Today is Halloween-Time for Witches, Nonos and Ghosts

Photo from Marinduqueno, mandin

This last couple of days, if you go to the retail stores and shopping malls here in Northern California, you will see that most of the decorations are now about Halloween costumes, candies, masks and other items for the Halloween Night Festivities.

In the Philippines, the Internet and newspapers are already filled with stories about witches (aswang), capri (giant people), or elves(nonos) as well as stories about ghosts and apparitions. Superstitions and folklores are part of life in the Philippines, specially in the provinces.

When I was growing up way back in the late 1940s, my parents and relatives had been telling me of stories about aswang (flying witches) visiting homes in the middle of the night and looking for pregnant women, so they could suck the fetus from their stomach or for beautiful babies so they could eat their liver. The aswang takes the form of an animal perhaps a black flying cat during the night. But during the day, they lived a normal life and looked like an average person or perhaps even a beautiful young lady.

One way of discouraging the aswangs to your homes is to put garlic in all the windows as well as amulets. Other superstitions are about the giant people called capri. There are two kinds, the white (the good one) and the black (the evil one). Opposite to this are the small people, the elves or Nono as known in Marinduque. The Nonos lived on big trees in the jungles or even in your back yard. They may be harmless if you left them alone. But if you disturbed their territory, be prepared for bad luck, calamities or sickness.

One of the most popular beliefs and folklore in Marinduque are the existence of Nonos . Last year, the 12-year old son of our caretaker disappeared for about 4 hours. When he returned he told us that a group of elves had captured him. He said they were friendly and told him that we should not cut the big balete tree in our backyard.

There are also stories about ghosts ( white lady apparition) and witches. In Iloilo, my town of birth, there is one town where there are a lot of witches according to the residents of the neighboring towns. However, there are no proofs that this is true.

In my resort property here in Amoingon, Boac, Marinduque some of our neighbors claimed that once in a while in a moonless night they have seen an apparition of a white lady. The white lady is supposed to protect the property from robbers and intruders. She is supposed to be the ghost of my mother-in-law who loved the beach resort and its gardens. The neighbors are scared of this apparition. So far, I have not seen this lady in the flowing white dress.

With regards to the Nonos, even though I really do not believe in their existence, I still say TABI PO NONO (Excuse me, Nono) when passing under the trees and bridges in my property at night and after sunset. Even my 4 year old grand daughter from Sacramento, has learned of this phrase. We told her of the TABI PO NONO phrase four years ago, during our golden wedding anniversary celebration. The funny part is, when they were in Boracay (an island resort) a week later for a vacation, she said the same phrase while passing a bridge at the Boracay Regency Hotel, where her mother and grandmother were staying. Hurrah to the memory of a 4-year old.

Witches, nonos and ghosts are part of life in the Philippines not only during Halloween but also the whole year round. I hope you have a super-scary Halloween night!