Filipina Girl (Waray), Magic (Kulam), and Fantasy-Philippines
I have this fantasy story i’m working on and i’d like some advice. my protagonist is a Filipino girl, and she must learn magic to defeat a witch who held her captive. She travels back to her homeland because there she can better learn kulam, a form of folk magic in the Philippines.
I know that the Philippines is very diverse, so my research will mostly be focused on Talalora, Samar due to the prominence of kulam there. My problem is that i’m very wary about creating fantasy countries based on real ones, especially ones with cultures so foreign to me, so i’m wondering where should i stay true to the inspiration and where should I let my imagination run wild? I’m afraid of erasing anything, so should i just base my story in the real world to avoid this?
Disclaimer: My heritage is Tagalog and Ilokano, which are two of the most dominant ethnic cultures, so I can’t speak much on the experiences and cultures of marginalized indigenous ethnic groups in the Philippines.
You’re right that the Philippines are incredibly diverse, composed of hundreds of different ethnic groups that’re often flattened into one monolithic entity. So much of what we think of as “Filipino” culture–language, food, customs, traditions, etc.–is primarily sourced from Tagalog and/or Spanish culture and erroneously applied to the entire island nation. This cultural erasure is a huge issue in modern Filipino discourse and dialogue. So I want to make it clear that you aren’t just writing a Filipino girl; if you’re focusing on Samar, you’re specifically writing a Waray homecoming (and possibly reconnection) narrative.
Most of your research should therefore pertain mostly to Waray people and culture rather than those more broadly labeled “Filipino.”
Using Filipino Cultural Magic in battle (Kulam)
Moving on to your plot, I’m not so sure about the cultural accuracy of your kulam. Again, I’m not very familiar with specifically Waray culture and folk narratives. However, of all of the Filipino cultural mythologies I have seen, I’ve never read about kulam being used as a form of battle or confrontational magic as you describe here. In fact, I can’t recall any stories where the main character practices kulam, period, because it’s often associated with dark harmful magic (again, this is just based on my knowledge).
In many stories the villain may practice magic–and possibly kidnap people, like in your story–but the hero often defeats them by merit of their own strength, wits, kindness, etc. Obviously, you don’t have to strictly adhere to tradition, but it just might be weird to have your protagonist and antagonist duking it out with battle magic when that narrative doesn’t make sense with Waray culture.
Regarding creating fantasy countries, we have an ask: Fantasy Cultures: Mass Answer that addresses that somewhat. Overall, I would say avoid “letting your imagination run wild” because you run the risk of overwriting existing, deeply important cultural information. Instead, I would stay true to your Waray cultural inspiration wherever possible and then use your best judgement to fill in the worldbuilding gaps, if you find any. I do think it’s possible to write fantasy countries that are still deeply true to Filipino culture.
A resource: If you’re open to reading children’s literature, check out Lalani of the Distant Sea by Erin Entrada Kelly; she’s Visayan (the larger cultural group the Waray people belong to) and does an excellent job of writing an unfamiliar fantasy world that nevertheless feels deeply and beautifully Filipino.
Any indigenous Filipino followers, feel free to chime in!
