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In Indonesian culture and mythology, Leak or Leyak is a Bad Witch. Le means Witch and ak means Bad. Leyak is said to fly trying to find a pregnant woman in order to suck her baby's blood or a newborn child. There are three legendary Leyak; two females and one male.

Description[]

Leyaks have cannibalistic behaviors. Their mistress is the "queen of Leyak", a widow-creature named Rangda, who plays a prominent role in public rituals. Besides leyaks, demons are said to be the followers of Rangda. Leyak are said to haunt graveyards, feed on corpses, have power to change themselves into animals, such as pigs, and fly. In normal Leyak form, they are said to have an unusually long tongue and large fangs. In daylight they appear like ordinary human, but at night their head and entrails break loose from their body and fly away. Leyak statues (a head with a very long tongue and sharp fangs) are sometimes hung on a wall for house decoration.

Leyak by scythemantis-d5p0ya5

Artist's website is bogleech.com

In practice, Balinese people sometimes attribute certain illness or deaths to leyaks. A Balian (Balinese traditional healer) will conduct a séance to identify with witchcraft who is responsible for the death. During the séance, the spirit of the dead will directly or indirectly point to their attacker. However, vengeance by the victim's relatives or family is usually counseled against, and people are advised to leave any action to the spirits themselves. Hence, the suspicions and fears of the family and relatives are confirmed, but revenge upon the witch is discouraged by the healers. However, leyak can't use its power in outside of Bali, hence why Leyak can only be found in Bali.

Similarities[]

In Sri Lanka, thousands of miles away from Bali, legendary demons and healing rituals show some astonishing similarities. The term 'Yak' is used to identify the powerful demons lived in the past in that Island. The legends say those Yak or 'Yakshas' spread their power all over Asian region. 'Le' in Sinhala means Blood. 'Le-Yak' in present day Sinhalese language means Blood Demon or blood sucking demon.

Krasue in another country. Click link to Wikipedia for more information.[1]

Location[]

Leyak can only be found in Bali, Indonesia. Some people said that its magic can only used in Bali, and because of that Leyak can be only found in Bali, but you can find it in Karangasem.

Belief[]

Leak-bali

Leak Bali

Leyak in Bali is some kind of demon. Some people said Leyak can look like a normal human head with human organs that still hanging in the head. Leyak can fly and search for pregnant women, then Leyak sucks her baby's blood when the baby is still in the womb.

According to Balinese belief, Leyak is a normal human who practice dark magic and need embryonic blood to survive. Leyak can transform into a pig or some kind of fireball, while the actual shape of Leyak has a long tongue and sharp teeth.

If someone stabbed Leyak from the down of neck to the head when its head separated from its body, then Leyak can't be reunited with its body. If the head is separated at a certain period, then Leak will die.

Leyak masks with sharp teeth and a long tongue are also sometimes used as a home decoration. In the folklore of Bali, the Leyak is a creature in the form of flying head with entrails (heart, lung, liver, etc.) still attached. Leyak is said to fly trying to find a pregnant woman in order to suck her baby's blood or a newborn child. There are three legendary Leyak, two females and one male.

Explanation[]

Bear-tongue-color

The story of Leyak may have some origins from the sun bear, an actual creature who's know for having both large canine teeth and tongue, just like the myth.

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