Variations: Hantu Burong (Malay), Bird Spirit
Bès Chèm, “Bird Spirit”, is applied to a number of Malaysian spirits. One of them is a jungle bird-spirit that lives on big branches touching each other. As the wind moves the branches, they make a sound – e… e… e… – which means the spirit is on the branch. If anyone passes by underneath the branches, the bird spirit passes urine and scatters tiny, poisonous feathers onto the interloper. These cause anyone they touch to become thin forever.
Another bird spirit lives deep in the jungle and visits villages at night. It makes a sound – pok… pok… – which children are not allowed to repeat. If they do the spirit enters the house, prevents them from sleeping, and makes them cry.
Other bird spirits protect padi fields from destructive animals, cause headache and sneezing, possess little children and cause convulsions, steal the souls of sleepers, and cause children to be born with gap teeth.
References
Werner, R. (1975) Jah-hět of Malaysia, Art and Culture. Penerbit Universiti Malaya, Kuala Lumpur.
A Book of Creatures 
I really love your Bès illustrations! They really capture this strange otherworldly vibe, while at the same time paying tribute to the local aesthetic … I wonder, are they based off of specific illustrations or sculptures or off general Malay art?
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I am being as faithful as possible! Each Bès has its own sculpture and I don’t add anything, they’re perfect, each and every one
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also interesting, hantu burung is the indonesian name for a type of owl.
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So basically “spirit bird”? :O
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“These cause anyone they touch to become thin forever.”
Fantasy story prompt: this is sold as a diet
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Being thin is always a bad thing in folklore. You want to be sleek and fat
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Keep in mind, being thin in this instance is bad. The intended audience for these stories wouldn’t be obsessed with being thin because they’re too busy being concerned with having enough food to begin with
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That’s what makes it an ironic twist. Centuries, this was a feared monster bird who induces a wasting curse, but modern capitalism gets a hold of it and now it’s a diet product.
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Just finished reading about this one. It’s strange, since it’s almost like they are personifying diseases and other ailments. Also I can see why most of these spirits never made it into children’s mythology books.
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That’s pretty much what bès are, and why each has a sculpture – the carvings are used to banish the disease
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“They cause anyone they touch to become thin forever.” To many modern folk, that isn’t a monster–it’s their savior! 🙂
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*HWHEEEEEEZE* lol.
I got to thinking… Maybe the reason why statues of other hantu (bes) scare them off is because these spirits are territorial. That’d be interesting.
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Interesting and quite likely! The native people just do whatever works, after all…
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These bes guys are making me consider to look into Malaysian mythology and legend.
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Interesting that one species of this does something positive. Also peeing on people/things is a signature move, for Bes, it seems.
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Better to be pissed off than pissed on.
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