The first time I heard the word Engkanto was from my Aunt Naty. Aunt Naty was a very ordinary woman that lived in the mountains and possessed fortune-telling powers that were never to be doubted. I was ten years old and she was 50 that time when she came to my uncle's house for a vacation. Aunt Naty sat beside me, and told me not to move so much because her friend "Puti" (meaning white) was sitting beside me on the floor. I asked her who Puti was? She told me that he was a dwarf and was the one helping her to foretell. I sat there so amazed, and still!  

      Aunt Naty told us many stories. One that I will never forget is the story about Engkanto. She told us that Engkanto are male fairies living mainly in the trees. They are spirits who, if they like you will entice you with riches, and if you agree to be with them, you will never be seen again. She told us that Engkanto have very fair complexions with blue eyes and blond hair, and so handsome that any woman would surely love them. To the women they like they will show houses like palaces, riches you can't fathom, and a life that is very beautiful. To a child's mind, it is like a wonderful dream to be loved by that kind of being - maybe that's the reason why, as I grew older, I always dreamed of marrying someone with blue eyes and blond hair.

      After Aunt Naty had gone back to the mountains our lives went back to normal, until one day I came home from school and saw our neighbor, who lives near a Tamarind tree. She was yelling and saying things we couldn't understand, sometimes in a trance, speaking in a man's voice. At first I did not really understand what was happening with her until an Albularyo, or the spirit healer healed her. One day as I was looking for her daughter who was my playmate, I saw her sitting on a bench. She asked me to sit beside her and proceeded to tell me what had really happened to her. She had met an Engkanto living in that Tamarind tree beside her house, and described the Engkanto exactly as my Aunt Naty had done. The Engkanto had invited her to his palace-like house covered with lights and gold, including gold chairs, gold stairs, gold plates and gold utensils. The Engkanto invited her to dine with him and he offered many delicious foods including two kinds of rice, the white rice and the black rice. She told me that the Engkanto told her that if she chose to eat the black rice, she couldn't come back anymore. She chose to eat white rice because she said she loves her family. Still, the Engkanto got mad at her and tried to stop her from going back. After that, all she remembered was being back with the Albularyo beside her. I was transfixed listening to her, until she told me to go and play. After that our neighbor moved house because news was that the Engkanto wouldn't stop disturbing her.

      I had forgotten that story until another situation 25 years later. It happened again with our neighbor's daughter Jasmin who was 18 years old. Same tree, same Engkanto and same thing also happened to her, but more scary!

      Because of poverty, they were forced to build their house around that Tamarind tree, using the tree as the main post. One night the mother woke and saw her daughter with half of her body already inside the tree! She got up extremely fast and yanked her daughter back, feeling a force on the other end pulling her further inside the tree! She started crying, never letting go of her daughter who at that time seemed to be in a trance. She begged for that someone not to take her daughter. Finally whoever, or whatever it was inside the tree let go.

What had happened to her daughter became the talk of our neighborhood. While the mother was recounting that story to me, I had goose bumps it was so scary!

As of today, that tree still stands ALONE! ALL of the trees in our neighborhood have now been cut down, but no one dares to touch that tree, no one is courageous enough to test the Engkanto and the havoc he can do to us mortal men. My father would gather Tamarind leaves for the soup, and would ask permission of the tree first!!!!! He would say, "TABI TABI PO" (MEANING PLEASE EXCUSE ME), MAY I PLEASE GET SOME OF YOUR LEAVES FOR COOKING?

Now the question is, is Engkanto just a figment of one's imagination, or is it really there waiting for another to cross his path? Are you courageous enough to try?

By Mark and Luisa

Glimpse of the Unseen

This husband and wife live in the northern part of Luzon of the Philippine Islands where mysteries and enchantment abound. They crave adventures of any kind and explorations like caves, trails, mountains and finding fossils, crystals, rocks and minerals.

Mark and Luisa love art, fantasy, nature and life itself, planning on visiting more of the mystical places here in the Philippines, learning the lore of the Filipino people, and through it unveiling the realm of the unseen world...

Mark has been a member of Enchanted Folk since December 2007

members.enchantedfolk.com/hardwood