Tikbalang Mystery in the Philippines

Not even advancement in technology could remove the people’s thought and curiosity about mystries and legends of folklore. Some researchers and so-called experts have come and gone. All of them believing that their findings are correct. We do not know yet who to believe. A Tikbalang is a half-man and a half-horse creature. It’s upper body resembles like that of a horse and from the neck down it has a shape of a man. It is said to be living in places like swamps, deep woods, forests and big trees such as the Balete. It is also said to be smoking tobacco on top or beside a tree like the mythical creature, Kapre. Tikbalangs are said to lead travelers to astray. They play tricks on travelers such as they will return to the arbitrary path regardless on where they go. Another trick that they can do is that they can mimic the appearance, voice and the mannerisms of those who are close to the person journeying. The victim is tricked into following the Tikbalang until they get lost and sometimes never to be seen again. There are many superstitions related to Tikbalangs. They say that when it rains on a clear sky, two Tikbalangs are getting married. Another superstition they have is that the Tikbalang may fall in love with a mortal and when that happens, the person or girl whom the Tikbalang fell in love with, gets mentally disturbed. It is also believed that they only take a bath during full moon. The origin of the Tikbalang started during the Spanish Colonization. It is a fact that horses were brought to the Philippines by the Spaniards. The conquistadors propagated the myth about the Tikbalang to scare the natives from going out at night. When I was a kid my Driver, Lando told me some hair-raising stories that has a connection with a Tikbalang. When he was a kid, his dad always told him that don’t go out if its dark. He asked “why?” His dad replied there are monsters. Lando became curious because he didn’t believe in monsters. So he called his friends to play