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simbako258 OP t1_isevvhx wrote

TIKBALANG painted by me

The Tikbalang (/ˈtikbaˌlaŋ/) (also Tigbalang, Tigbalan, Tikbalan, Tigbolan, or Werehorse) is a creature of Philippine folklore said to lurk in the mountains and rainforests of the Philippines. It is a tall, bony humanoid creature with the head and hooves of a horse and disproportionately long limbs, to the point that its knees reach above its head when it squats down.[1] In some versions, it is a transformation of an aborted fetus sent to earth from limbo.

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Intactual t1_isg11vb wrote

https://youtu.be/SrDm7kh_9wI

PBS Storied did a thing on it.

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adviceKiwi t1_isgwhg4 wrote

Neato

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Appropriate_Spread72 t1_isi8kdv wrote

Don’t look a gif-horse in the mouth. See why now. I’d buy them a drink. Keep the conversation light. No eye contact. Too close to the teeth. I’d imagine their a mule fan, the drink that is. Corn vodka. Not potato. Potatoes don’t grow well where their from.

After about thirty minutes of casual conversation, two double vodka cranberries pour moi, my eyes unintentionally glazed over this person’s mug. Being so intent on not making teeth contact with this being, this thing, I must have mistaken his miniature skull cup for a copper tin.

The conversation has turned… not casual. This man this horse this friend this enemy this abomination this god! It’s seen my eyes. I didn’t think it could, I wasn’t looking at it. I am a friend I said to it in my heart. Just a stranger being friendly offering conversation, stories and drinks. Yet, it feels my hesitation.

My horse headed amigo laughs incessantly about my times and trials in Philadelphia, USA. In retrospect, it was a great reprieve from earlier talks. It inherently felt nice to be listened to and not talked to.

IT IS ONLY FOR THE OBSERVER TO OBSERVE

For some strange reason it makes sense. Now.

He caught me with a joke about his hat. Time stood still for a moment. Frost formerly crispening in a current state of motion but also in the past. A moment of hesitation. A slight glance. Not from eyes. Not from even the teeth that I have feared. But from saliva. Without a moments hesitation I exclaimed me and my friend needed another round. No eye contact. My friend is satiated.

My thoughts begin to deviate from my own mouth. Two separate entities. That’s good because it them it wont know. Can’t know. Dissect my thoughts. Compartments for each. There was a word for this. He cannot know it.

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Appropriate_Spread72 t1_iskq3xf wrote

Don’t look a gif-horse in the mouth. See why now. I’d buy them a drink. Keep the conversation light. No eye contact. Too close to the teeth. I’d imagine their a mule fan, the drink that is. Corn vodka. Not potato. Potatoes don’t grow well where their from.

After about thirty minutes of casual conversation, two double vodka cranberries pour moi, my eyes unintentionally glazed over this person’s mug. Being so intent on not making teeth contact with this being, this thing, I must have mistaken his miniature skull cup for a copper tin.

The conversation has turned… not casual. This man this horse this friend this enemy this abomination this god! It’s seen my eyes. I didn’t think it could, I wasn’t looking at it. I am a friend I said to it in my heart. Just a stranger being friendly offering conversation, stories and drinks. Yet, it feels my hesitation.

My horse headed amigo laughs incessantly about my times and trials in Philadelphia, USA. In retrospect, it was a great reprieve from earlier talks. It inherently felt nice to be listened to and not talked to.

IT IS ONLY FOR THE OBSERVER TO OBSERVE

For some strange reason it makes sense.

Now.

Mine eyes doth not recollect as such. Or whatever Shakespeare said.

Starting to feel sick. Used to the vodka. That’s not it. My copper mug. It has been replaced. I maintain my composure. It hasn’t seen my eyes…again has it?? I buy another round with a grin and a masqued laughter I hope would drown out my dispair. The cheers and celebratory glass clinks do as little as a bandage on a burn without salve. I buy another round. And another. And another. To each cheer swig and pour my abomination before god,

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cakatooop t1_isgli2k wrote

Btw tikbalangs never kill people, they just make them get lost. If you don't want to get lost, you have to wear your shirt backwards

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rayneraynedrops t1_ishx3at wrote

Isn't that maligno? or does it apply to tikbalangs too?

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cakatooop t1_ishztly wrote

Maligno is a general term, it's similar to a cryptid. Malignos are tianaks, mananaggal, etc

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refused26 t1_isi7l9t wrote

Lots of elementals/cryptids in Filipino mythology are plain tricksters. I think kapres also trick people.

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maycontainknots t1_isfzsjk wrote

Is the jersey devil a cousin of this?? I remember the jersey devil also having something to do with an unborn child, and having hooves and all that

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refused26 t1_isi79yt wrote

Ive never actually heard of unborn children being associated with tikbalangs, we have other monsters that eat unborn children (like the kikik), and we also have monster babies (tiyanak). Agree with the other commenter that tikbalangs normally don't kill people. In most movies or stories, they just like to trick people, like most other Filipino elementals. I think there was one movie/show I watched as a kid where the tikbalang raped a woman (not sure if their dong is horse-sized or human-sized lol) i dont remember the rest of the movie but perhaps that might have resulted in a pregnancy (with the baby being a tiyanak most likely).

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SekhmetTheWise t1_isg9kh4 wrote

Wow. Im mad werehorses are real... i have tattoo that was once a celtic wolf but now looks like a wolf-horse and I tell everyone it's a werehorse. Now I can further that coverup with a mythological that makes me seem even more... abnormal. Thx. :)

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taokami t1_isit8bg wrote

it's not really a "werehorse" since you don't become a tikbalang if they bite you. The only way to become a tikbalang is to be born as one. It's more accurate to say that they're reverse centaurs or horse-headed minotaurs.

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SekhmetTheWise t1_isitu3t wrote

Very interesting indeed. Gonna read up on it some more. Thank you for the clarity.😊

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Gaardc t1_isicbp1 wrote

Ever heard of the Nicaraguan/Costa Rican Cegua? It’s a woman who seduces men (travelers , but most often exposing womanizers and drunkards) but when they are near her and excited she transforms into her true nature which has the head of a rotting horse (in El Salvadoran folklore she just becomes a hag known as Ciguanaba/Ciguanahual). The name has a root in the Nahuat word for woman “cihuet” and this spirit (according to lore) drives men literally insane, causes them to get lost/disoriented, catch a fever and/or die.

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Shurigin t1_isiorfe wrote

they also use the tikbalang as a warning for young ladies to not be out after curfew or they will "get" you

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