Some years ago the Government instituted an examination for midwives, and only those were allowed the practice who had been properly instructed, so that these absurdities and cruelties are on the wane, except amongst the poorest or in outlying districts.
The Asúan is merely a cannibal ghost, but the Tagal ghost throws stones, a thing I have not heard of a ghost doing in Europe.
All sorts of stories are told about the Asúan, similar to ghost stories in other lands.
About 1891 a house in Malate was stoned night after night, and although every effort was made to find out the authors, they were never discovered, and the natives steadfastly believed it to be the doing of the Asúan.
There is another superstitious idea firmly rooted in the minds of the Tagals and other natives, of which the following is an instance: A villainous-looking native had been captured with some property stolen from my house, and was sent to the lock-up at the police station, from whence he promptly escaped, but was recaptured later. My coachman, a most meritorious servant who had been with me for years, assured me in an impressive manner, and with an air of conviction, that the culprit was one of those wizards who are able to pass through a keyhole by drawing themselves out into the thinness of a piece of string, and my other servants accepted this view implicitly.
The famous Tulisanes or bandits, thoroughly believe in the power of the Antin-Antin or amulet to render them invulnerable to bullets. It is, indeed, remarkable that notwithstanding the numbers of these criminals who have been shot by the Guardia Civil with their Antin-Antin upon them, this absurd belief should flourish, but there is no doubt it does. These charms consist of any sort of necromancers’ rubbish, or are sometimes writings in invocations, usually worn round the neck under the clothing.
The profession of the Roman Catholic religion has perhaps helped this superstition to linger on, for the wearing of scapularies is common, especially amongst the women. These articles are manufactured for the priests and some are sent out to Antipolo, to be blessed at the shrine of Nuestra Señora de Buen Viage y de la Paz, and sold to the pilgrims who crowd in thousands to this shrine in May of each year.
A Tagal woman sometimes wears as many as three of these scapularies hung from silk threads round her neck and covered by her upper garment. They usually dispose two in front, where they conceive the danger is greatest, and one on the back, as a further precaution against an attack from the rear.
Wearing these holy amulets, and having crossed herself and uttered a prayer before coming downstairs in the morning, the Tagal wife or maid feels that she has done all she can, and that if any backsliding should occur, during the day, it will not be her fault.
She believes greatly in lucky or holy numbers—I heard the following story related by a native lady to a native priest when going to Batangas by steamer.