I thought a guide to the Southeast Asian folklore creatures and folk practices referenced in Joss Paper might be useful.
In case you didn’t know, Southeast Asia comprises 11 countries: Singapore, Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, Vietnam, the Philippines, Laos, Myanmar, Cambodia, Brunei, and East Timor. The region is very diverse, but the countries also share much in their popular culture, myths and urban legends.
Bomohs
Bomohs are shamans from Malaysia and Singapore. The Malay people (those native to the Malay Peninsula) consult bomohs for their knowledge of traditional herbal medicine, their practice of ritual magic, and their ability to communicate with and summon spirits.
They are believed to be able to heal the sick, exorcise evil spirits, lift curses, change a person’s fortunes, and locate missing persons. Some are said to practice black magic. That includes resurrecting and enslaving toyols, the spirits of dead babies.
Bomohs are still consulted today, but their influence waned in the 1970s and 1980s with the rise of Islam in Southeast Asia. Their practices are not considered in line with Muslim beliefs.
Hungry Ghost Month
I've written extensively about the Hungry Ghost Month. Check it out here.
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Pontianak
The pontianak is one of the most popular ghosts in Singapore and Malaysia (the kuntilanak in Indonesia and Mae Nak in Thailand are similar ghosts). She is the vengeful spirit of a woman who died during childbirth or pregnancy, or after being raped.
The pontianak has sometimes been described as a succubus or a vampire. She preys on men, appearing to them as a beautiful woman with long, black hair. Among other odd quirks, she lives in a banana grove during the day. At night, the strong fragrance of the frangipani (or plumeria) blossom signals that she’s in the vicinity.
Many Southeast Asians will keep mum when they smell a flowery fragrance at night for fear of attracting the pontianak’s attention.
[Fun fact: Little Kreepy, my avatar for X and Bluesky and the logo for Kampung Kreepy Books, is a chibi pontianak, drawn by my son.]
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| Frangipani/plumeria blossoms |
Chinese Spirit Medium
The worship of spirit mediums is a folk religion practiced by some Chinese people in Southeast Asia and Taiwan.
These spirit mediums are believed to be chosen by particular gods and spirits to serve as their vessels. The gods most often represented by the spirit mediums include Kwan Yin, the Goddess of Mercy; the mythical Monkey King Sun Wukong; and Nezha, the young warrior-deity.
The spirit medium—usually men—will go into a trance to signal that the possession has begun. When this happens, his devotees believe he has transformed into the actual god or spirit. As the god incarnate, the spirit medium dispenses advice, cures the sick, or grants his devotees’ pleas.
Spirit mediums sometimes cut themselves with swords, or have their devotees cut them with sharp instruments. The blood drawn can be used to exorcise evil spirits, or smeared on talismans that can be hung on front doors to keep evil spirits away.
Toyol
This is one of the creepiest creatures in Southeast Asian folklore. Warning: the write-up below is graphic. You may want to skip it if you are sensitive about the topic of dead babies.
A toyol is the spirit (some say zombie) of a fetus who died before he or she could be born.
To create a toyol, a bomoh searches for the grave of a woman who recently died in childbirth. The bomoh digs up the mother’s corpse and extracts the fetus. He enslaves the fetus through black magic and binds it to a piece of its body, such as a sliver of bone.
The bone chip is placed in a bottle in a suspension of corpse oil. The oil is produced by burning the chin of the fetus’ mother with a candle.
Once the toyol is enslaved, it has to do its master’s bidding. In folklore, toyols were used to steal from the neighbors, harass enemies or vandalize property. In more recent times, it is said a toyol may help you obtain valuable information such as winning lottery numbers.
The toyol supposedly looks like a mummified baby with greenish or grayish skin. It has a big head, red eyes, pointy ears and sharp teeth. The toyol stays in its bottle when it isn’t out and about on its master’s errands. The creature must be fed fresh blood (usually by pricking a finger and squeezing blood into its bottle).
The toyol has the temperament of a spoiled child. You must keep it entertained and fed by making offerings of toys and food, including candy and cookies. If it gets hungry, it escapes its bottle and looks for its own nourishment. According to some lore, it feeds by biting into the toes of people who are sleeping and sucking their blood.
You can buy a toyol from a bomoh. Once you become its master, you assume the responsibility of making sure it’s happy. A toyol exists until it is buried and properly laid to rest by magic ritual. Some say you can also get rid of a toyol by throwing its bottle into the sea.
If you don’t lay the toyol to rest, it will attach itself to your family members and descendants when you die. They then have the job of keeping it happy.