T A M A W O

T A M A W O !!

by

mimi illenberger mapa

The belief on fairies is universal. A famous writer, folklorist and preternatural researcher Patricia Lysaght of Dublin, Ireland has this to say about fairies in general - - Fairies are mythical beings or legendary creatures, a form of spirit, often described as metaphysical, supernatural or preternatural. Fairies resemble various beings of other mythologies, though even folklore that uses the term fairy offers many definitions. Sometimes the term describes any magical creature, including goblins or gnomes: at other times, the term only describes a specific type of more ethereal creatures. In modern usage, fairies are usually depicted as tiny human-appearing creatures with wings and the ability to perform magic.

In Philippine Mythology, a diwata, also known as encantada (engkantada), is a mythical creature or goddess similar to Western fairies or nymphs, possessing supernatural powers. Diwatas are avatars of Nature, which, as an active and potent force, may either bring good or evil, blessings or curses to people.

In the Western Visayas, if there were beings that really got into Ilonggo customs and traditions, it would be the tamawo, encanto or fairies. They are environmental spirits known to have the ability to transform into humans and live like humans. Also said to be living in balete trees (lunok in Hiligaynon), the tamawos can be identified for having no narrow grooves above their lips despite their fine physical features. But whatever they are and however they look and live their lives, every Ilonggo considers the others before performing operations that involve nature where they are also believed to inhabit.

Years back, a good friend and former Editor of Peoples Journal had requested me to write about fairies in my regular weekend column in Sunday,PJ. At my mother’s suggestion, I decided to brave a trip from Cebu to Iloilo despite bad weather conditions and interview an ailing oldster who, as a boy, was nearly lost to a community of fairies. I wrote:

A visit to an ailing relative, then in his late seventies, proved to be very educational. An articulate, no non-sense public school teacher in his younger days, he surprised me when he said he believed in fairies because as a child he was nearly “lost” to them.

Tiyo Roger J. recounted that as a pre-school boy he became friendly with another child who used to appear from behind a clump of bamboo growing in the backyard of his parent’s house. One day, Bon-bon (his new friend) invited him to go through the clump where they had magically entered a big garden. It was a happy place with lots of children running around. They went up a big, white house where he was introduced to Bon-bon’s family.. They were very nice to him, offering him snacks which he politely refused.

What seemed like only a few hours play with Bon-bon turned out to be three days of hysterical search for him by his parents and neighbours. His grieving parents after a fruitless search finally accepted the possibility he had drowned in the nearby river. They were in the midst of making preparations for his wake when , all of a sudden -surprise of surprises - Roger suddenly showed up!

This was already on the third day his disappearance. His distraught mother had gone to a pile of lumber and linukot nga amakan (rolls of bamboo matting ) by the bamboo clumps looking for firewood. It was late afternoon and as she picked up the dried twigs lying around, she heard a persistent scratching coming from the direction of the amakan. When she came nearer to investigate, who do you think came out but her young son looking dazed with sleep!

Roger was very hungry. He told the neighbors who had gathered around him that he had not eaten a decent meal despite Bon-bon’s offer of refreshments. He explained that he had refused the offer of food because their rice looked like wriggly, white maggots and it repelled him; their drink smelled of fermented goat’s milk which he always disliked... He was lucky, he said, that he still had his bottle of water and a pan-de-sal in his school bag. The elders of his clan were relieved and happy to hear this because they said, had he partaken of the fairy food, he would have been lost to human society and became one of the fairy hordes.- - - - - - - 
Foreign authors write about the belief in fairies by the Irish, Britons, Scandinavians, North and South Americans. ALL Oriental countries too have their own legends of fairies. Does this universality indicate a possible historic basis of truth? Did the fairies openly inhabit the planet earth once upon a time, like the dinosaurs? Why did they go underground?

In the Philippines, the belief in fairies is common place. Through out the entire archipelago, the image of fairies is strangely the same in physical appearance and characteristics, in behaviour and in manifestation of power; unlike the belief in aswang (generic name for witches and other supernatural creatures) that differs in regions.. .

In Panay Island in the Visayas, “tamawos” (Ilonggo for fairies) are known to mix with normal people in schools and neighbourhood with big houses and spacious lawns with landscaped gardens. Common folks also say they even become boarders in vacant houses whose occupants are frequently away. Fairies are said to be good looking, shapely, fair in complexion and of medium size. But they have fierce eyes and intent gaze, an upward slant to their ears and quickness of movement.

Fairies prefer to live in lonely, wooded areas and hillsides. But when civilization expands to their places of abode, they may choose to remain and live with human hosts, using their power of invisibility and transformation. Ancient big trees like mango, rubber or banyan species or even clumps of bamboo may become the entrance to their homes. A giant A giant bungsod (anthill) may be the gate to a fairy community. Human beings who are befriended by them and invited in their homes point out to these natural growth as passageways.
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