Friday, April 13, 2012

K is for Krasue

The Krasue is a vampiric floating head from Southeast Asian mythology.  It is a malevolent spirit that manifests itself as a woman, usually young and beautiful, with her internal organs hanging down from the neck, trailing below the head.
Since it has no lower body this spirit hovers in the air above the ground. The organs below the head include a length of intestine and are usually represented freshly daubed with blood. Her teeth often include pointed fangs in vampire-fashion.

It is believed that this spirit was formerly a rich person with a length of black gauze or ribbon tied around the head and neck as protection from the sunshine. The ghost originated with the possession of this woman by an evil spirit which turned her into a head suspended in the air with some internal organs hanging from the neck after the separation of the head from the body. This hungry ghost is always active in the night when it goes out hunting, seeking blood to drink or raw flesh to devour. It is said that that this ghost searches for her body to become whole again.

The creature will die if the intestines get cut off or if its body disappears or gets hidden by someone. If the top part of the body fails to find the lower half before daybreak it will die if it does not rejoin the other half when sunlight comes. Some traditions believe that the creature can be destroyed by burning them alive.

4 comments:

Krista McLaughlin said...

That is seriously creepy. I would NOT want to run into one of those.

baygirl32 said...

Vampiric floating heads - hope I don't dream of these tonight

Trisha said...

I love to learn about different mythologies. I must admit that I've only ever studied the Greek and Roman myths in an official capacity though.

Timothy S. Brannan said...

Reminds me of the Penanggalan of Malasia.

Reading through all your posts now. Very cool stuff.

I am trying to read all the A to Z blogs, but coming back to the ones I really like.
Looking forward to seeing what you do all month!

Tim
The Other Side
The Freedom of Nonbelief

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