Tiyanak

Tiyanak
Title	Tiyanak
Description	Demon child/Changeling
Gender	Male or female
Region	Philippines

The Tiyanak (also Tianak or Tianac) is a vampiric creature in Philippine mythology that imitates the form of a child. It usually takes the form of a newborn baby and cries like one in the jungle to attract unwary travelers. Once it is picked up by the victim, it reverts to its true form and attacks the victim. The tiyanak is also depicted to take malevolent delight in leading travelers astray, or in abducting children.

While various legends have slightly different versions of the tiyanak folklore, the stories all agree on its ability to mimic an infant, with its ability to imitate an infant's cries for luring victims. In some legends, the Tiyanak may take the form of a specific child.

There are various stories on how tiyanaks came to being. The Mandaya people of Mindanao claim that the tiyanak is the spirit of a child whose mother died before giving birth. This caused it to be "born in the ground", thus gaining its current state. A similar supernatural creature in Malay folklore is the Pontianak, which was a woman who died before giving birth.

With the Spanish colonization of the Philippines in the 16th century, the tiyanak myth was integrated into Christianity. The tiyanak in the Christian version were supposedly the souls of infants that died before being baptized. In modern-day Philippines, this definition has extended to that of aborted fetuses that returned from death to seek revenge on those who deprived them of life. It is also said that Tiyanak cannot go to after life because of not having a name. It then led them to be an Earth bound creature which wonder around searching for someone to give them names.

In local belief, various countermeasures are supposedly effective against the tiyanak. Those that were led astray by the creature's cries are believed to be able to break the enchantment by turning their clothes inside out. The tiyanak finds the method humorous enough to let go of the traveler and go back to the jungles. Loud noises such as a New Year's celebration are also thought to be enough to drive the tiyanak away from the vicinity. Objects believed to repel Aswang (vampiric shape-shifters), like garlic and the rosary, are also commonly believed to be effective against the tiyanak. It is also believed that giving a name will give peace to this lost souls and offer white candle to guide its spirit to afterlife.

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Wikipedia