The Penanggalan or 'Hantu Penanggal' is a peculiar variation of the vampire myth that apparently began in the Malay
Peninsula, or Balan-balan in Sabah. See also the Manananggal, a similar creature of Filipino folklore. "Penanggal"
or "Penanggalan" literally means "detach" or "remove". Both terms — Manananggal and Penanggal — may carry the same
meaning due to both languages being grouped or having a common root under the Austronesian language family, though
the two creatures are culturally distinct in appearance and behavior.There are similar myths of creatures with almost
exactly the same features among the Balinese of Indonesia, where it is called the Leyak, in Thailand where it is called
the Krasue, in Laos where it is the Kasu or Phi-Kasu and in Cambodia where it is the Ap.
According to the folklore of that region, the Penanggalan is a detached female head capable of flying about on its own.
As it flies, the stomach and entrails dangle below it, and these organs twinkle like fireflies as the Penanggalan moves
through the night.Due to the common theme of Penanggal being the result of active use of black magic or supernatural means,
a Penanggal cannot be readily classified as a classical undead being. The creature is, for all intents and purposes, a
living human being during daytime (much like the Japanese Nukekubi) or at any time when it does not detach itself from
its body.
Nature
In Malaysian folklore, a Penanggal may be either a beautiful old or young woman who obtained her beauty through the active
use of black magic, supernatural, mystical, or paranormal means which are most commonly described in local folklores to be
dark or demonic in nature. Another cause where one becomes a Penanggal in Malaysian folklore is due to the result of a
powerful curse or the actions of a demonic force, although this method is less common than the active use of black magic
abovementioned.The Penanggalan is usually a female midwife who has made a pact with the devil to gain supernatural powers.
It is said that the midwife has broken a stipulation in the pact not to eat meat for 40 days; having broken the pact she
has been forever cursed to become a bloodsucking vampire/demon. The midwife keeps a vat of vinegar in her house. After
detaching her head and flying around in the night looking for blood the Penanggalan will come home and immerse her entrails
in the vat of vinegar in order to shrink them for easy entry back into her body.
One version of the tale states that the Penanggal was once a beautiful woman or priestess, who was taking a ritual bath
in a tub that once held vinegar. While bathing herself and in a state of concentration or meditation, a man entered the
room without warning and startled her. The woman was so shocked that she jerked her head up to look, moving so quickly
as to sever her head from her body, her organs and entrails pulling out of the neck opening. Enraged by what the man had done,
she flew after him, a vicious head trailing organs and dripping venom. Her empty body was left behind in the vat.
The Penanggal, thus, is said to carry an odor of vinegar with her wherever she flies, and returns to her body during the
daytime, often posing as an ordinary mortal woman. However, a Penanggal can always be told from an ordinary woman by that
odor of vinegar.
Victims
The Penanggalan's victims are traditionally pregnant women and young children. Like a banshee who appears at a birth rather
than a death, the Penanggalan perches on the roofs of houses where women are in labour, screeching when the child is born.
The Penanggalan will insert a long invisible tongue into the house to lap up the blood of the new mother. Those whose blood
the Penanggalan feeds upon contract a wasting disease that is almost inescapably fatal. Furthermore, even if the penanggalan
is not successful in her attempt to feed, anyone who is brushed by the dripping entrails will suffer painful open sores that
won't heal without a bomoh's help.
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