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.