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Do you know what it’s like to fly? To soar through the heavens without a care in the world, leaving all the worries of your life behind?
I do.
My daughters and I are called witches by some, beautiful by all. We are misunderstood, maligned, magnificent and majestic. We care not for the petty words used by mortals to try to make sense of what we are.
We can reach the skies in the dead of night through our magic oil, a gift from the spirits that we serve. Its blackish hue belies a magic greater than the sum of its parts.
There was one time when we invited two young men to dine in our house, we gave them food and shelter, all to keep their defenses low until we struck. They were tired from their voyage from Batangas, and we knew they would be easy pickings.
It was when we left to take our evening flight that they found our oil and saw the power it had. The humans were too afraid to use it for themselves, and I could not blame them, what mortals do not understand, they fear, and what they fear, they run from.
We never heard from those men again, and we did not want to, there will be more prey for us to have, and, in truth, the night sky is all we will ever want to have, to flirt amongst the stars in a dance of pure ecstasy.
The oil is more than just a source of magic for our kind. It is freedom in liquid form. It allows us to touch the face of the Skyworld and see creation as if we were gods.
Flying is the ultimate freedom, and with our oil, we will fly until the end of time.
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Written by Karl Gaverza
Copyright © Karl Gaverza
Inspired by ‘The Magic Oil.’ in Philippine Folk Literature: The Legends. Eugenio. 2002.
Aswang (Oriental Mindoro) Illustration by Ysa Peñas
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