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Lunes, Disyembre 16, 2013

BEHAVIORAL EFFECTS OF
THE PHILIPPINE MYTHICAL MONSTERS





A Research Paper Presented to the
English Resource Center
School of Accountancy and Business
Asia Pacific College
Magallanes, Makati City



In Partial Fulfillment of the
Requirements for
RESWRIT-Research Writing





Kim Edward S. Raymundo

December 2013
Chapter 1

A. Background of the study

          People not only from the Philippines but also from other countries believe in the superstitious belief of the existence of the Philippine Mythical Monsters. These monsters came from the beliefs of Filipinos in their culture. Tikbalang, kapre, tiyanak, aswang, manananggal, nuno sa punso, duwende, enkanto, mambabarang, kumakatok, amalahig, amomongo,anggitay, bal-bal, batibat, berbalang, berberoka, bungisngis, mangkukulam, pugot, tiktik, sentimento, sirena, siyokoy, wakwak, and many other monsters are exapmles of these monsters. (http://www.choosephilippines.com/specials/lists/744/aswang/)

          The Philippine mythical creatures date back to the early years of Spanish colonization in Visayas, Philippines. According to the History, the Spanish colonization started around 1521 up to 1898.  During those times, the Spaniards gave a big influence to the culture of the Filipinos because they spread their beliefs to increase their colonies. The Spaniards are the ones who created the belief on the existence of the monsters in which they said that these creatures live in the land of the Philippines. From then on, stories and folklores about these monsters were passed on to generation to another generation.

          The media took the superstitious idea of the Philippine monsters by means of creating series and movies showcasing each monster. Examples of which are the movie series entitled “Shake, rattle, and roll” and the movie “Tiktik: The Aswang Chronicles”. The idea of making such creative movies came from the stories that were told by the ancestors of the Filipinos. Even up until now, these stories are being passed down to the younger generation and also new stories are being shared by other people who said that they have encountered the Philippine monsters. However, there is no solid evidence that these monsters are real. These monsters are mythical, in other words they don't exist, and although, according to a philosopher “The imagery of mythology is symbolic of spiritual powers within us.” which means that there is significance in portraying theses monsters to the people.

          The researcher observes that superstitions about the existence of the Philippine monsters affect the behavior of the people. Although these monsters are believed to be unrealistic or non-existing, the people's psychological aspects and behavior are still greatly affected.


          The researcher’s interest in this topic was inspired by a desire to investigate on the effects of believing in the mythical monsters of the Philippines. Having a little background on the nature of Filipino superstition will allow the reader to better understand people who hold on to these myths. Furthermore, knowledge of Philippine monster myths and their effects may increase the reader’s appreciation for it.

The purpose of this paper is to discuss the effects of Philippine monster myths and legends on Filipino behavior.

B. Statement of the Problem.

This study aims to answer this question:
1.          What are the effects of Philippine monster myths and legends on Filipino behavior?

C. Significance of the Study

Youth. This research paper would be able to help the youth in terms of learning the importance of the Filipino culture. Moreover, the researcher hope that giving more emphasis to the behavioral effects to the youth would give rise to a new level of interest for them to further study for research purposes.

Teachers and Professors of Film. Teachers and professors of film would benefit from this study because they would be able to use information in preparing lessons for making a movie about the Filipino culture and mythology.

Film Makers. Information from this study would help film makers make use the understanding within their production committees on the variety of different mythological creatures in the Philippines that may affect the viewer’s behavioral aspect. It is believed that furnishing data on how different kinds of mythical creatures affect each individual’s psychological belief in making a film. Film makers would be able to make good use of such information in making excellent movies and series through a more focus effort along with their work group.

Future Researchers. This study is important for future researchers in making similar studies especially there still seems to be a need for mythological study for discovering further behavioral effects to the society. The Filipino culture is further diminishing because of modernization and that is why future researchers must revive or uplift the Filipinos beliefs. In utilizing this research paper as a source of valuable data, there might be an improvement in giving more psychological effects of the Philippine mythical creatures not only to the citizens of the Philippines but also in other countries.


Tourists. This study will help provide information about the Philippine culture to the people who would want to visit the country of Philippines. It is essential for them to make use of this research paper so they would not offend the Filipino culture when they come and visit. This research paper hope that mythologist from other countries would increase their knowledge about the behavioral effects of the belief in the existence of the Philippine mythical creatures.




D. Scope and Delimitation

This research paper will not focus on other beliefs of the Filipinos; instead it would focus on the behavior of the people on the belief on the existence of the mythical monsters that are a part of the culture of the Philippines. This also points out that there are different behaviors that are contributed by different mythological monsters because of different perspectives, of the people in the society, that are needed to be considered not only by the Filipinos but also people from other countries as well.
Because of time constraints, the researcher aims to give more emphasis to the effect of the Philippine mythical creatures to the behavioral aspects on the society. The areas such as Business and Medicine won’t have further emphasis.
Resources of the research will focus more on different types of people who are psychologically affected by the Philippine mythical creatures.

E. Materials and Methods.
The researcher employs an interpretative approach in a psychological perspective in interpreting the concept of the Philippine mythical creatures. This research paper will interpret several ideas and points that involve different perspective of the psychological effect of the Philippine mythical creatures on the society.
Information relevant to the study was gathered from various reference materials such as books, news articles, and journal articles. In addition, people who are fond of believing the super naturals were interviewed to strengthen the findings of this study.
Chapter 2
What are the effects of Philippine monster myths and legends on Filipino behavior?

Superstitions brought by Philippine Monsters
          People from the Philippines are very strict when it comes to their culture. They are very conservative when it comes to their beliefs and superstitions. It seems that this lifestyle has a great effect on how they behave. One of the things that people from the Philippines believes in, is the existence of monsters with supernatural powers. The belief on the existence of these monsters started at the central island of the Philippines called Visayas. Tales and Stories about these creatures came from the Spaniards who colonize the Philippines. Since then, their influence started to spread all throughout the country, and up until now it is still spreading. People who believe in the existence of these monsters changed the way they behave because of what these monsters are capable of. These behavioral effects are either negative or positive. An example of a positive behavior brought by these monsters is that the children of the society will not go outside their house during the night. One negative example is that it increases the curiosity of the people. Too much curiosity will lead them to the idea of going to the forest during midnight and try to find these monsters. The results, most of the time, is that they end up getting lost because they can’t find their way back. (http://voices.yahoo.com/mythical-creatures-philippines-23176.html )
          The belief of the existence of the mythical monsters gives a lot of different superstitious belief to the people. Some of these superstitions are as follows:
a.    “It is bad to point at the trees” – This is what people say whenever someone points at the trees to give direction. It is said that pointing is rude and it is the same when it comes to the Monsters that are said to be living in the trees of the forests. The monsters that are offended are believed to give curse to anyone who offends them. It is said that, you can prevent yourself from being cursed is to bite the tip of your pointing finger and spit. This kind of behavior is not acceptable in today’s modern society. Spitting in public places is not allowed because Scientists and Experts said that spitting in public is one of the causes of spreading diseases. After all, how can biting the tip of your pointing finger and spitting can prevent any curse?

b.   “Tabi-tabi po!” – People say this whenever they will pass a banyan tree (Balette tree) or a “punso” (It is a mounted pile of mud which is believe to be a house of the nuno). People say this because it is a sign of respect to supernatural monsters. The behavior that they show whenever they say this is somehow silly in the modern society. Today, people seem to think that saying this is not the reason why they are not cursed by the mythical monsters; instead they think that these monsters don’t exist at all. (http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/394777/encountering-the-engkanto )

c.    In some cases, people will avoid virgin forests because they fear they might encounter these mythical monsters. The tikbalang, is well known for his mystical powers that can cause people to get lost when people go to their territory. The people say this because they want to protect the environment. People get scared to go deeper in the forests because of this belief.

d.   The idea of having these Philippine mythical monsters increases the creativity of the people. Movies, novels, short stories and other things are being created inspired by these monsters. People are fascinated by these mythical monsters because of their characteristics. Filipinos seems to patronize movies about the mythical monsters because it somehow affects their behavior by adapting the things they see in the movies. This also applies to novels and stories about the mythical monsters. As said from the article entitled “psychological effects of horror movies films” by Lissa Meriam, posted on the site http://diminishthestigma.wordpress.com/2012/11/02/psychological-effects-of-horror-films/, there are a lot of things that pushes people to create movies and stories featuring some scary characters. That is why we can relate this from the Philippine Horror movies about the Mythical monsters because it also affects the people’s behavior.

e.    People who believe in the existence of the Tikbalang (one of the most popular mythical monsters of the Philippines) would say the impression, “Umuulan kahit maaraw? Siguro may kinakasal na tikbalang”. In some cases, people who are lost in a forest would wear their clothes inside-out because it Is believed to counter the spell of the Tikbalang. Another good example of behavior that is brought by the Philippine monsters is that people would not attempt to cut down a balette tree because of they believe that there are Supernatural beings that lives in those kinds of trees.
Behaviors brought by the Philippine mythical monsters
The behaviors (a-f) were based on the article entitled “Psychological effects of Horror Films” by Lissa Meriam on the site http://diminishthestigma.wordpress.com/2012/11/02/psychological-effects-of-horror-films/.
a.    Discipline- the Philippine mythical monsters are used to discipline the children of the society. Because the fearsome characteristics of these monsters, children will not stay outside of their house during the night. Thus, making it safer for them because there are less chances of them being kidnapped or having serious accidents. One great example of this is the Aswang. Aswang are really terrifying that is why stories about them make the people stay home during the night.

b.   Curiosity- in these mythical monsters leads people to some dangers. Since humans are naturally curious in their surroundings they tend to go out into the forest and search for these monsters. The result of such curiosity is that they end up getting lost for a couple of days or sometimes they never come back home. An example of these monsters that gives people curiosity is the Tikbalang because people would go to forest just to try and catch one.

c.    Exhilaration and risk taking- because of the movies and stories about the Philippine monsters, people tend to be more alert. Being alert increases the level of risk a person could take. Knowing that most of these creatures, such as the aswang, roams during the night, people tends to be ready and defend themselves when they get startled.

d.   Desensitization- Watching, reading, and listening about the mythical monsters will either increase or decrease the reflexes of the people when they are constantly exposed to the tales and folklores on the said monsters.

e.    Fear and triggering- Some people, specifically the children, who are exposed to such terrifying movies or stories about the Philippine monsters may cause trauma. Especially when it comes to the Aswangs and the Manananggals.

f.      Sleep difficulties- Because of the fear that the mythical monsters are living in the forests, people tends to find sleeping difficult. They would think too much about them being a victim by the mythical monsters. The best example for this is the Tikbalangs and the Engkantos.

g.    Isolation- When people claim that someone is practicing witchcraft or a creature that has a body of a human, they tend to stay away as much as possible. This leads to isolation. Because people are afraid of them, the ones who are falsely accused are force to live in the world alone. Base on the article “Mangkukulam shot dead in Pangasinan” by the ABS-CBN news team on the site http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/nation/regions/10/10/13/mangkukulam-shot-dead-pangasinan, An old woman was shot because people were accusing her of practicing witch craft.
h.   Dishonesty- A lot of people claim that they have encountered the supernatural monsters but whenever they are asked to give proof, all they can do is give lame excuses and reasons. People in the modern society want to get noticed and that is why they come up with lies just to fit in with others. The most popular among these make believe stories are the aswang, tikbalang, nuno sa punso, and the kapre. Like in the article entitled “7 Mythical creatures that were found in real life” by Kier Harris on the site http://www.ranker.com/list/7-mythical-creatures-that-were-found-in-real-life/kier-harris, it was stated there that people will believe anything that have evidences even though most of these evidences are not that relevant or reliable.
Other effect of Philippine monsters on behavior
          In other countries, people would visit the Philippines because of the superstitious belief in the existence of the Philippine mythical monsters. These people are thrill seekers who would like to experience the presences of the monsters. According to Allan Merlin, he visited some places of the Philippines in order to find and interact with the mythical monsters. Why would these people do this? It is because they want extreme experience and that is why their behavior is greatly affected. Having an encounter with the Philippine monsters is believed to be a great accomplishment for thrill seekers from other countries.
Based on the things that are happening recently on the society, people can’t seem to get out of their habit in making actions controlled by their belief in some mythical monsters that were brought to our culture and by doing this they are only making their life far away from reality. The people seem to be like a puppet of their own fear on their belief on the things that don’t exist. Having their misbelief being the controller of their lives, they tend to influence more individuals. However, during the modernization of the society, a few of them were able to escape from the shackles of their misbelief and managed to have the normal behavior.
Generally, the culture of the people from the country of the Philippines is the one who dictates the people to act in such manner. Having these different kinds of behavior makes the belief, in something that doesn’t exist, stronger. However, we couldn’t ignore the fact that a lot of people who oppose to the idea of the existence of such monsters. The behavior of an individual is a reflection of his own beliefs and ideas after all. This is why this study would show the reality of our modern society.
Reading articles about how people view the Philippine mythical monsters is too time consuming, and that is why this paper helps the readers to face the truth on how the belief on this monsters affects the behavior of the people.


Chapter 3
SUMMARY, CONCLUSIONS
AND RECOMMENDATIONS
SUMMARY
          This paper attempted to enumerate different behaviors brought by the Philippine mythical monsters.
          The research design used in this study us the interpretation research method wherein data from documents and other reference materials were used to answer the research question posed. The research findings are the following:
1.   There are a variety of monsters that are said to be living in the country of the Philippines. These monsters are not only known by the people living in the country of the Philippines but also people from different countries.
2.   The belief on the Philippine mythical monsters came from the Spaniards. The influence of the Spanish culture started when they colonized the Philippines (1521-1898) and continued growing until the present.
3.   Behaviors are greatly influenced by the beliefs of a certain society. Changes about the belief started when the modernization grew which resulted to people to question the existence of these monsters.
4.   The researcher observed that Philippine mythical monsters have psychological and behavioral effects to the society.
5.   This study aims to show how these monsters affect the behavior of the people who believes that they exist.
CONCLUSIONS
          Based on the findings of this study, the following conclusions are drawn:
1.   There are a lot of behaviors that affects each individual but varies in different interpretations.
2.   Belief in the mythological creatures increases the creative skills of the people.
3.   People from other countries go to the Philippines just to try and have an encounter with the mythical monsters of the Philippines.
4.   These monsters don’t really exist because they are unrealistic.
RECOMMENDATION
          After citing the conclusions of the study, the researchers hereby make the following suggestions and recommendations:
1.   People who believe in the Philippine monsters should find more information regarding their existence.
2.   People who want to give further research about the Philippine Mythical Monsters should gather more information about the topic.

References:
“Mythical Creatures of the Philippines” Elise Eeasterbrook, Retrieved November 26, 2013 http://voices.yahoo.com/mythical-creatures-philippines-23176.html
“Tibalang” Micha F. Lindemans, Retrieved October 22, 2013 http://www.pantheon.org/articles/t/tikbalang.html

Lunes, Oktubre 28, 2013

Blog post 7: Philippine Witchcraft and Sorceries (2)

Have you ever experience being stung by needles? Or perhaps having an illness without an explanation? These things might be the work of a Witch. People in the Philippines also believes in the existence of these kinds of people. Even up to know there are still rumors roaming around the country of the Philippines. What are the things that these witches are capable of? Why are they doing these kind of things? Who could these people be? There are a lot of questions that I wanted to ask but some of them were never answered up to now. This time, I want to talk about the other kind of Witchcraft users which are called the "mangkukulam".



As I was browsing for an article about mangkukulams, I came a cross the article named "Encounter with a Mangkukulam" by Jesselynn Dela Cruz on the site called lifestyle.inquirer.net. The article talked about how people suffer from the hex and curses of the mangkukulam but luckily there are people who can counter and cure the hex and curses from the victims. I would like to talk about the people who can counter the power of mangkukulams and other mythical creatures next time. Going back to the article, it also talked about how someone met the mangkukulam face-to-face. I couldn't stop my self from feeling scared while reading the article because it's like the living proof of the existence of the mangkukulams. On the other hand, there are people who can counter them so we should not panic that much. I also noticed that the article talked about the term called "bati". It's like an unintentional hex that can cause someone to feel somehow bad or a little sick. My family believes in the "bati", but I don't think that this is some kind of black magic since anyone can do this without them knowing it. The cure to this hex is very simple. You just need to rub the abdomen of the one who feels that they are under the "bati" spell.

Mangkukulams also use dolls to put a curse on their victims same as the Mambabarang. Usually they use pins on the the doll and that explains the question earlier. Anyway, I was shocked after reading the news article entitled "SOCO: Mangkukulam" by Koryn Iledan on the site www.abs-cbnnews.com stated something about a feud between two families. It was a tragic story since two elder people got shot by someone. The victims were a couple. The original motif of the criminal was to kill only the old woman but he killed the husband in the process. The reason behind his crime was somehow irrelevant. He said that he only did that because he thought the old woman was a witch, there fore the old woman was practicing witchcraft. It's good to know that they found the Justice they seek because the criminals got what they served.


As for my conclusion, I believe that there are really mangkukulams out there who perform witch crafts and dark magics but there are still people who fight against them. Aside from that, we should not commit crime by the reason that you "think" a person is practicing witch craft. Do not jump to conclusion at the very instant you think of something, first you must gather information and proof about your hypothesis or ideas.