Tikbalang

Lola's story

When I was a girl in Manila, my Lola told me never to cut through the empty lot with the big balete tree after dark. "That's where the tikbalang waits," she said. "He's taller than the electric poles, he has the head of a horse, and his favorite game is getting children lost."

"How?" I asked.

"You walk and walk, and every road leads you back to the same tree." She leaned close. "So if it ever happens, turn your shirt inside out. Baligtad! It breaks his trick."

I never met a tikbalang in Manila. But one Halloween in Queens, while we were trick-or-treating, a very tall stranger with a horse's head kept pointing us down the wrong street. We walked around the same block three times! It was Didi, my little fashionista, who remembered first. She turned her whole costume inside out, right there on the sidewalk, and sang until her brothers did the same. And just like that, we were home.

What people say

People all over the Philippines tell stories about the tikbalang. He is a very tall, bony trickster with the head of a horse, and in many stories his feet point backward. He lives in big old trees, like the balete, the acacia or bamboo groves, and his favorite trick is to lead travelers astray, so that every road brings them back to the same spot.

Some stories say a few magic golden hairs hide in his mane, and whoever pulls one out can tame him. And when the sun shines while it rains, people say a tikbalang is getting married.

How to stay safe

If you feel lost and every path looks the same, turn your shirt inside out. Some people also say tabi tabi po ("excuse me, may I pass?") when they walk by his tree. And stay close to your Lola.