Mangkukulam

The mangkukulam is the witch of Philippine folklore, a person believed to harm others with spells and potions. The name first appears in Juan de Plasencia's Customs of the Tagalogs, written in 1589.

Juan de Plasencia's Customs of the Tagalogs, written in 1589, lists the mancocolam as the fourth kind of native priest. In his account this figure gave off fire at night, once a month or more often, and nothing could put the fire out. To produce it, Plasencia wrote, the priest rolled in the filth that dropped from the houses, and whoever lived in that house fell sick and died. He said the office was found everywhere.

The modern figure is a witch who looks like anyone else. A 2011 Halloween opinion piece in the Philippine Daily Inquirer describes the mangkukulam as a man or woman who brews potions and puts spells on victims, with no pointed hat or broomstick. The only sign, it says, is red eyes.

The Los Angeles Times reported from Siquijor province in 2011. Benjamin Haas wrote that many of the witches there use Catholic images in their sorcery and nearly all go to church, and that they brew a whole year's potions in the week before Easter.

Accusations have a violent history. Wikipedia says that those charged with practising black magic were often shunned and many were attacked, above all under Spanish colonial rule. It records one case from the mid-nineteenth century in which a Filipino curate had 57 people killed because he believed they were bewitching his ailing mother.