpretations of their abilities and intentions. Overall, they generally keep the fearsome nature so that the creature is still able to serve as a threat in many types of cautionary tales.
