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Tikbalang
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 (half human half horse) 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. In some versions, it is a transformation of an aborted fetus sent to earth from limbo. Origins As horses weren't native to the Philippines in the pre-Spanish era, the earliest written records about the tikbalang did not specify horse or animal morphology. Documents from Spanish friars such as Juan de Plasencia's ''Customs of the Tagalogs'' (1589) describe the tikbalang as ghosts and spirits of the forests, associated with the terms ''multo'' and ''bibit''. Entries in early Spanish-Tagalog dictionaries defined ''tigbalang'' as "''fantasma de montes''" (phantoms of the mountains/wild ...
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Philippine Folklore
Philippine mythology is the body of stories and epics originating from, and part of, the indigenous Philippine folk religions, which include various ethnic faiths distinct from one another. Philippine mythology is incorporated from various sources, having similarities with Indonesian and Malay myths, as well as Hindu, Muslim, Shinto, Buddhist, and Christian traditions, such as the notion of heaven ('' kaluwalhatian'', ''kalangitan'', ''kamurawayan'', etc.), hell (''kasamaan'', ''sulad'', etc.), and the human soul (''kaluluwa'', ''kaulolan'', ''makatu'', ''ginokud'', etc.). Philippine mythology attempts to explain the nature of the world through the lives and actions of heroes, deities (referred to as anito or diwata in some ethnic groups), and mythological creatures. The majority of these myths were passed on through oral tradition, and preserved through the aid of community spiritual leaders or shamans (''babaylan'', ''katalonan'', ''mumbaki'', ''baglan'', ''machanitu'', ' ...
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Filipino Language
Filipino (; , ) is an Austronesian language. It is the national language ( / ) of the Philippines, and one of the two official languages of the country, with English. It is a standardized variety of Tagalog based on the native dialect, spoken and written, in Metro Manila, the National Capital Region, and in other urban centers of the archipelago. The 1987 Constitution mandates that Filipino be further enriched and developed by the other languages of the Philippines. Filipino is only used as a tertiary language in the Philippine public sphere. Filipino, like other Austronesian languages, commonly uses verb-subject-object order, but can also use subject-verb-object order as well. Filipino follows the trigger system of morphosyntactic alignment that is also common among Austronesian languages. It has head-initial directionality. It is an agglutinative language but can also display inflection. It is not a tonal language and can be considered a pitch-accent language and a sy ...
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Arnold Arre
Clem Arnold Lawrence Arre (born September 2, 1971) is a Filipino comic book writer, artist and self-taught animator best known for his graphic novels ''The Mythology Class'' (1999) and '' Ang Mundo ni Andong Agimat'' (2006). He was born in Metro Manila, Philippines. Biography Arnold Arre has won National Book Awards from the Manila Critics Circle for his graphic novels ''The Mythology Class'' (1999), a four-part action-adventure miniseries and ''Trip to Tagaytay'' (2000), a one-shot future fiction short story. ''The Mythology Class'', which blended ancient Philippine mythology with modern urban legends in a contemporary aesthetic, has been described as "genre-breaking", and has the distinction of being the first graphic novel to win in the Manila Critics Circle National Book Awards Comic Books category. Arre's other titles include the romantic comedy ''After Eden'' (2002), '' Ang Mundo ni Andong Agimat'' (2006), and "Martial Law Babies" (2008). Aside from his comics work, Arre d ...
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The Mythology Class
''The Mythology Class'' is a Philippine graphic novel written and illustrated by Arnold Arre. It was originally published by Arre in four issues in 1999, and was collected into a special edition by Adarna House in September 2005. The latest edition is a reprint of the special collected edition, published in November 2014 by Nautilus Comics. The original series won a Manila Critics Circle National Book Award on September 11, 2000, and is the first to win in the Comic Books category. In November 2018, Arnold Arre announced he was making a direct sequel to The Mythology Class titled, The Children of Bathala. The first volume was released a year later on its 20th Anniversary. Synopsis Summoned to a secret gathering one stormy night by the mysterious Mrs. Enkanta, University of the Philippines anthropology student Nicole Lacson finds herself face to face with tikbalangs, kapres, and all sorts of engkantos—Philippine mythical creatures—she had only heard about from her grandfathe ...
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Amulet
An amulet, also known as a good luck charm or phylactery, is an object believed to confer protection upon its possessor. The word "amulet" comes from the Latin word amuletum, which Pliny's ''Natural History'' describes as "an object that protects a person from trouble". Anything can function as an amulet; items commonly so used include statues, coins, drawings, plant parts, animal parts, and written words. Amulets which are said to derive their extraordinary properties and powers from magic or those which impart luck are typically part of folk religion or paganism, whereas amulets or sacred objects of formalised mainstream religion as in Christianity are believed to have no power of their own without faith in Jesus and being blessed by a clergyman, and they supposedly will also not provide any preternatural benefit to the bearer who does not have an appropriate disposition. Talisman and amulets have interchangeable meaning. Amulets refer to any object which has the power to av ...
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Agimat
''Agimat'', also known as ''Anting'' or folklorized as ''Anting-anting'', is a Filipino word for "amulet" or "charm"."Tagalog-English Dictionary by Leo James English, Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer, Manila, distributed by National Book Store, 1583 pages, ''Anting-anting'' is also a Filipino system of magic and sorcery with special use of the above-mentioned talismans, amulets, and charms. Other general terms for ''agimat'' include ''Virtud'' (Virtue) and ''Galing'' (Prowess). The practice is part of a wider Southeast Asian tradition of tribal jewelry, as "''Gantung''" (meaning "''hanging''") in Indonesian/Malay and "''anting-anting''" (meaning "ear hanging—ornament") in Javanese, originating in the polytheistic mythology that such supernatural ornaments were worn by the gods in their ear hook or earlobes, where it is allegedly most potent. Description In the Philippine occult tradition, there is usually a corresponding ''agimat'' to deal with in a particular area ...
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Ficus Indica
''Ficus'' ( or ) is a genus of about 850 species of woody trees, shrubs, vines, epiphytes and hemiepiphytes in the family Moraceae. Collectively known as fig trees or figs, they are native throughout the tropics with a few species extending into the semi-warm temperate zone. The common fig (''F. carica'') is a temperate species native to southwest Asia and the Mediterranean region (from Afghanistan to Portugal), which has been widely cultivated from ancient times for its fruit, also referred to as figs. The fruit of most other species are also edible though they are usually of only local economic importance or eaten as bushfood. However, they are extremely important food resources for wildlife. Figs are also of considerable cultural importance throughout the tropics, both as objects of worship and for their many practical uses. Description ''Ficus'' is a pantropical genus of trees, shrubs, and vines occupying a wide variety of ecological niches; most are evergreen, but ...
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Sterculia
''Sterculia'' is a genus of flowering plants in the mallow family, Malvaceae: subfamily Sterculioideae (previously placed in the now obsolete Sterculiaceae). Members of the genus are colloquially known as tropical chestnuts. ''Sterculia'' may be monoecious or dioecious, and its flowers unisexual or bisexual. Taxonomy Phylogeny A 27-million-year-old †''Sterculia labrusca'' leaf fossil is described from the Evros region in Western Thrace, Greece. Species The Plant List counts 91 currently accepted species. The accepted species are listed here, except as noted. *''Sterculia abbreviata'' E.L.Taylor ex Mondragón *''Sterculia aerisperma'' Cuatrec. *''Sterculia africana'' ( Lour.) Fiori – Mopopaja tree *''Sterculia albidiflora'' Ducke *''Sterculia alexandri'' Harv. – Cape sterculia *''Sterculia amazonica'' E.L.Taylor ex Mondragón *''Sterculia antioquia'' E.L.Taylor *''Sterculia apeibophylla'' Ducke *''Sterculia alexandri'' ( Jacq.) H.Karst. *''Sterculia ...
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Banana
A banana is an elongated, edible fruit – botanically a berry – produced by several kinds of large herbaceous flowering plants in the genus ''Musa''. In some countries, bananas used for cooking may be called "plantains", distinguishing them from dessert bananas. The fruit is variable in size, color, and firmness, but is usually elongated and curved, with soft flesh rich in starch covered with a rind, which may be green, yellow, red, purple, or brown when ripe. The fruits grow upward in clusters near the top of the plant. Almost all modern edible seedless ( parthenocarp) bananas come from two wild species – ''Musa acuminata'' and ''Musa balbisiana''. The scientific names of most cultivated bananas are ''Musa acuminata'', ''Musa balbisiana'', and ''Musa'' × ''paradisiaca'' for the hybrid ''Musa acuminata'' × ''M. balbisiana'', depending on their genomic constitution. The old scientific name for this hybrid, ''Musa sapientum'', is no longer used. ''Musa ...
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Bamboo
Bamboos are a diverse group of evergreen perennial flowering plants making up the subfamily Bambusoideae of the grass family Poaceae. Giant bamboos are the largest members of the grass family. The origin of the word "bamboo" is uncertain, but it probably comes from the Dutch or Portuguese language, which originally borrowed it from Malay or Kannada. In bamboo, as in other grasses, the internodal regions of the stem are usually hollow and the vascular bundles in the cross-section are scattered throughout the stem instead of in a cylindrical arrangement. The dicotyledonous woody xylem is also absent. The absence of secondary growth wood causes the stems of monocots, including the palms and large bamboos, to be columnar rather than tapering. Bamboos include some of the fastest-growing plants in the world, due to a unique rhizome-dependent system. Certain species of bamboo can grow within a 24-hour period, at a rate of almost an hour (equivalent to 1 mm every 90 seco ...
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Legend
A legend is a Folklore genre, genre of folklore that consists of a narrative featuring human actions, believed or perceived, both by teller and listeners, to have taken place in human history. Narratives in this genre may demonstrate human values, and possess certain qualities that give the tale verisimilitude (literature), verisimilitude. Legend, for its active and passive participants may include miracles. Legends may be transformed over time to keep them fresh and vital. Many legends operate within the realm of uncertainty, never being entirely believed by the participants, but also never being resolutely doubted. Legends are sometimes distinguished from myths in that they concern human beings as the main characters rather than gods, and sometimes in that they have some sort of historical basis whereas myths generally do not. The Brothers Grimm defined ''legend'' as "Folklore, folktale historically grounded". A by-product of the "concern with human beings" is the long list o ...
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Balete Tree
The balete tree (also known as balite or baliti) are several species of the trees in the Philippines from the genus ''Ficus'' that are broadly referred to as ''balete'' in the local language. A number of these are known as '' strangler figs'' wherein they start upon other trees, later entrapping them entirely and finally killing the host tree. Also called hemiepiphytes, initially, they start as epiphytes or air plants and grow several hanging roots that eventually touch the ground and from then on, encircling and suffocating the host tree. Some of the baletes produce an inferior quality of rubber. The India rubber plant, '' F. elastica'' were earlier cultivated to some extent for rubber. Some of the species like ''tangisang-bayawak'' or '' Ficus variegata'' are large and could probably be utilized for match woods. The woods of species of Ficus are soft, light, and of inferior quality, and the trees usually have ill-formed, short boles.Whitford, H.N., Bureau of Forestry"The For ...
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