1.
Otherworld — a triolet by Anthony Etherin
From the Community
OTHERWORLD (Triolet)
I have not left, nor have I stayed.
The Otherworld has taken me.
I’ve slipped between the cracks we made;
I have not left, nor have I stayed.
Someday, you’ll find me in the glade—
we'll meet beneath the knotted tree.
I have not left, nor have I stayed;
the Otherworld has taken me.
The rabbit hole in which I found myself this weekend started with
, who is a poet and a musician, an artist and mathematician, an experimentalist and a formalist.I first came across his work on Substack (👇🏽), and I became curious about the various structures with which he writes his poems - palindromes, haiku, anagrams - combined with various constraints (such as using only words containing the letter A or Z.)
After a bit of clicking around, I discovered his website and found a treasure trove on which many hours were happily spent. I also enjoyed listening to his palindromic music, employing the same constraints that create the rhythm of his poetry. I particularly enjoyed the album ‘Redder’.
This poem, 'Otherworld' is published in his poetry pamphlet of the same title, and precedes a chapter named 'Folklore.' It's worth seeing reading this poem as part of the entire published booklet. I sat with the words and imageries for a day or so, and I felt myself revisiting my own 'Otherworlds' - old imaginary friends from childhood, the half-remembered tales of the Greek and Nordic gods I've picked up along the way, my teenage obsession with Harry Potter.
But what it brought to the surface most strongly was my heritage, and my personal relationship with the truly bizarre 'Otherworld' of Filipino folklore.
2.
The Aswang Phenomenon — a documentary by Jordan Clarke
From Film
After sitting with 'Otherworld', I initially wanted to share with you 'Trese' - a beautiful animated series on Netflix based on the original graphic novels by Budjette Tan (I recommend it for an evening of light reading/watching). The story is built around Filipino folklore of shape-shifting monsters, ghouls, and spirits. In most Western cultures, these creatures are mythical. In the Philippines, around 80% of the 110 million people living there today believe that they are real and walk among us.
I found myself falling down a long and meandering rabbit hole on YouTube and my own memories of growing up in the Philippines. I came across this documentary, which I felt was a well-researched piece of filmmaking born of curiosity, inspiration, and perhaps confusion.
Filipino folklore and history are deeply rich, full of chaos and contradictions. We are also a culture in which contradictions are not so much a problem to solve, but are rather a standing feature of the paradigm. I feel for Jordan Clarke in his search for 'sense' or 'logic' around 'The Aswang Phenomenon', and I appreciate his honest conclusion that he may not find it. At some points in the documentary, you would be forgiven if you thought that he was being trolled by the entire nation - he wasn't, we're really just like that.
When I was growing up, I held the existence of Aswang as truth. I held it right beside the scientific assertion that we live on a planet that's mostly water held to a piece of rock by a force called 'gravity', and that we are circling around a giant ball of fire inside of a universe that is ever-expanding. If I really think about it, both are pretty absurd.
This post isn't really about any assertion of truth. Rather, I want to give acknowledgment to the life that the Aswang have - whether in the imagination of Filipinos or in physical form, they are 'real'. The Aswang may not fit our Western paradigm of reality... but so what. To quote from the video:
"Too much belief in the supernatural makes us ignorant, but too much reliance on science and logic would make us arrogant."
— Percival Biadora
Some of my 'favourite' Aswangs:
Mananangal
The name roughly translates to 'self-separator.' She is a female creature whose winged upper torso separates from her lower half, giving her the ability to fly and 'hunt' at night. She feeds on unborn babies and the entrails of men.
At about 1 hour into the documentary, Rodolfo Vera describes the Mananangal with much heart. She is a powerful and passionate woman, in the midst of a heartbreak from an unrequited love. The pain of this passion literally tears her in half - her upper body flees to the skies gaining a bird's vantage point, integrating the animal's wisdom and ruthlessness. Yet, half of her remains on land, in the human world. Thus she is the embodiment of our internal conflict - our human condition.
Nuno sa Punso
He is a tiny elderly gentleman, invisible to the human eye. He sits atop an anthill (which is his home) and is the original owner and custodian of the land.
As the folklore goes, if a human were to upset the Nuno or disturb his home in some way, he or she will be cursed with a myriad of ailments that prove un-curable, perturbing the medical professionals. The solution is to make amends by making an offering of food, and vow to respect the land.
As a kid, whenever I would walk through nature I would keep repeating 'tabi-tabi po' like a mantra - to announce my presence to the Nuno, offer my respects and my intention to be peaceful albeit clumsy.
Kapre
He is an 8-foot tall dark man who sits in trees smoking cigars. In the stories I heard as a child, he also wore hats.
Sometimes, he plays tricks on people so they would get lost in the jungle, going around in circles until they are tired and desperate. If you find yourself at the mercy of the Kapre, you should turn all your clothes inside out, so you could find your way home.
Mostly, he just sits there, watching. Perhaps, he is the embodiment of Death. I imagine him conversing with Life, having a good laugh at humans - lost and desperate. Turning their clothes inside out, and quarreling over country borders that don't exist and land that they don't own.
Perhaps, as with all stories of gods, demons and legends... they are a mirror to see ourselves, our own humanity.
On a final, side note. My Yaya (nanny), who was a consistent and loving feature of my world as a child, was from the province of Capiz - the alleged home of the Aswang. People often told me that she was an Aswang. I took this allegation also as a truth. I believed that my Yaya was an Aswang, and therefore I had immunity against their evil because she was always on my side 😅.
And so I came to be blessed with the fool's confidence that has served me my whole life, for better or worse.
3.
On Worlds and Reality — a quote from Neil Gaiman
From the Ether
“There are only two worlds - your world, which is the real world, and other worlds, the fantasy. Worlds like this are worlds of the human imagination: their reality, or lack of reality, is not important. What is important is that they are there. these worlds provide an alternative. Provide an escape. Provide a threat. Provide a dream, and power; provide refuge, and pain. They give your world meaning. They do not exist; and thus they are all that matters.”
— Neil Gaiman
And there, I leave you with a reminder that the veil between myth and reality is as thin as you want it to be. And an encouragement to cross the line, now and again, because why not.
𓀉 HERITAGE 𓀉
I'm curious to know the stories, myths, and legends that you all grew up with. Were they a big part of your life, your culture? And how you formed your identity and where you came from?
This takes me back to our childhood days when yaya used to tell us there is an aswang outside the house. I'd go sleep thinking they were staring at me through the top of the window that wasn't covered by curtains.
I really enjoyed both the poetry and the deep dive into folklore. Another cool, inspirational post Raphy!