Book on Philippine Spirits

The Spirits of the Philippine Archipelago is a series of mullti-volume books. It is going to be a multiple-volume part illustrated encyclopedia and part fairy tale book detailing mythical creatures found in the Philippines (and in some cases in the regions beyond). The descriptions will detail the location, ethno-linguistic groups associated with the creature and their cultural background, possible name etymologies, a summary of the themes of the myths surrounding each particular creature with a listing of corroborating sources and at least one illustration of the creature conceptualized by Filipino artists. The fairy tales will be a modern take on the mythical creatures, using their legend in more familiar settings, while staying true to the description.

The book aims to be a convenient resource and reference material for those passionate about the cultural heritage of the Philippines in terms of folklore while also being an entertaining read for those that would like to see further stories from creatures they aren’t familiar about. All information and data collected will be reviewed and coming from either firsthand sources or substantive secondhand sources (usually anthropological or linguistic). All stories are entirely fictional, some may be retellings of the myth of the creature while others would be putting the creatures in a different context, such as modern cities.

It is a compilation of many different historical book sources, anthropological and linguistic research, plus the author’s individual research, going around the Philippines, using linguistic methodology as a base for collecting folkloric myths and dissecting the data into descriptions of the mythical creatures.

Some of the fairy tale stories have already been featured on a Facebook page and reception to the stories have been overwhelmingly positive and have been featured on other Philippine culture blogs such as the Aswang Project. https://www.facebook.com/PhilippineSpirits/