EPISODE 20 (BONUS): MANANANGGAL IN MANHATTAN (Reading Melania: Devourer of Men, So You Don’t Have To)

In this episode, we provide a critical follow-up to our first ever topic: the Manananggal. In an effort to address a long-held morbid curiosity ever since it first came our way, we cover the riveting and unsettling premise of the book Melania: Devourer of Men.

Join us as we romp through the soaring heights of Trump Tower, get lost in the sparkling beaches of Boracay and a dodgy karaoke bar and Panay. Follow us through impossibly absurd sexual metaphors, FBI interrogations, and the total eclipse of the heart – as we learn what it’s like for a First Lady to have to hide the deep, dark, monstrous creature she has become.

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The Gods Must Be Crazy is a podcast on Philippine Mythology hosted by friends Anama Dimapilis and Ice Lacsamana, avid mythology nerds, and semi-professional gossips. Follow us over at @godsmustbecrazy.pod on Instagram and Facebook for more good stuff. We welcome any suggestions on future topics or episodes.

You can also find us on Youtube – Gods Must Be Crazy Podcast channel, where we post some of our episodes and interviews. For other inquiries, please email us at [email protected]

The intro and outro music is by Brian O’Reilly (@dendriform on Instagram).

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WORK REFERENCED:

Melania: Devourer of Men by J.D. Boehninger (Published 2018)

EPISODE 19: URDUJA, WARRIOR PRINCESS | Legendary Princess of Tawalisi

In a time of ancient gods, warlords and kings... A land in turmoil cried out for heroes. She was Urduja, a mighty princess forged in the heat of battle.  In this episode, we learn about Urduja, a legendary princess who was almost too epic to be real.  Join us as we embark on a journey across ancient Sri-Visayan Empires, the Hundred Islands of Pangasinan, and the warrior plains of Mongolia.   Help us decide if this well-documented tale was real and help us decide what “Elephant-load” actually means.

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The Gods Must Be Crazy is a podcast on Philippine Mythology hosted by friends Anama Dimapilis and Ice Lacsamana, avid mythology nerds, and semi-professional gossips. Follow us over at @godsmustbecrazy.pod on Instagram and Facebook for more good stuff. We welcome any suggestions on future topics or episodes.

You can also find us on Youtube – Gods Must Be Crazy Podcast channel, where we post some of our episodes and interviews. For other inquiries, please email us at [email protected]

The intro and outro music is by Brian O’Reilly (@dendriform on Instagram).

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SOURCES:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Urduja

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ibn_Battuta

https://www.aswangproject.com/princess-urduja/

EPISODE 18: BOSSY BABIES, TALKING ANIMALS AND DEADLY BATHS | The Epic Tale of Lam-Ang

In this episode, we brush up on our high-school Panitikan to tackle one of the major epics in Philippine literature: the tale of child-prodigy turned avenger turned romantic hero, BIAG NI LAM-ANG.

Treat this as your SparkNotes version of the epic tale—and follow us through strange pregnancy cravings, overachieving child-prodigies, magical talking animals and an unnecessarily deadly bath turned environmental disaster.

All this, of course, sprinkled on top of a heroic tale of vengeance, honor, magic, and love.

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The Gods Must Be Crazy is a podcast on Philippine Mythology hosted by friends Anama Dimapilis and Ice Lacsamana, avid mythology nerds, and semi-professional gossips. Follow us over at @godsmustbecrazy.pod on Instagram and Facebook for more good stuff. We welcome any suggestions on future topics or episodes.

You can also find us on Youtube – Gods Must Be Crazy Podcast channel, where we post some of our episodes and interviews. For other inquiries, please email us at [email protected]

The intro and outro music is by Brian O’Reilly (@dendriform on Instagram).

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SOURCES:

Jocano, F. Landa.  Outline of Philippine mythology / by F. Landa Jocano  Centro Escolar University Research and Development Center Manila , 1969.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biag_ni_Lam-ang

Alternate title: Anito Ako, Umiibig Sayo

In this episode, we talk about not just one, not two, but the multitude of gods our Filipino ancestors worshipped: the Anito. Find out just who these ancestral spirits are, how to summon just the right one to grant a wish and if (or how) you can be one in the afterlife.

We learn about the incredibly specific anitos invoked for incredibly specific needs — whether you are growing bananas, looking for lost things, or wanting to resell your car at a good price! And just for fun, we also try to think of what anitos we would actually need to help with our modern day woes: an anito for fake news? One to help with cramps and migraines? Or maybe one to stop your impulse shopping?

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Notes:

List of Gods:

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The Gods Must Be Crazy is a podcast on Philippine Mythology hosted by friends Anama Dimapilis and Ice Lacsamana, avid mythology nerds, and semi-professional gossips. Follow us over at @godsmustbecrazy.pod on Instagram and Facebook for more good stuff. We welcome any suggestions on future topics or episodes.

You can also find us on Youtube – Gods Must Be Crazy Podcast channel, where we post some of our episodes and interviews. For other inquiries, please email us at [email protected]

The intro and outro music is by Brian O’Reilly (@dendriform on Instagram).

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SOURCES:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anito

https://hunterswoodsph.com/philippine-mythology-gods/

EPISODE 15 (Minisode): A WIBBLY-WOBBLY, TIMEY-WIMEY FILIPINO TELEPORTATION TALE

In our first (actually ‘mini’) minisode, we cover a fascinating tale of teleportation all the way from our 16th-century Philippine colonial period. In this account, we meet the unassuming guardia civil Gil Perez, who was inexplicably plucked from his guard post in Manila to another place thousands of miles away. Was it a hoax? ESP? Or were there more devilish forces at play?

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Notes:

On Dasmariñas: The Spanish Government named the town Perez de Dasmariñas in honor of the Spanish Governor General of the islands from 1590-1593. Perez Dasmariñas was well remembered because he was the one who initiated the fortification of Intramuros and Fort Santiago. (From https://dasmacitygov.weebly.com/)

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The Gods Must Be Crazy is a podcast on Philippine Mythology hosted by friends Anama Dimapilis and Ice Lacsamana, avid mythology nerds, and semi-professional gossips. Follow us over at @godsmustbecrazy.pod on Instagram and Facebook for more good stuff. We also welcome any suggestions on future topics or episodes.

You can also find us on Youtube – Gods Must Be Crazy Podcast channel, where we post some of our episodes and interviews. For other inquiries, please email us at [email protected]

The intro and outro music is by Brian O’Reilly (@dendriform on Instagram).

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SOURCES:

https://justhistoryposts.com/2020/10/24/a-brief-moment-of-history-the-teleported-soldier/

https://archive.org/details/legendsofcityofm00janvrich/page/96/mode/2up?view=theater

https://mexicodailypost.com/2021/10/02/the-soldier-teleported-from-the-philippines-to-mexico-in-1593/

https://lifestyle.inquirer.net/315457/p2fb-time-traveler-claims-philippines-will-be-a-giant-utopia-crime-free-by-2030/

EPISODE 14: BRIGHT LIGHTS, BIRINGAN CITY | The Mythical Hidden City of the Philippines

Since many of us can’t travel this holiday season, let’s take a virtual trip to Biringan City.  Hear about the Philippines’ very own Atlantis and Wakanda.  Learn about the secret waypoints, real witness encounters, and shopping mishaps that happen around this mythical city.   Find out just how many journalists and BMW dealerships have been bamboozled by the magical citizens of this mystical place.  And learn about Ice’s and Anama’s Tourism campaign that will entice every adventurous traveler to visit (and perhaps never leave) BIRINGAN CITYYYY!!!

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The Gods Must Be Crazy is a podcast on Philippine Mythology hosted by friends Anama Dimapilis and Ice Lacsamana, avid mythology nerds, and semi-professional gossips. Follow us over at @godsmustbecrazy.pod on Instagram and Facebook for more good stuff. We also welcome any suggestions on future topics or episodes.

You can also find us on Youtube – Gods Must Be Crazy Podcast channel, where we post some of our episodes and interviews. For other inquiries, please email us at [email protected]

The intro and outro music is by Brian O’Reilly (@dendriform on Instagram).

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SOURCES:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biringan_City

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rPQJJE9CDwU

https://www.aswangproject.com/biringan-city/

https://steemit.com/steemiteducation/@lyxng/biringan-the-city-of-the-unknown-fact-or-fiction

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/ep-2-biringan-city-and-other-scary-stories/id1485149642?i=1000462374382

EPISODE 13: MUMMY MIA: HERE WE GO AGAIN (PART 2) | Death, Burial and the Afterlife in Pre-Colonial Philippines

As we close out the series on this fascinating topic (for now), we move further south and explore the death & burial practices of our pre-colonial ancestors in Visayas and Mindanao.

In this episode, we learn how burial practices differed by social class. Find out the perks and perils of being a slave in the pre-hispanic era, rituals one underwent to try and ‘save’ the dead, and just what price a tribe was willing to pay to send off their Datu properly. We also learn about the early origins of the crying ladies, and the strange things they’d have to include in their eulogies for the deceased.

[Trigger warnings for some descriptions of gore and slight sexual themes.]

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The Gods Must Be Crazy is a podcast on Philippine Mythology hosted by friends Anama Dimapilis and Ice Lacsamana, avid mythology nerds, and semi-professional gossips. Follow us over at @godsmustbecrazy.pod on Instagram and Facebook for more good stuff. We also welcome any suggestions on future topics or episodes.

You can also find us on Youtube – Gods Must Be Crazy Podcast channel, where we post some of our episodes and interviews. For other inquiries, please email us at [email protected]

The intro and outro music is by Brian O’Reilly (@dendriform on Instagram).

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SOURCES:

Scott, William H. Barangay: Sixteenth-century Philippine Culture and Society. Quezon City, Manila, Philippines: Ateneo de Manila University Press, 1994. Print.

Suarez, Michelle, et. al. A Lolong Time Ago: A Pre-History of the Philippines. Tahanan Books for Young Readers. 2016. Print.

Indonesian Torajan Tribe - Death & Burial Practice (National Geographic):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hCKDsjLt_qU

EPISODE 12: MUMMY MIA (PART 1) | Death, Burial and the Afterlife in Pre-Colonial Philippine

In this episode (Part 1 of 2!) we jump back in time and learn about how our pre-colonial ancestors practiced their beliefs around death, burial, and the afterlife.

From the famous manunggul jars of Palawan to the hanging coffins of Sagada, we explore the stories that shaped these ancient practices–including a well-known creation myth that actually talks about the first instance of death and resurrection. We also talk about: just how much music was there in the 90s, how long should you wait until you move on from a relationship, and–to go back to topic–the Philippine’s own real-life version of “The Mummy Returns.”

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The Gods Must Be Crazy is a podcast on Philippine Mythology. Follow us over at @godsmustbecrazy.pod on Instagram and Facebook for more good stuff, and possibly answer some burning questions after this episode such as: What does a manananggal look like? How do you cook adobo? Who is Gardo Verzosa and why do they keep thirsting after him? We also welcome any suggestions on future topics or episodes.

You can also find us on Youtube – Gods Must Be Crazy Podcast channel, where we post some of our episodes and interviews. For other inquiries, please email us at [email protected]

The intro and outro music is by Brian O’Reilly (@dendriform on Instagram).

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SOURCES:

Contemporary Undas practices derived from pre-colonial influence, beliefs – cultural anthropologist

https://www.gmanetwork.com/news/lifestyle/artandculture/386063/contemporary-undas-practices-derived-from-pre-colonial-influence-beliefs-cultural-anthropologist/story/

Death rituals help restless spirits find peace in the Philippines

https://www.nationalgeographic.com/culture/article/after-deadly-philippine-typhoon-dead-sent-off-afterlife

A glimpse of the fire mummies of Kabayan, Benguet, Luzon, Philippines and the role of plants associated with the mummification process

http://nopr.niscair.res.in/bitstream/123456789/43647/1/IJTK%2017%282%29%20307-313.pdf

http://nopr.niscair.res.in/handle/123456789/43647

Apo Anno – A Philippine National Treasure

https://subliblog.com/2019/05/19/apo-anno-a-philippine-national-treasure/

Benguet community races against time to save Apo Anno | Inquirer News

https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1081535/benguet-community-races-against-time-to-save-apo-anno

EPISODE 11: SHAKE IT OFF | Pagpag & Other Philippine Superstitions & Traditions about Death & Burial

In this chill (and weirdly cozy?) episode, we cover the strange, unique, oddly specific, and sometimes random superstitions and traditions on death and burial in the Philippines.

Every year at around Halloween, Filipino families gather at cemeteries for Araw ng mga Patay (Day of the Dead) to be with their loved ones – both living and dead. What better time to talk about the superstitions we practice but take for granted, like: why do we have to stop off somewhere before going home from a wake? Why can’t you thank people for offering their condolences? And why can’t you let your tears fall on the casket?

Join us as we also uncover a few of the lesser-known practices: like what animal you put on the coffin of a person who is murdered? What type of food to eat or avoid during wakes? …And what’s up with all the broken pots and plates?

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The Gods Must Be Crazy is a podcast on Philippine Mythology. Follow us over at @godsmustbecrazy.pod on Instagram and Facebook for more good stuff, and possibly answer some burning questions after this episode such as: What does a manananggal look like? How do you cook adobo? Who is Gardo Verzosa and why do they keep thirsting after him? We also welcome any suggestions on future topics or episodes.

You can also find us on Youtube – Gods Must Be Crazy Podcast channel, where we post some of our episodes and interviews. For other inquiries, please email us at [email protected]

The intro and outro music is by Brian O’Reilly (@dendriform on Instagram).

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Sources: