The Filipino culture is chock full of folklore.  The legend of the Manananggal is, by far, one of the most widely known and one of the most frightening.  A good friend of mine from UC Irvine, Derrick Yanga, shared his personal interpretation of the Manananggal.  According to Derrick, he Manananggal are “monsters” that are disguised as beautiful women by day.  But at night, their upper torso separates from their lower body.  They fly through the night and go to people’s houses., in which pregnant women are living.  They have incredibly long tongues, so that they can eat the unborn children in the expecting mothers.  The only way to kill the Manananggal is to put salt on their lower bodies so that they can’t attach themselves again.  Also, according to Derrick, he believes that the Manananggal die during the day if they are exposed to sunlight.

Derrick first heard of the legend of the Manananggal as a young boy visiting the Philippines.  Derrick was about thirteen when he first heard this story on this particular visit to the Philippines.  His uncles were sharing the story to him and his cousins, in an effort to try to educate the young kids, and simultaneously scare them.  Derrick, as many other native Filipinos, believes firmly in the legend of the Manananggal.  Due to the heavy supernatural activity that occurs in the Philippines, things of such a nature do not come as much of a surprise to Filipinos.

According to official sources, the Manananggal are, in fact, beautiful women by day.  Men flock to them, and, in turn, these adoring men are then “recruited” and turned into their consorts who guard their queens fanatically, especially when the inanimate bodies of the beautiful Manananggal are most vulnerable: at night.  In Tagalog, the main dialect of the Philippines, the word Manananggal more or less means “self-remover.”  The reason for this is that, at night, the Mananggal, whose bodies are hour-glass shaped with incredibly narrow waists, twist their bodies around so much and so tightly that their upper halves detach themselves from the rest of their bodies and they then travel with their arms transformed into wings, and their internal organs hanging from their severed torsos.  A telltale sign that you are in the presence of a Manananggal is the smell of vinegar.  Vinegar is a fluid that preserves their ghastly parasitical cohabitation with their daytime body.  Like Derrick mentioned, the Manananggal prey on the unborn fetuses in pregnant women’s bodies, by overextending their incredibly long tongues.  Also, as Derrick mentioned, salt is the key in killing and defeating the Manananggal.  However, the only way to kill them is to first get past their adoring male companions, who guard and protect the separated lower halves of their bodies.  Moreover, if the Manananggal cannot reunite with the lower half of her body by sunrise, she dies.  The salt prevents the two halves from rejoining.  The Manananggal are subjects, in a way, or a different version of the Aswang, which are perhaps the strongest and most powerful supernatural, transformational, corpse-loving group of beings in Filipino folklore.

Annotation: More on the Manananggal can be found in

Ghostwise: A Book of Midnight Stories

Dan Yashinsky

august house 1997, pp. 34 – 39

The Japanese—similar to my people, Filipinos—employ a lot of folklore and supernatural myths in their culture.  My good friend, Amina, who was raised in Japan, though originally born in Kuwait, shared with me the story of the Kokeshi Dolls.  Kokeshi dolls resemble young girls in Japan from ancient times, who used to play with these very dolls.  Back in their time, the young girls would play with small dolls, keeping them as constant companions by their sides—the Kokeshi dolls.  These young girls from yesteryear are now the Shakiwarshi, which are little girl ghosts.  These Kokeshi dolls, being from ancient times, hold significant meaning to the Japanese people.  Essentially, the dolls inhabit the spirits of the young girls; they are possessed by the Shakiwarshi.

These dolls, being possessed by supernatural forces, have been observed to have such tendencies as cry with tears of blood, or even tear the regular salt-water tears.  The long black hair of the Kokeshi dolls has even been said to continue to grow on their own.  Since the Japanese value the sanctity of their ancestors, and believe that if they are to rid themselves of a Kokeshi doll that that doll would haunt them, are very careful in the ways in which they choose to disregard themselves of the Kokeshi.  Rather than just completely disregarding the dolls, they are usually given away to shrines so that they can still continue to serve some purpose.  If careful measures are not taken in ridding of a Kokeshi doll, the doll may very well curse and haunt the last possessor.

In Japan, in households that housea lot of children, there are normally several Kokeshi dolls who are just looking for a youthful companion.  Normally, they are harmless and merely just want someone with whom to play.  The Kokeshi play with mari, which are little bouncing balls.  As the Kokeshi bounce these balls, they even tend to sing little songs, chants of some sorts, all the while.  The sound of the bouncing ball and the echo of a small, distant chant are tell-tale signs that a Kokeshi is in your presence.  The Kokeshi appear in doorways of households, just looking for childhood companions.

Amina feels as though she had had an encounter with the Kokeshi when she were younger in Japan.  When she was about four years old, at her grandparents’ house—the house in which her mom grew up—in Japan, Amina recalls hearing the sound of bouncing balls as she climbed the stairs.  She saw a small person’s shadow, and heard the sound of a ball, but did not hear any of the accompanying chants or laughs that normally come with a Kokeshi doll.

It seems as though the Japanese people are not so much scared of the Kokeshi dolls, but that they highly recognize the supernatural beings in their culture, as well as respect the past and respect their elders—which is very characteristic of such cultures, specific to Asia, as the Chinese and Japanese culture.  The Kokeshi seem to be a friendly, if anything, aspect of their folkloric culture, and should not be seen as a frightening threat.

Legend—Transylvania

“Sigoasuara is the alleged birthplace of the legendary Rumanian warrior Vlad the Impaler, who turned back Turkish invaders by capturing enemy soldiers and impaling them on a mountainside, thus frightening the Turks into submission.  He is more well known for his nickname of “Dracula,” which was later made famous when it was given to the infamous fictional vampire.”

Simon told me that he first heard this legend from his father Adolph Katz, who was born and raised in the Transylvanian town of Sigoasuara, which is said to have been the birthplace of Vlad the Impaler.  While the legendary existence of Dracula came over four centuries before Adolph, the legend was a popular subject for the residents of his community.  Adolph studied history in school and learned some about the history of Vlad the Impaler.  Vlad was also a popular topic of conversation amongst him and his friends, as they would always speculate as to some of the legendary and horrifying things that he did.  There is a clear distinction however between the portions of Vlad’s reign that were well documented and those were not, creating a sometimes dissolving line between the “real” and the “legendary.”

What we do know was that Vlad the Impaler was a power-hungry ruler who is said to have been “unmatched for his cruelty” as he eliminated all people who posed threats to his authority (Romano, 58).  Furthermore, we know with some certainty that he forced the Turks out of his native land in 1462, only to have his thrown revoked soon thereafter.  As a ruler, he did considerable damage, but failed to get the land of Mehmed, his primary target. He praised men who had been wounded in the front of their bodies but called those wounded in the back women and had them impaled (Romano, 59).  Five and a half centuries after his life, Turks and Transylvanians associate the name with evil.
Other portions of Dracula’s rule however, are not documented and have thus paved the way for legends and horror stories.  One such example came in the fall of 1462, when Vlad withdrew his troops along the southeast portion of the Arges River toward Poienari.  This came during one of his battles with Turks, and during this war, the Turkish infantry dispensed an immense amount of cannon balls and gunpowder to Dracula’s castle in Poineri (Romano, 59). As Adolph told Simon, and popular legend has it, when Dracula’s wife received word that the castle was destined to be destroyed, she cried, “I would rather have my body rot and be eaten by the fish of the Arges then be led into captivity by the Turks,” and threw herself into the river and perished (Romano, 59).

Romano, Will.  “Vlad Dracula’s war on the Turks.”  Military History Oct. 2003: 58-60

The Legend of Alcobaca is about King Alfanso of Portugal, and his son Dom Pedro. Dom Pedro for political reasons was to marry a girl that had a nurse maid. Dom Pedro was to have nothing to do with the nurse maid, but one thing lead to another and much to his father’s chagrin, Dom Pedro fell in love with Ines, rather than waiting for the baby to come of age for the political marriage to take place. So, Dom Pedro’s father was very upset by this, but being his father didn’t want to be to harsh with him, but his advisors suggested long and hard that he get rid of the women Ines. So, Ines was put to death by the followers of king Alfanso, much to the chagrin of Dom Pedro. For years and years Dom Pedro and his father did battle, with Dom Pedro trying to wrestle the throne away from Alfanso. Ultimately his father passed away and Dom Pedro became king and at that point he gave orders that the body of Ines be exhumed, and brought forth in a coronation ceremony, in which the new magistrates and leaders of the kingdom would have to kiss the decomposing hand of the dead queen. Not only that but those that were responsible for Ines’s death were brought before Dom Pedro, and they were murdered in a gruesome fashion: their hearts were torn out and shown to them.

This tale was told to Michael at a concert. He was there to watch a performance of wind ensemble music, and the director told a story of a tale that the piece of music was suppose to be written about. Michael believes that the story is representative of how true love will conquer all. He believes this is evident in the fact that those who performed a wrong eventually met their end in a gruesome way.

As I think about this piece I find that it is wrought with many factors of the true power of love, but it is also very important to know why this legend may have survived. I believe part of the reason that the legend survived is the fact that the kingdom of King Alfonso seems to embrace his son’s take over of the kingdom. They seem to be ok with the fact that Alfonso and his staff were eventually all killed. I think that part of the reason people like this legend is because the little guy who follows his heart ultimately defeats the tyrannical reign of King Alfonso.

Another thought that Michael had was that this story might be more popular with teens, for they are more likely to be in a relationship which their parents do not agree with. I believe this is true, and that this legend gives teens hope that everything will work out as long as they are truly in love with someone else.