Mangkukulam

Kulam is the Tagalog word for 'voodoo' or 'withcraft' and is one of the most well known aspects of Philippine folklore. It is widely known to many places especially to the provinces of the country. It affects the character of a person, their daily life and on how they treat each other in a community. Kulam, witchcraft, can only be made by a person who has knowledge about the black magic, a Mangkukulam, a person who is practicing witchcraft. They are often feared by the people for their use of black magic. Mangkukulam uses a black magic or spell that can cause various effects to the victim, like illness, which cannot be cured by modern medicine, misfortune to love ones emotionally or mentally, lost of mental focus, lack of sleep, lost to appetite, sudden accidents, and other unexplained cases.

The folklore is a story passed to generation to generation. A person who experienced such phenomenon is passed through to their relatives, neighbors until it is widely spread to a community and to another. They tell their stories differently and interesting.

The Philippine literature contains beliefs, myths, folklore legends which inherited from the native Filipinos and from the conquerors. This has been part of their daily life.

The Hispanic colonization influenced the country and has heavy impact to the Filipinos because they are longest conquerors, stayed in the country for more than three hundred years. They introduce Catholicism religion in the Philippines. Even the country was Christianized, the people especially in rural areas, strongly believe in magical creatures, and myths and other similar stories.

Folklores, is widely spread in the country. Some people believe that this is really happening, some are practicing it. They believe that apart from human, there are some extraordinary people who are also living with the mortals.

The Filipinos has various beliefs in mythical creatures such as Aswang, Manananggal, Kapre, Dwende, Sirena, Syokoy, Engaknto, Sigbin, Tikbalang, and many others. These are just few of the different kinds of mythical creatures which in some way it helps the people in a different way.

Let's find out what and how they use their extraordinary power. How does it help our daily life and how we can interact to the unknown settlers. The site has gathered information about mythical creatures, on how they do witchcraft, how to avoid or drive them away.

Please use the menu to the left hand side to browse through our site and read all about the various aspects of Filipino Folklore and Mythology and to discover all about our very frightening monsters and creatures. If you have time, we would also love it if you are able to post your comments or share your stories on each page too. I am sure others would love to hear of your experiences.