Mothers, Maids and The Creatures of The Night

University of San Carlos Publications
MOTHERS, MAIDS AND THE CREATURES OF THE NIGHT: THE PERSISTENCE OF PHILIPPINE
FOLK RELIGION
Author(s): Fe Susan Go
Source: Philippine Quarterly of Culture and Society, Vol. 7, No. 3 (September 1979), pp.
186-203
Published by: University of San Carlos Publications
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Philippine Quarterly of Culture and Society
7:186-203(1979)
MOTHERS, MAIDS AND THE CREATURES OF THE NIGHT: THE PERSIS?

TENCE OF PHILIPPINE FOLK RELIGION
Fe Susan Go
University of Michigan
All Christians who are aware of the true value of their Christian Faith have to
agree that the greatest and most significant event in our history was the evan?
gelization of our people, when we 'turned to God from idols, to serve the living
and true God.'
-Fourth Centennial of the Christianization of the Philippines; Comme?
morative Album on the Cebu Celebration. Cebu City; 1965, p. 24.
The Philippines has long been considered a Catholic country,1 having

undergone a fairly extensive evangelization under Spanish missionaries, which
began in the second half of the sixteenth century. By the end of the Spanish
regime in the Philippines (1898), the Catholic Church was well entrenched in
Filipino society; a reasonably well-trained indigenous clergy existed and Catholic
Christian religious practices had become a regular part of the socio-religious
fabric of the islands. So strong was the Church that it successfully resisted all
attempts to subvert it. Prominent among these attempts were the rise of the
nationalistic Philippine Independent Church (1902) and the American Protestant
missionary movement (ca. 1900) (Achutegui and Bernad 1960-1966; Tuggy
1971; Doeppers 1976a, 1977). Although both of these non-Catholic Christian
movements made some inroads among Catholic Filipinos, they never succeeded
in posing a real threat to the dominance of the Roman Catholic Church. In the
1960 Census of the Philippines it is estimated that 83.8 percent of the Filipinos
are Catholics, while another 9.1 percent are non-Catholic Christians. (1960
Census, Summary Report, Vol. II, p. 17). In 1965 Christian Filipinos all over the
country celebrated with great pomp the 400th anniversary of Christianity in the
Philippines; no one can doubt that Christianity, especially in its Roman Catholic
form, has come to stay. However,
Even among lowlanders today, Christian observers are alarmed at the extent of
pagan practices among those who are called Christians, to the extent that their
true religion may be considered paganism, with Christianity merely an addition
to their paganism rather than a replacement of it (Hislop 1971: 153-54).
1. This paper does not attempt to deal with Muslim Filipinos or with "pagan" peoples living
mainly in the upland and interior areas of many islands. The discussion will focus on those who are
generally referred to as "lowland Christian Filipinos," which make up about 90 percent of the inhabitants
of the Philippines.
go/mothers, maids and the creatures of the night 187
When one takes a closer look at life in the Philippines through the eyes of
the social historian, cultural geographer, anthropologist and social psychologist
there emerges a less convincing picture of Filipino adherence to Christianity.
Some historians of the past decade have focused their attention on the
wide variety of indigenous movements of a socio-religious nature that occurred
throughout the Spanish period and after; considerable attention has more
recently concentrated on those movements that took place in the 19th and
early 20th centuries. These movements combined pre-Hispanic "nativistic" (folk
or animistic) beliefs and practices with those of Christianity to form a confusing
(to the outsider) and, until now, not very well understood collection of syncretic
beliefs. Historians using some of the analytical tools of modern social scientists
have described and attempted to analyze these movements (especially 1840
1940) in terms of alienation (little versus great tradition) and revitalization
(Sturtevant 1976; Hart 1967; Sweet 1970) or to interpret them in terms of a
unique Filipino cultural-religious perception (Ileto 1975; Covar 1973). In
either case history makes it clear that large numbers of Filipinos for more than
a century have been involved in a great many religiously motivated movements
which to the Spanish Catholic clergy were heretical.
During the Spanish period the close relationship between the church and
the state usually brought direct action against these "heretical" movements,
destroying them or forcing their leaders and followers to take refuge in the
rugged interiors of many provinces. During the governmental breakdown and
socio-economic chaos of the revolutionary period (1896-ca. 1906), numerous
religious movements emerged all over the Philippines. (Arens 1959; Sturtevant
1969, 1976; Ileto 1975: 257-313; Romero 1974: 163-189; Hurley 1938; Hart
1967; McCoy 1978). Where they challenged the established order, either
passively or militantly, they were crushed by the military might of the new
colonial master, the United States, and its Filipino allies. These groups and
other similar movements were once again forced to exist on the periphery of
society, where some surfaced periodically, often violently, during the pre-World
War II years under the general rubric of "colorum" movements (Guerrero
1967). Combining Filipino indigenous beliefs (called anitismo by Hislop 1971
and Covar 1975b) and various aspects of Catholicism, Protestantism and Filipino
nationalism, similar movements and religious groups continue to exist all over
the Philippines today (Elwood 1968, 1969; Foronda 1961; Covar 1975a;
Ando 1969; Alonso 1959; Sta. Romana 1955; Aldaba-Lim, et al. 1967; Chio
1973; Miranda 1969 and Hislop 1971). In one way or another, these "religions"
represent overt efforts on the part of a growing number of Filipinos to find a
more satisfying religious experience; they reflect a dissatisfaction with the
established Christian institutions. Anthropologist Prospero Covar (1975b) feels
strongly that the Filipino anitismo (anitism) tradition is the "base culture" for
all these groups.
188 PHILIPPINE QUARTERLY OF CULTURE AND SOCIETY
Aside from the indigenous "religions," described above, a much more

pervasive phenomenon among lowland Christians, that of "folk Catholicism"
or "folk Christianity," has for years been discussed by anthropologists. Four
hundred years of Christianization and Western colonial and post-colonial
influence have failed to erase many of the pre-Christian religious beliefs and
practices of the Filipinos. Supernatural forces, among them ancestral souls,
witches, ghosts, monstrous and playful animals, and all kinds of environmental
spirits play an important part in the people's lives and in their world view
(Demetrio 1970; and Ramos 1967, 1971a, 1971b). A wide variety of folk
religious practices are a regular part of the life of nearly all peasant farmers and
fishermen (Arens 1971). All manner of beliefs and practices accompany the
crises of life, from birth to illness to death (Hart 1965, 1969, 1975; Lieban
1967) as well as the daily routines of life, from house building to preparing
food (Hart 1959 and Ramos 1938). What exists in practice in the villages,
towns and even in the cities,2 is a compromise religion, one which is neither
purely indigenous nor purely Christian (Hart 1966; Jocano 1966; Bulatao
1966, Carroll 1968; and Toliver 1970). Few Christian Filipinos, whether
educated or not, perceive any serious contradictions between indigenous and
Christian beliefs and practices. Rarely do these two "traditions" come into
open conflict and rarely do Catholic Filipino priests point out or directly
oppose the contradictions existing in the religious practices of their parishioners.
As a personal note, I might add that quite often Filipino priests contribute to
the folk belief system by participating in storytelling, often informally, about
their own encounters with supernatural beings and spirits. One well-known
Catholic priest (a Jesuit and psychologist), Jaime Bulatao, even published an
account of his encounter with a poltergeist (in this case a dwende, or dwarf);
although he did not actually see the dwende, he did observe many "strange
happenings" attributed to the supernatural troublemaker and, in order to
placate the family who requested his priestly services, he did perform an
exorcism of sorts (see Bulatao 1968).
Protestant missionaries of long residence tend either to ignore these con?
tradictions or to incorporate them into their informal missionary activities.
Some Protestant missionaries, invariably non-Filipinos, have viewed this "syn?
cretism" as a cancer in the Christian faith and criticize both priests and ministers
who tolerate it. One American missionary views Filipino "animistic beliefs" in
this way:
2. With regard to rural-urban differences in religious practices, Jocano (1966:45) notes: "Rural
Catholicism is one in which Catholic beliefs are attenuated in locally sanctioned practices, while urban
Catholicism is one in which indigenous beliefs are attenuated in Church-allowed, though not sanctioned,
rites." Lieban (1967) makes it clear that indigenous concepts of disease treatment and sorcery (i.e.,
folk medicine) are as strong in the urban areas of the Bisayas as they are in the rural.
They are an enemy concealed, in ambush, fighting a guerilla warfare against the
evangelical believer. . . . This enemy often strikes at the very heart of the Chris?
tian message, for he challenges the love and power of God, the efficacy of the
sacrifices of Christ, and the power of the Holy Spirit to sustain the believer.
(Toliver 1970:213).
This same missionary, however, realizes the immensity of the problem and
concludes that the task of uprooting the Filipino's "animistic beliefs" is great
indeed, for they are "as much a part of him as hands and feet! " (Toliver 1970:
213). After many years of research on Filipino religious behavior, Jesuit psycho?
logist Jaime Bulatao concludes in a similar way: "Apparently the Filipino is still
an animist at heart, in spite of four centuries of Roman Catholicism" (1977:
xiv).
In attempting to better understand the persistence of Filipino animistic or
folk beliefs, some historical and socio-psychological factors must be stressed.
Historically the spread of Christianity throughout the Philippines can be
viewed as very uneven (Doeppers 1976a; Carroll 1968)3. Never were there
enough Spanish missionaries to minister to all the souls. Catholic missionaries
staked out large jurisdictions and were rarely able to care properly for the
spiritual needs of their parishioners. Many a village distant from the town
proper (poblacion) only occasionally experienced the direct services of the
priest. There was (and still is) a physical (Carroll 1968) as well as a socio
cultural (Bulatao 1966) distance between the Church and the Christians, even in
the urban areas. Christians go to the Church; the Church rarely goes to the
Christians. And this is how the people have come to prefer the relationships.4
Some areas, especially in the Bisayas and Mindanao, did not become
integrated into settled Christian communities until the second half of the 19th
century or even later. To assert that Christianity is more than 400 years old in
the Philippines is misleading. For some areas, the presence of the Church is
barely a century old; only in a few places has it penetrated deeply into the
lives of the people.
Another historical factor to be considered is the way in which Christianity
was taught to Filipinos. As John L. Phelan (1959) has pointed out, Spanish
missionaries placed great emphasis on ritual and pomp as a conversion technique.
Many sacraments (such as Extreme Unction, Holy Communion and Confirma
3. John Schumacher (1968) feels that the depth of Christianity may well have been greater in
the 17th century than in the 19th century, when evangelization by Spanish missionaries declined notice?
ably.
4. Thus, Jocano (1965) shows that the villagers he studied reacted strongly against the more
aggressive social involvement techniques of the Protestant missionaries in recent years.
tion) were withheld and introduced only gradually over time. Religious instruc?
tion was slow in coming and even slower in being comprehended by the majority
of the population, who participated in the religion through ritualized acts and
symbols, personalized devotion to saints, memorized and recited portions of
the gospel (especially the pasion), prayers (especially novenas) and saints' lives.
The Spanish missionaries, who themselves were not far removed from European
paganism, at first attempted to combat the evil forces of the "Devil" that they
encountered among the pagan Filipinos; but in time the realities of the situation
forced them to tolerate, ignore or come to terms with the indigenous beliefs
and practices. Thus, as Phelan argues, Spanish Catholicism became Filipinized,
and, for many Filipinos, being a Christian meant little more than being baptized.
Pagan idols were destroyed, but the worship of idols was soon transferred
to Christian images, mainly of saints, with whom local miracles were generally
associated. There are few patron saints of Philippine towns who do not have at
least one miraculous act attributed to them. Frequently images are believed to
be endowed with special powers from healing to the ability to recover lost
items; one can avail oneself of these personal services through various forms of
devotion, ranging from the recitation of a simple novena or kissing the image's
feet or garments to elaborate, often excruciating, asceticism. The strong devo?
tion to localized saints can be attributed in part to pre-Christian devotion to
pagan idols and in part to the obvious use of this devotion (now to a saint) by
the Spanish missionaries both as a conversion technique and as a means of social
control.
Indigenous religious specialists (shamans) had no role in the new religion,
which was dominated by the Catholic priesthood. Nonetheless, shamans of all
varieties did not disappear; they still persist as the primary mediums between
man and the supernatural forces that surround him. The shamans of the Philip?
pines are "very similar" in their functions and practices to those found through?
out Southeast Asia (Demetrio 1973:154). They function as healers, sacrificers,
diviners, sorcerers, and general experts in interpreting the spirit world; they also
appear as witches of all kinds, inflicting illness and causing death (Demetrio
1973). Although some Filipino shamans have assimilated Christian elements
into their practices (such as the use of crucifixes, holy water, Latin-sounding
incantations and phrases or oraciones, etc.), they remain a separate traditional
"priesthood" with roots in nearly every barrio or group of barrios in the
archipelago.
The impact of Christianity on the folk tradition cannot, however, be
discounted, for there has also been some Christianization of Filipino folk
beliefs and practices. The study of Reynaldo Ileto (1975) makes it apparent
that the religious conceptions of the Tagalogs have been significantly influenced
and altered by their contacts with Christian teachings. Ileto has with some
Go/mothers, maids and the creatures of the night 191
success interpreted more than fifty years (1840-1912) of Tagalog cultural

history and their changing world view in the context of the pasion (Christ's
passion), which, in its Tagalog form, had been memorized, recited and enacted
by the people at all levels of society; some had even "lived" the pasion. The
impact of the pasion tradition, however, was not uniform throughout the
Philippines. More and more it is becoming clear that the degree of Christianity's
penetration in any geographical area or region varied significantly according to
historical developments. At least one recent study suggests strongly that for
the Western Bisayas (Panay and Negros Occidental) the predominant religion
is an indigenous one with its own cosmology, theology, hierarchical priesthood,
and rituals; here the people's culture has not been greatly affected or altered by
a pasion tradition (as with the Tagalogs); the Western Bisayan "religion" is
viewed as a "folk paganism" with a thin veneer of Christianity (McCoy 1978).
Confronted with the reality of two, at least theoretically conflicting belief
systems, Filipino social scientists have over the years attempted to find satis?
factory explanations. Psychologist Bulatao (1966:7) posited a theory of a "split
level Christianity" for Filipinos: "we have two theological systems, side by side,
the Christian and the pagan existing within one man." Thus, a Filipino
could be a good Catholic when in church or around a priest, but when back
home in his barrio have his life regulated by the spirit world and his pagan
practices. This notion of "split-level Christianity" was uncomfortably close to
a theory of a "split-level" Filipino personality, or a nation of schizophrenic
people. Furthermore, a belief in spirits, supernatural monsters, and the efficacy
of magic and symbols, beliefs that ostensibly had disappeared in Western (or
rational) culture, meant that Filipinos still maintained many of their primitive
(irrational) traits. Numerous accounts of actual encounters with "rationally
non-existent" supernatural forces of all kinds meant even more to the modern
psychologist: Filipinos must be hallucinating. The trend of thought was not
very appealing; in a Western (or rational) framework Filipinos were still ex?
hibiting primitive tendencies, and, in the eyes of modern psychologists, they
were very close to suffering from schizophrenia and hallucination!
In an effort to rationalize the psychological aspects of Filipino behavior,
anthropologist Jocano (1966, 1970) has stressed that there are a number of
very logical explanations for the Filipinos' "split-level Christianity" and the
people's "hallucinations." Jocano (especially in 1970) rejected the notion that
these traits are "mental disorders" and argues that they are the result of "cul?
tural cognition." Filipinos, says Jocano, are from the very beginning of their
lives taught to believe in a fearful "pantheon" of supernatural beings and
forces that can impinge on them at any time to bring sickness and death. From
childhood to adolescence these beliefs, invariably couched in fear, are reinforced
by adult authority figures. Encounters with supernatural beings are therefore
interpreted more as a result of "cultural cognition" than "hallucination;"

Filipinos are brought up in a world that accepts the existence of supernatural
forces of all kinds. Departing from his original stress on the Filipino's "split
level" personality, Bulatao now prefers to interpret much of the religious
behavior of the Filipino in terms of "altered states of consciousness." Bulatao
feels Filipinos are gifted in this area, but "unfortunately they are not always
aware of this power and as a result have created theologies involving spirits,
devils, kulam [witchcraft], visions, etc., mostly under the guise of some form of
religion" (Bulatao 1977:xx).
Most scholars today view Filipino folk religion ("folk Christianity") as a
whole in itself, a separate religion, rather than as a corrupted form of Chris?
tianity or as an aspect of a "split-level" cultural perception (Hutterer 1977;
Jocano 1966). It is a religion based on "a psychological construct which under?
lies the emotional behavior of the people" (Jocano 1966:64). Thus, any
perceptions of Filipino religious life as schizophrenic are mainly in the eye of
the beholder and not in the mind of the Filipino, who continues to worship
the distant Christian Trinity and the nearby saints as the Church requires and as
he or she always has done, and also continues to propitiate the spirits and to
fear the creatures of the night that "live" in his or her everyday world.
... the animistic beliefs got there first, imbibed with mother's milk "(Toliver
1970:221).
At the base of Filipino folk religion is the prevailing belief in, and the deep
fear of, supernatural creatures that live with and alongside humans. Placating or
avoiding various forms of spirits and witches is a major preoccupation of most
Filipinos, whether in the rural areas, in the towns proper or in the cities. All
types of misfortune, tragedy, disaster, accidents, illness and death are believed
to be caused by supernatural beings.
Although it is unlikely that beliefs in the supernatural derive from mother's
milk, it is clear that the transmission of such beliefs occurs during child-rearing
and that mothers and other women in the household play a central role in this
process. It is in early childhood that the belief in the supernatural is deeply
implanted, and, although there have been very few specific studies in this
area, the ethnographic literature has long placed the responsibility for the
development of this "psychological construct" on mothers and maids, par?
ticularly those with child-care duties. Long before children receive any religious
instruction in Christianity they have already been introduced to the super?
natural world that will surround them for most of their lives. It all begins with
fear, and it is mainly fear that continues to sustain the belief.
From the time children begin to be weaned from their mothers, the
primary method for securing their obedience and proper behavior is through
verbal chastisements based on fear of a variety of frightening creatures and
personalities, both human and supernatural (Guthrie and Jacobs 1966:165-175;
Nydegger and Nydegger 1964:216-217; Jocano 1970:24-25; Lynch 1949:420;
Ramos 1968). The most effective creatures are various malevolent supernatural
beings, the most prominent being the asuang (unglu or ungu in Cebu) or
witch, the momo (multo orabat in Cebu) or ghost (usually of a known deceased
person), the kapre (agta in Cebu), or an extra large supernatural man usually
living in a huge tree, and in Cebu various kinds of supernatural animals and
monsters (such as kalaskas, kataw, kikik, impaktu, mantiyanak, sigbin, etc.)
(Guthrie and Jacobs 1966:166-173; Lynch 1949:420; Jocano 1970:24; Ramos
1967, 1971a, 1971b). "The asuwang," noted Frank Lynch in his early study,
"is for many Bicol mothers what the 'bogey man' is for many American
mothers" (1949:420). In other words, he serves a disciplinary purpose: "If you
don't obey, the 'bogey man' will get you!" But whereas the American child
later discovers the "bogey man" to be unreal, most Filipinos develop a very
real belief in the asuang and all of its supernatural companions, a belief which is
reinforced in later life.
The major responsibility for child-rearing, especially for children under

the age of ten, rests with the mother who is frequently assisted by a yaya (a
nursemaid or maid with child-care duties). One of the commonest methods
these authority figures use to guarantee obedience is to threaten the child with
the intervention of a supernatural being (Nydegger and Nydegger 1966:116,
124, 126-127; Nurge 1965:71-86; Jocano 1969:32; Arens 1971:104; Brandewie
1973:216). Occasionally this fear is instilled by actually pointing out to the
child an old woman (said to be a witch or asuang) who is periodically asked to
"stalk the barrio" (Nydegger and Nydegger 1964:217), or to simulate witch
sounds (wakwak) in the night, most frequently to stop a child from crying.
The child will be told:
Can you hear the wakwak? If you don't stop crying it will come and eat you!
As the child grows older the inhabitants of his or her supernatural world
increase to include many of the creatures described above. Since these creatures
are intermingled with other frightening but non-supernatural beings, such as
beggars, peddlers, Indians (mga Bombay), and other fearful humans, and even
God Himself, children soon come to believe that the supernatural beings are
just as real as the others.
Mothers and maids continue to play the leading role in reinforcing and
confirming the belief of the adolescents in the supernatural. The major medium
at this stage of development is storytelling. Storytelling, especially at night, is a
common pastime among families in the Philippines. Many of these stories
dwell on encounters with supernatural beings, either as personal or first-hand

accounts, retellings of others' stories or recounting legends or folk tales passed
on over the years (Jocano 1970:25-27). The most convincing are the tales by
one's own mother (or close relatives) or those told by household maids of long
residence. Mothers, and women in particular, have long been observed to take
their religion more seriously than do men; they attend masses more regularly,
participate in novena devotions and other religious activities more often, and
are generally more pious. They are then seen not only as better Christians
but at the same time they are frequently also more attuned to the folk beliefs
and especially to those supernatural forces that can harm their family. Story?
telling is, among other things, a means to instill social controls and to implant
in children a proper respect for potentially harmful forces in the world around
them (Lynch 1949:420; Ramos 1968).
Most mothers participate regularly in storytelling and share their ex?
periences. (See the appendix for some personal examples.) It is interesting to
note that about sixty percent of the informants for Maximo Ramos' study of
the "aswang syncracy" were women, quite a number of whom were actually
identified as mothers and maids (Ramos 1971b). Although I feel that beliefs
in the supernatural are strong in both urban and rural areas, I should men?
tion that at least one author has attributed the continuing belief in spirits and
witches in the towns and cities to housemaids (and visiting relatives) from the
barrios, "who regale children with their horrible stories about ghosts and other
beings which form the motifs of folk belief (Arens 1971:104). Probably
some of the best examples of the stories told by maids to children are those in
a little-known book by a Spanish woman, Adelina Gurrea,5 who retells the
tales that she had heard from her old childhood maid. Cuentos de Juana (Tales
of Juana) consists of eight stories of varying length told to Adelina and her
siblings by their Filipina maid Juana. Each tale is replete with the activities,
most of them malevolent, of "dreadful Malayan duendes [goblins]." Gurrea
eventually left the Philippines, so the creatures in these tales remained for
her mostly fictional and legendary, but for Filipino children they are as real as
the storyteller herself.
Before children pass into young adulthood and begin to intereact in the
"Christian" society, the supernatural world that was introduced to them during
their childhood and adolescence is verified everywhere.
5. Alfredo S. Veloso's Antologia says this of Adelina Gurrea: "She scored her first triumph in
a contest at Casino Espanol. For three years she was the women's section and literary editor of La
Vanguardia. In 1921 she went to Spain, where she resides up to the present, without renouncing her
Filipino citizenship. . . co-founder of the Circulo Filipino de Madrid. . . A poem won a Zobel prize in
1955." (My thanks to Morton J. Netzorg of Cellar Book Shop for pointing out this pertinent passage.)
... the intensive fear of preternatural beings which originate from childhood
discipline are [sic] never fully overcome .... instead it becomes part of adult life
which finally leads to a highly patterned type of perceptual experience (Jocano
1970:28).
Storytelling around supernatural themes continues throughout one's life, folk

medicine confirms the existence of supernatural forces as causal factors in illness
and death, and social, agricultural, household and numerous everyday rituals
and customs support belief in environmental spirits of all varieties. As Donn
Hart has stated: "It is difficult to think of many daily activities that occur in
total isolation from some aspect of the supernatural" (Hart 1966:70). The
initial childhood fear of the supernatural may develop into the adolescent's
general awareness or respect for the spirit world. One thing cannot be denied:
the belief in this spirit world persists among most Filipinos.
Appendix
In the following, I will retell some stories I heard from friends and neighbors that
may serve to illustrate the Filipinos' belief in the world of spirits. All the persons involved
are known to me as faithful Catholics who see no contradiction between their religious
convictions and the belief in "supernatural" beings and occurrences. I will let my informants
each tell their own stories, though they are not reproduced here in the exact words in which
they were told. The names, however, are fictitious.
Bewitched Along the Road. This is the story of Nena recalling an incident in her life
when she was ten years old.
"One day, my mother decided to pay a visit to the teacher of my younger sister. The
teacher lived in a house not very far from our own, on a rather lonely street. Since my father
was busy with his work, my mother asked me to accompany her. We were already quite
close to the teacher's house, when my mother suddenly declared that we still had a long way
to go. I told her that we were almost there, but she insisted that it would take us another
twenty minutes to reach the place. As we reached the house, I tried to enter the yard, but
my mother held me back telling me that it was the wrong place. Taught not to argue with
my elders, I let her lead me away, but when we got to the end of the road I told her that we
had passed the house a while ago. So we retraced our steps, but as we were getting close to
the house a second time, my mother once more insisted that it was not the right house. In
exasperation I pinched her, hoping to make her realize what she was doing. All of a sudden,
as if finally coming to her senses, she said that we had passed the teacher's house and asked
why we were coming to it from the opposite side. She right away concluded that we had
been bewitched and a spell known as minu6 had been cast over us. The remedy or counter
6. Minu is a fairly well-known supernatural spell cast by an ingkantu (a spirit who resides in trees,
rocks, or other natural environments) on humans who by chance wander into their territory and disrupt
their repose. The spell generally causes the intruder suddenly to lose his way, and frequently wander
aimlessly in the forest.
spell for minu is to remove one's clothes and put them on again inside out. Accordingly,
we looked for a dark corner along the road where we could reverse our dresses. Although
I had never had any doubt about the identity of the teacher's house, my mother insisted that
I also comply with the prescribed ritual. While engaged in this business, my mother kept
mumbling to herself, asking the ingkantu, whom she thought to be residing in the big acacia
tree beside the road, to forgive our intrusion in his territory, at the same time praying to
God to enlighten us so we would find the way. With our clothes inside out, we emerged
from our refuge and proceeded to the teacher's house. By now I was thoroughly frightened.
When we reached the house, my mother thanked the ingkantu for his guidance. She told the
teacher what had happened. The latter was very sympathetic and confirmed the presence of
an ingkantu somewhere in those trees. After staying with the teacher for about an hour we
returned home by car. Even now, many years after that event, I dare not walk in that
neighborhood at night or at any time alone. The memory of my fright is still too vivid with
me.
Mother and the Duende. (Nena was also the informant for this story).
used to own a house in a nearby barrio, some five kilometers from our present
father had it built mainly for storage purposes. There was a lone tree in the m
lot, which my father cut down in order to make way for the house. The lot w
the street from a public school playground, which had been used as a bur
Japanese soldiers killed during the war. Part of our own lot had also been
purpose.
Some time after the house was built (it was a two-story building with four bedrooms
upstairs and one downstairs), my aunt and her family moved in, occupying the groundfloor.
The second floor was reserved for storage purposes. After they had lived there for some time,
the neighbors began to inquire if there were any people living on the upper floor. Mysterious
stories began to circulate about a strange lady who was seen walking about the upper floor.
Although she was bothered by the rumors, my aunt decided to ignore them, since her
family had not been disturbed by anyone or anything.
Mother paid frequent visits to the house, for the purpose of taking things there for
storage and bringing out others. One Sunday she took me along on one of these trips to the
storerooms. My aunt and uncle had gone to the city and only my cousin Luisa was at home.
Mother went up to the storerooms, while I played with Luisa in the yard. At noon my
mother came down and we ate lunch. After lunch, my mother rested for a while on the stairs
while Luisa and I resumed our games. Suddenly there was a bloodcurdling shriek. Rurining
to see what was the matter, I found mother pale and dazed. Fearing that she was suffering a
heart attack, I ran to get hot water, at the same time asking my cousin to call our father.
Mother soon calmed down but still was too shaken to talk about what had happened. Mean?
while my father and other members of our family had arrived. When everyone had gathered
around her, mother told us that she had seen three duendes (elf-like creatures, generally
believed to be friendly unless provoked or disturbed, when they can become troublesome
and occasionally destructive). They were playing where my mother was sitting. They were
trying to make her get out of the way so that they could go upstairs. But mother was pa?
ralysed with fear and all she could do was watch them play around her. When she gave out
her shriek they disappeared.
After this encounter with the duendes we children were afraid to stay in that house
or to go upstairs without a companion. Strange things began to happen to the people living
in the house. Then my aunt and uncle as well as their son all died within three months
of one another. The neighbors had any number of theories about these sad events. To
begin with, the land, as has been explained, had been used as a burial ground for Japanese
soldiers, whose souls (kalag) were still unhappily lingering in the area. Secondly, the family's
intrusion onto the land and the cutting down of the tree had angered the duendes who used
to live there. Others felt that leaving the upper floor unoccupied by humans encouraged
supernatural beings to move in and appropriate the house as their own. The most curious
explanation saw the cause of the misfortunes in the cruciform partitioning of the upper floor
with its suggestion of the Christian cross. My father took this seriously enough to have the
partitions rearranged in a different pattern. Soon after he sold the house. But that did not
help. The next two owners went bankrupt and strange things continued to happen in the
house. No one in our family ever doubted that the house was haunted."
The Lady in White Who Walks at Night. The following story was told by a young
woman, whom i shall call Pacing:
"Our family lived in a house that had been built right after the war. The lot on which
it stood had been given to us by our grandmother on my father's side. Just behind the house,
but on the lot of our neighbors, there was a fairly large tree that had been allowed to survive
on what was a rather dismal-looking piece of ground. Across the street lived our cousins.
They had an artesian well on their property with an avocado tree beside it.
One night, Nang Conching, an elder cousin of mine, happened to come home at two
o'clock in the morning and saw a beautiful lady, dressed in white, with long, flowing hair.
She was trying to get a drink from the well. Since Nang Conching derived some small income
from the well, she tried to call the lady's attention with a sutsut (a hissing sound), the lady's
back being turned to her. Upon hearing the sound, the unknown, without looking back,
dropped the bucket and walked away into the night. To Nang Conching this was a strange
occurrence, but at the time she gave it no further thought. The same night, the drivers of
my father's trucks, after knocking off work, had been having a grand old time, drinking and
carousing. When exhaustion finally overtook them, they tumbled into their trucks and fell
asleep instantly. The next morning one of the drivers told the others that he had had a
strange experience: in the middle of the night he woke up to see a lady peering at him, but
when he struggled to get up, she disappeared. Thereupon two other drivers said they had had
a similar experience, and when Nang Conching told her story, everyone began to wonder
about the meaning of it all.
Some time later, our neighbor asked my mother whether she had ever seen a lady in
white moving around their houses at night and later disappearing. Soon afterwards, Nang
Conching began to see the lady frequently and once she was able to follow her from a short
distance. By now everyone was agreed that the lady always vanished in the alley between our
house and that of our neighbor's. This led to the commonly accepted conclusion that the
lady was an ingkantu, who lived in that tree in our neighbor's backyard and that she came
down at night to get water from Nang Conching's well.
This went on for some time until Nang Conching decided to install a motor pump and
add facilities for bathing and washing of clothes. The changeover brought a lot of difficulties
in its wake: Members of the family got sick, the motor broke down periodically, once the
well went completely dry, and other problems arose. Nang Conching had the place blessed,
both by a Catholic priest with crucifix and candles and by a local mananambal (shaman),
who offered the spirits a chicken sacrifice. Subsequently she had acts of propitiation repeated
year after year in the form of a meal offered to all those who used her public bath and even
to passers-by, often to the accompaniment of dancing and loud music.
For the children living in our neighborhood, the white lady became a figure to be
feared, most of all for those in our house. If on going to bed we did not close our eyes and
go to sleep as ordered by our maid, she would scream at us: Hala day! Na'y ingkantada"
("Watch out, little girl! There is an ingkantu nearby"), and then, as if speaking to the
ingkantu, she would say Dili matulog si Maria; kan-a siya ug dili ba pakit-a siya kung unsa ka
"Maria doesn't want to go to sleep; eat her or show yourself so she can see what you are! "
This was enough to make us close our eyes tightly and stay in bed, even if we were not ready
to go to sleep.
Eventually the owner of the house behind ours decided to get rid of the tree to gain
space for an addition to their bathroom. But rather than simply chop it down, he packed
salt around the roots to kill it slowly. Soon afterwards he became ill. Subsequently he
removed the remaining salt, watered the tree and left it alone. He recovered and the legend
of the enchanted tree and its mysterious resident became another tale to pass on through
the years.
The tree is still there and occasionally the lady in white is still seen. She has been part
of our lives since my elementary school days and although I have never seen her myself I
find it difficult not to believe in her existence."
Consuelo and the Ungu. (My informant for this story was my school chum Rosita).
"In our house it was the responsibility of the children's maid to put me and my
brothers and sisters to bed. But before trotting off to bed, we liked to play games, especially
"hide-and-seek." Engrossed in our game, we would be deaf to the calls of Consuelo, a maid of
long service in our family, to break it off and go to bed. After repeated calls had been
ignored, she would warn us that there was a strange being lurking in our favorite hidey-holes
who would grab us and abduct us and never let us return to mother. This terrifying being
was an ungu (a kind of witch) believed to hide in dark places, waiting to capture unsus?
pecting children and eat them. The threat of an ungu lurking about and ready to snatch us
was always effective in making us stop playing and go meekly to our beds, where we felt
safe. If any of us showed further resistance, Consuelo would elaborate on some of the
horrible attributes of the unguy whereas, if we obeyed, she usually told us nice stories before
we went to sleep; but the ungu was always kept in reserve as an insurance that we would go
to sleep."
The Old Woman and theAgta (This story was likewise contributed by Rosita): "When
I was in elementary school, I was a member of a barangay (village) prayer group. We would
meet periodically in the houses of the members to pray the Rosary. The leader of the
barangay prayer group was an old woman, who lived in a house back from the street amid a
cluster of old houses. Near her house was a large acacia tree. While waiting in the dark for
the members of the group to arrive, the old woman used to regale us with stories about her
Go/mothers, maids and the creatures of the night 199
friend, the agta (a supernatural man of huge proportions), who lived in the tree beside her
house. She introduced him as Pedro but none of us ever saw him. Nevertheless she warned
us that anyone who failed to attend the barangay prayer when it was held in her house would
meet the agta with dire and painful consequences. So whenever it was her turn to host the
meeting, none of us dared to be absent. At the end of these prayer meetings at her house,
the old woman would ask God to bless us all, including her agta friend, to remind us of his
existence."
Alba, the Ungu, Rides the Streets ofCebu. (This story is my own):
One of the most popular stories I heard in my childhood was about a woman by the
name of Alba, believed to be an ungu, who was frequently seen riding a mysterious horse
through the streets of Cebu at night. Alba came from an upper class family who lived in the
Parian-once the wealthy quarter of our city, which was not very far from our house. As the
story goes, sometime in the twenties, a circus had come to our city, which had three splendid
horses performing in it. One night, one of the horses was found to have disappeared. It was
later discovered in the stables of Alba in the Parian. Some time after the circus had departed
from Cebu, people began to see Alba riding that hone through the streets at night, but
whenever people tried to get a closer look at the mysterious rider, horse and rider would
vanish. Before long, Alba, her horse and their midnight rides became legendary. As late as
the sixties, she was still seen once in a while riding around the streets of Cebu. I have heard
the story of Alba in a number of versions from my mother, our maids, many friends, at least
one priest, and even my father. Although few now see her in her midnight excursions, many
still claim to have heard her riding by but when they look out their windows, they see
nothing. During my childhood the threat of meeting with Alba the ungu was enough to
keep us off the streets at night. As has been explained, ungu are said to be looking for
children, which are their favorite prey. Hence the warning: "Beware of staying out after
nightfall; you may become the dinner of Alba the ungu! "
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University of San Carlos Publications

MOTHERS, MAIDS AND THE CREATURES OF THE NIGHT: THE PERSIS?

The Philippines has long been considered a Catholic country,1 having

Aside from the indigenous "religions," described above, a much more

success interpreted more than fifty years (1840-1912) of Tagalog cultural

interpreted more as a result of "cultural cognition" than "hallucination;"

The major responsibility for child-rearing, especially for children under

dwell on encounters with supernatural beings, either as personal or first-hand

Storytelling around supernatural themes continues throughout one's life, folk

Achutegui, Pedro de and Miguel Bernad

Arens, Richard, SVD.

1977 "Altered states of consciousness in Philippine religion" in Filipino Religious

Carroll, John J., SJ.

1975a "The Iglesia Watawat ngLahi-m anthropological study of a social movement

1975b "General characterization of contemporary religious movements in the

1976b "The evolution of the geography of religious adherence in the Philippines

1977 "Changing patterns of Aglipayan adherence in the Philippines, 1918-1970."

1969 "Varieties of Christianity in the Philippines" in Studies in Philippine Church

Foronda, Marcelino A., Jr.

Guthrie, George M. and Pepita Jimenez Jacobs

Hart, Donn V., R. J. Coughlin and P. A. Rajadhon

lie to, Reynaldo C.

1970 "Varieties of supernatural experiences among Filipino peasants: hallucina?

Lynch, Frank X., SJ.

Nydegger, William and Corinne Nydegger

1966 Tarong: an Ilocos barrio in the Philippines. New York: Wiley.

1971a Creatures of Philippine Lower Mythology. Quezon City: University of the

1971b The Aswang Syncracy in Philippine Folklore, with illustrative accounts in

Sta. Romana, Julita Reyes

Schumacher, John, SJ.

1976 Popular Uprisings in the Philippines, 1840-1940. Ithaca: Cornell University

Tuggy, Arthur Leonard

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