Engkanto

Engkanto
GenderMale/female
RegionPhilippines

Engkanto (from Spanish encanto, lit. 'enchantment') are mythical environmental spirits that are said to have the ability to appear in human form.[1] They are often associated with the spirits of ancestors in the Philippines.[2][3][4] They are also characterized as spirit sorts like sirens, dark beings, elves, and more.[5] Belief in their existence has likely existed for centuries,[4] and continues to this day.[6]

It is a bracket term for enchanted human-like beings of the land which includes a variety of mythical races. The term itself was adopted from the Spanish, who were dumbfounded by the wide array of mythical races in the Philippines and just referred to many of the races as "enchanted".[7] Though at the same time the term does not differ at all from the archaic Spanish sense of the word as referring to a supernatural apparition, sometimes tied to a place.

  1. ^ Silliman University, James W. Chapman Research Foundation (1977). "Silliman Journal". Silliman Journal. Silliman University: 354. Retrieved June 21, 2008.
  2. ^ Aguilar, Filomeno V. (1998). Clash of Spirits. University of Hawaii Press. ISBN 0-8248-2082-7.
  3. ^ Gailyn Van Rheenen, Gailyn Van Rheenan (2006). Contextualization And Syncretism: Navigating Cultural Currents. William Carey Library. ISBN 0-87808-387-1. Retrieved June 21, 2008.
  4. ^ a b *Demetrio, Francisco (1969). "The Engkanto Belief: An Essay in Interpretation". Asian Folklore Studies. 28 (1): 77–90. doi:10.2307/1177781. JSTOR 1177781.
  5. ^ Cite error: The named reference ramos was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  6. ^ *Borchgrevink, Axel (2003). "Ideas of Power in the Philippines". Cultural Dynamics. 15 (1): 41–69. doi:10.1177/0921374003015001108. Retrieved June 19, 2008.
  7. ^ "Kapuso Mo, Jessica Soho: Engkanto: Kuwento-kuwento o totoo?". Youtube (in Tagalog). GMA Public Affairs. April 22, 2019. Archived from the original on December 21, 2021. Retrieved September 20, 2021.