The Aled (Alid)

Among the Gaddang people of the Philippines, the natural world is not empty or silent.

The forest breathes. It watches. And within it dwell spirits—powerful, unpredictable beings who must be respected, or endured at great cost.

This is the story of one of them.

According to Gaddang folklore, a malevolent spirit haunts the depths of the forest, lingering wherever shadows gather. It may dwell within a twisted tree, a moss-covered rock, or the hollow of a rotting stump. These spirits are known as the aled, sometimes called the alid.

Most of the time, the aled cannot be seen.

But invisibility does not mean absence.

When they choose to reveal themselves, they may appear as animals—pigs rooting in the undergrowth, birds watching silently from the canopy, monkeys moving too slowly to be natural. At times, they may even take the shape of a human.

Travellers who wander alone are especially vulnerable.

Hidden among the trees, the aled wait patiently. When someone passes too close, the spirit reaches out with unseen fingers and brushes against the victim’s body.

The touch is brief—but devastating.

According to Gaddang belief, anyone touched by an aled will soon grow weak. Dizziness follows. Then confusion. Without the intervention of a Gaddang spiritualist, the afflicted person is believed to inevitably die.

For this reason, protective rituals have long been practised—ceremonies meant to ward off the aled or drive them away before harm can be done.

Because death is not the end of the danger.

If a person dies after being touched by an aled, the spirit is said to return to the body.

Human corpses, according to legend, are the aled’s only source of nourishment.