Toyol: the Malay child spirit kept in a jar
Money goes missing from a locked drawer. In Malaysia, someone will always mention the toyol.
4 min read · Published 31 October 2026
The answer
A toyol is a small child spirit of Malay folklore, told in Malaysia, Singapore and Brunei, that steals money for the person who keeps it. It is pictured as a bald, grey or greenish infant, invisible to most people, and is said to be made by a bomoh from the spirit of a dead foetus. The keeper houses it in a jar or bottle, gives it toys and sweets, and in many accounts lets it suck blood from a toe. People guard their money by scattering green beans, marbles or toys, which the toyol stops to play with, or by calling a bomoh to catch it. Indonesia knows the same figure as the tuyul.
A child that steals
The toyol is a thief. It slips into houses and shops at night, takes cash, and brings it back to the person who keeps it. Neighbours notice money missing in small amounts, from drawers and wallets that were never left open, and a shop owner who seems to prosper without many customers may find people whispering that he keeps a toyol.
It looks like a small child or a baby: bald, with grey or greenish skin, sometimes with red eyes and pointed ears. Most people cannot see it. Children are said to, and so are some animals. Like a child, it is playful, greedy and easily distracted, and that is the key to every defence against it.
How one is said to be kept
In most Malay accounts a toyol is made, not found. A bomoh who works with dark knowledge raises it from the spirit of a dead foetus or stillborn child, and passes it to a buyer. The keeper houses it in a jar or bottle, kept hidden at home.
Keeping it has costs. A toyol must be fed: in many tellings with milk, sweets and toys, and with blood, which it sucks from its keeper's big toe or finger while they sleep. It must be cared for like a child, and a neglected toyol is said to turn on the family, making mischief or bringing illness. Getting rid of one is not simple either. Some stories say it cannot be thrown away and has to be released by a bomoh, buried with rites, or set adrift in a river or the sea.
Malaysian Islamic authorities class dealings with spirits like the toyol, and the bomoh who supply them, as syirik, associating something with God. Preachers and newspapers condemn the practice regularly, which tells you it has not gone away.
How people guard their money
Because the toyol behaves like a small child, the defences are distractions rather than exorcisms.
- Green beans. A handful of *kacang hijau* (mung beans) scattered near the money. The toyol is compelled to count or pick them up and runs out of night before reaching the cash.
- Marbles and toys. Left out to catch its attention, the toyol plays with them and forgets to steal.
- Sharp things and a mirror. Some households keep needles, thorny leaves or a mirror near their savings.
- A bomoh, or prayer. For a serious problem families call a bomoh to catch or drive out the toyol, or use Quranic recitation and ruqyah, the healing practice Malaysian religious authorities accept.
Many Malaysians half-joke about the green beans and still keep a few in the drawer.
A spirit you can defeat with a bag of mung beans is a story about envy dressed as a ghost story, and that is why it lasts.
The Malay family of kept spirits
The toyol belongs to a wider group of spirits in Malay folklore that a person can own and command. British collectors around 1900 recorded several of them, and they are still named today.
| Spirit | What it is | What it does for its keeper |
|---|---|---|
| Toyol | A small child spirit kept in a jar | Steals money |
| Polong | A tiny spirit kept in a bottle, fed with the keeper's blood | Attacks the keeper's enemies, causing illness |
| Pelesit | A cricket-like familiar, often working with a polong | Enters victims and makes them ill or delirious |
| Hantu raya | A powerful spirit that can take its keeper's shape | Guards, works and protects; passed down in families |
The Indonesian tuyul is the toyol's twin, and Thailand's kuman thong is a child spirit kept openly for luck rather than in secret for theft. The Malaysian pontianak shares the toyol's grim origin in a death at birth.
What is a toyol in English?
There is no exact English word. A toyol is usually described as a goblin or imp: a small child spirit of Malay folklore that steals money for the person who keeps it.
How do you stop a toyol from stealing money?
The folklore says to scatter green beans, marbles or toys near your money, since the toyol stops to count or play with them. For serious cases, families call a bomoh or use Quranic recitation and ruqyah.
What is the difference between a toyol and a tuyul?
They are the same figure under the Malay and Indonesian names. Toyol is used in Malaysia, Singapore and Brunei, tuyul in Indonesia, and the core story of a child spirit kept to steal money is shared.
What does a toyol eat?
In the stories, milk, sweets and toys like a child, and also blood, which it sucks from its keeper's big toe or finger while they sleep.
Is keeping a toyol allowed in Islam?
No. Malaysian Islamic authorities class dealings with spirits like the toyol, and the bomoh who supply them, as syirik, associating something with God. Muslims troubled by one are directed to Quranic recitation and ruqyah instead.
Salimah Ibrahim