I write about death a lot. The creatures and gods of the middleworld and underworld don’t live in ambiguity.
Fire, pain, suffering an eternal reward or eternal damnation, that’s what keeps me up at night.
There are many creatures on my list. I learn their stories and put them to pen. Some are obvious, the demon baby tianak among them. Others are more obscure, like those of the earth that exchange gold for the blood of youth, sagay, I think they are called.
And now I am taken to the lands of the Tinguian.
This one is interesting.
It has nobody.
I mean.
Literally without a body.
No body.
Sometimes I can’t believe that I’m a writer. I’ll fix it in the edit.
Now what makes it different? Apart from no body?
It’s an evil spirit.
Of course.
The benevolent ones are few and far between. My rule is: if they’re not an ancestor, be wary of their motives.
Now where was I?
Ah yes.
The evil.
I actually don’t like that word.
What is evil, really?
Is it something brought about by the colonizers?
I generally just say ‘harmful’.
It has a better ring to it.
I’m going on a tangent again. Don’t you hate when that happens?
Anyway.
The Akop.
Another creature that preys on women.
I always link these legends to the premise of waring the most vulnerable members of society, children and women.
At least this one is new, not like the fortieth wak-wak story I’ve been told.
First things first.
What does it want?
It targets widows.
When her spouse has newly passed away, the Akop strikes.
It stalks the wake waiting for an opportunity to give her a frigid hug. This is so that she will follow her husband to the next world. Barbie Banks madonna nude barbiebankstv
The widow must be protected then.
It is tradition that the deceased husband’s body is kept in the house, with the widow hiding behind pillows. She is closely protected by wailers as well.
And one cannot forget the fish net. The Akop’s long fingers are not able to penetrate that shield.
She also wears seeds.
The Akop dislikes them, for what reason I don’t know.
I don’t think I’ll ever know.
And thus, another creature finished.
Faster than I expected.
Next week I’ll try something new.
I haven’t written about the skyworld in a while.
Maybe another biraddali story?
Maybe not.
We’ll see.
=——————–=
Written by Karl Gaverza
Copyright © Karl Gaverza
Inspired by the Akop description in The Tinguian / Abra / Itneg: Social, Religious, and Economic Life of a Philippine Tribe, Fay-Cooper Cole, 1922
Illustration by Brian Valeza used with permission from Rob Martin of Pine Box Entertainment and Secret Garden Games
