Posted by Finding a category for the Jenglot is not easy. Some say it is a creature, some a mummy and some a doll. To get a clearer idea, read this article.
The Jenglot
The Jenglot is a being from Indonesian folklore. We don’t know whether it is recent or not but, at least for now, there are no reports of a Jenglot before 1997.
This being looks like a miniature mummified human body, about 12 to 20 cm tall. Its skin and face are shrivelled like parchment, giving the Jenglot the look of a mummy. But it has long, sharp teeth and long nails and hair which, it is said, keep growing.
The origin of Jenglots is not very clear. They are found in Indonesia and can turn up anywhere, for example underground, in a tree trunk or even in the street.
The origin of the Jenglot
Some suggest the Jenglot is the body of a dead person that was rejected by the earth it was buried in. This rejection would also be what made the body shrink.
It is said that whoever finds one must also feed it, but what does a Jenglot eat? Legend has it that it must be fed with blood, human or animal. You just put a little blood in a bowl and leave it near the Jenglot. Although it does not move, the creature will somehow absorb it and draw nourishment from it. If the owner of a Jenglot feeds it regularly, they will be protected from illness and bad luck.
What is it really?
This mummy/doll/vampire is probably nothing more than an artefact made from the skeleton of a small monkey, sometimes combined with parts of fish, like fake stuffed mermaids. The skin would be that of a chicken or sheep, and the hair may be sheep’s wool or human hair. We don’t know exactly how this legend began, but those who claim to have found a Jenglot proudly show it off in the village, sometimes even making some money from it.
In 2008 scientists in Malaysia analysed the hair and DNA of four Jenglots, brought from Irian Jaya to Kuala Lumpur by a businessman to be exhibited in a museum. The result? All the samples were human hair, very probably from the same person. And that’s not all: some hairs still had a dried root at the end opposite the cut, a sign that they had been implanted on the Jenglots’ heads upside down.
Man-made artefacts, mummies, voodoo dolls or vampires? Over to you.
🦋 Emadion lives through its readers. If this story kept you up at night, buy me a coffee: it helps me bring you the next nightmare.
☕ Support Emadion on Ko-fi
