KAPRE
K A P R E
mimi illenberger mapa
While doing research for his dissertation on folk healing, a
former teacher stumbled on several
strange tales involving supernatural beings, prompting him to suggest to
his peers in graduate school that perhaps the university “should look into the feasibility of offering
courses in parapsychology so that students will
have enlightened information on phenomena which science is still hesitant to certify as worthy of
investigation.”
This particular tale I wish to share with my readers
today began in a university campus more
than a decade ago and simply refused to die down. As the years rolled by , the
stories involving the creature even
became more scary as more people came forward
to add their own experience to it; the teacher felt the case was indeed
worthy of investigation. This is the story of a kapre ( the name used in
Philippine folk lore for the mythical tree-sitting demon) who inhabited a school building down south.
Right smack in the
center of the sprawling
university campus was this building that was big enough to accommodate 3000
students during convocation time. At one end of it, there was a deep cellar
below the where props and some carpentry
tools were stored. Students avoided
going down this damp and dark place
because of reputed strange movements reported by passersby on the road behind the structure.
A story goes that one late night after attending a meeting
held in another part of the campus, the school shop superintendent and his
companion worker passed by the building. It was an exceptionally a warm,
windless and moonlit evening but the two
men noticed that one tall palm tree near
the building was swaying. Curious, they
went nearer to check on the unusual movement. To their surprise they noted that
an electric wire had become entangled with the palm fronds and was being pulled
back and forth by something from the building roof that could not be seen
from where they stood.
The men decided to go around the building, tracing the source of the
wire. What they saw turned their blood into ice. A black shadow of a huge hand,
bigger than a human head, from an arm that was two meters long was pulling the
wire. A huge, hairy figure was leaning against the roof top, observing their
approach with glowing eyes. They ran for their lives.
The following morning, the two men agreed to check out what
they saw the evening before. The electric wire was now untangled from the
branches, carefully rolled and hang on a palm frond. A report about their
experience brought about the retelling of past experiences where similar sightings of the kapre were seen in the campus. A common
factor seemed to run through the tales - -
there was always an attempt to protect the building, from a fire being
put out, closing down a forgotten water valve that could have flooded the
cellar, a strange warning sound to vandals or drunks trying to get inside the closed
building.
A new dimension was added to the tale when the newly hired
literature teacher was appointed adviser of the high school drama club. He had
just returned from a study leave abroad and knew nothing about the kapre. When somebody told him all the
props he needed for his drama club were
in the cellar below the convocation building, he decided to go down there to
check on the stuff, alone.
He found everything he needed and this, he proudly announced
to his class the following day. “I was very lucky, “ he happily reported. “It
was as though somebody had read my mind and anticipated my coming. When I
switched on the cellar light, the props were all there in front of me, neatly
arranged in a row. Talk of coincidence.
The class cheered, the kapre story forgotten.
Three days later, the teacher matter of factly told his drama
class how impressed he was with the huge and hairy looking thing he spied in
the corner.
“ The wonders they can do with papier mache these days” he
added. “Modern props can be so realistic. Do you know that for a moment I
thought that thing was alive?”
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From Philippine folklore comes this bit of information
regarding the dreaded mythical creature the locals call kapre:
Kapre is a Philippine mythical creature that could be characterized as a tree giant. It
is described as being a tall (7 to 9 ft), big, black, hairy,[2] muscular
creature. Kapres are normally described as having a strong smell that would
attract human attention.
kapres are said to dwell in big trees like acacias, mangoes, bamboo and banyan (known in the
Philippines as balete). It
is also mostly seen sitting under those trees. The Kapre is said to wear the
indigenous Northern Philippine loincloth known as bahag,
and according to some, often wears a belt which gives the kapre the ability to
be invisible to humans. In some versions, the kapre is supposed to hold a
magical white stone, a little smaller in size than a quail egg. Should any
person happen to obtain this stone, the kapre could grant wishes.
These giants are believed to be nocturnal and omnivorous.[1] They are not necessarily considered to be
evil. Unlike the Aswang, it does not eat
humans or their unborn fetuses.[4] However, it
may turn vengeful when the tree that they are inhabiting is cut down. Kapres
may make contact with people to offer friendship, or if it is attracted to
a woman. If a Kapre befriends any human, especially because of love, the Kapre
will consistently follow its "love interest" throughout life. Also,
if one is a friend of the Kapre then that person will have the ability to see
it and if they were to sit on it then any other person would be able to see the
huge entity.
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