Wednesday, 2 October 2013

Wewe Gombel

Wewe Gombel

Wewe Gombel
Wewe Gombel is a female supernatural being or ghost in Javanese and Sundanese mythology. It is said that she kidnaps children.
This myth taught children to be cautious and to stay at home in the night. Traditionally Wewe Gombel is represented as a woman with long, hanging breasts. Modern representations include vampire-like fangs. This is a popular spirit that also appears in comics.
Wewe GombelThe ghost was named Wewe Gombel because it is related to an event that, according to ancient folklore, actually happened in Bukit Gombel, Semarang, where long ago a married couple lived. They had been married for years, but as time went by the husband realized that his wife was a barren woman and stopped loving her. The husband became wayward, neglecting his wife and leaving her alone for long periods of time, so that she lived in sorrow. One day she followed him and caught him in a sexual relationship with another woman. Hurt by her husband's betrayal she suddenly was made reckless by fury and killed him. Faced with the crime the angry neighbors gathered in a mob and chased the wife away from the village. The villagers ostracized the woman and kept harassing her to the point where, driven by despair, she committed suicide.
After death her vengeful spirit became Wewe Gombel. Sundanese folklore says that she dwells in the crown of the Arenga pinnata palm, where she has her nest and keeps the children she catches. She does not harm them and once they are under her clutches they aren't afraid of her.
Local traditions tell that the children that are abducted by Wewe Gombel and brought to her nest have been mistreated or neglected by their parents. She will treat the children lovingly as a grandmother would, taking care of them and protecting them until their parents become aware of what they had done. After the parents regret their behavior towards their children, Wewe Gombel will give them their children back.
Wewe Gombel has
Hantu Kopek in the Malay
affinities with the ghost known as
folklore.
Wewe Gombel has been featured in Indonesian movies, such as the 1988 film Wewe Gombel and 2012 film Legenda Wewe Gombel. Representations of Wewe Gombel are sometimes part of local popular festivals as well.
The 1985 Sega video game Space Harrier contains an audio track called Wiwi Jumbo, a misspelling of Wewe Gombel.

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