Folklore Journal: A Guide to The Guardians of the Mythical World

Being born in a country where its mythical creatures are not exposed to the media (like Greek and Norse mythologies) sucks. For instance, I live in the archipelago paradise called The Philippines. Being conquered by several nations means our culture and folklore had to be renewed over and over again like a driver's license every other year. Yes, I live in a clustershit of islands, specifically in Capiz - a province in Panay Island. Many stereotyped my home province as a home to several aswang species. If you are asking what an aswang is, I would answer, "It could be anything, but human.". They could be walking corpses, vampires with wings, shapeshifting demons, man-eating ghouls, and sinister-eyed witches. Is it hard to believe I could see behind their human disguises without even trying? True! I am not shitting you! I am a Third Eye - a class of human that gained the supernatural ability to feel magic, see through disguises, see spirits and mythical creatures, have visions of the future, bounce from one dimension to another, and sometimes, even use magic if we are trained. In my case, I can see spirits (or ghosts) and creatures no one can see. It suffices to say that we are but a common kind. None of us would openly expose our ability since the people here believe we are "demons", so we decided to hide it. However, I saw a noble few whose abilities included having visions of the future who decided to share their visions through social media. It was not a coincidence that their visions turned into reality in a matter of days. Then again, one of them saw a plane bursting out in flames in their dreams. It became true a few days later. I discovered my ability when I was five years old when I played with a bunch of "tiny people" in our bakuran, but none of my family could see them. I cried to my lolo since none of them would believe me, only to tell me about my rare ability. He also told me about the "tiny people" I played with. They were called the duwende and only a special few could see them. Theoretically speaking, if I could see them, I could see other mythical creatures as well. The duwende I played with was just the beginning. I grew up, so did my abilities. I could now sense magic and pinpoint where it came from. My abilities soon led to the discovery of the Guardians - a special class of spirits and creatures that have their own territories to empower themselves. The Guardians have been sharing the same world as humanity without the latter ever knowing about them. Only a selective few could see them. They will know who can see them, and if they do, sometimes they will take them under their wing as some spy to the human world. Most of them have human disguises to live human lives. I even heard from other creatures that some of the guardians actually go to school. Some of them lived for a century, and even a millennium, so going to school does sound funny since they have to be crazy smart at that point. Some guardians are most Third Eyes, Albularyo and witches call as Elementals - beings who have the ability to control the world's elements. For example, a sirena is considered as a Water Elemental while a tikbalang is an Earth Elemental. Guess what? the good ol' Guardians of the Mythical World could also be Elementals. One example of an Elemental Guardian is Daragang Magayon - a Fire Elemental from Mount Mayon in Albay. However, you should know that she is not the only one. Many would screw you up if you mess with the territory, its people and the other stuff these guardians love. Daragang Magayon believes in women's rights, which I might explain soon. However, most of them act as agents of nature, protecting their environment and making sure it is sustainable for their territory's sake. Although they are creatures and non-human at most, the Guardians could be more human than humans themselves. How? You may ask. I will answer... The Guardians saved people from bad ones, helped special cases like me, and even have more humanitarian responses after disasters - both man-made and natural. They feel like real humans, they have emotions. In fact, Magayon is sometimes known for her temper. Other guardians could express their emotions is various of ways - whether it is violent or not. They also have human interests. In fact, I heard one of them is interested in a Pinoy Pop boyband and attended concerts. For Pete's sake, some of them go to school. I am surprised when I came across these information, to see such otherworldly beings interact with the human world with ease. It really seemed like it had not been long ago since they decided to stalk humanity and act if necessary. It was as if they were real humans. I would also like to remind the readers that they can shapeshift and disguise as humans to live like them. Any shapeshifting creature - not just the Guardians - can live among humans. Some of them even managed to copulate with humans and bore half-creature children who lived human lives - with or without them knowing what they really are. My words will serve as an information dump or warnings depending on my experiences with these unique beings. We all can say such bullshit like "we can live without them", but in a world where nature is anything but sustainable or humanity is anything but humanitarian, they might be the little sparks of hope for this world to recover. I am saying with their powers, with their efforts, with their magic, they could truly restore whatever human and nature-loving is left within us. Water and Earth Elementals are also known to clean their environments using their magic alone, so that is one thing. Fighters and protectors they may be, they are still the caretakers from an ancient world we may never know.