Moonlight Curse: The Hunger

Chapter 15

FALLEN 101, WATCHERS 101 and CURSED 101 - as taught by Uncle Rudy, the eldest male cousin of my mother when I was seven years old, assisted by Aunt Lolita, the Rapisura Clan's resident witch, psychic and medium.

Supernatural beings are all those who did not come from the flesh of Adam and Eve. They are the Celestial beings, Elemental beings or Nature spirits, Alien creatures from outer space or other planets, Souls of the departed, Spirit guides, Demons, mortal men and women who gave their souls to the devil and other unknown beings who aren't human.

Hunters focused their research and studies more on the Dark Celestial Beings, Evil men and women with supernatural powers and monstrous beings included in these three categories: The Fallen, The Watchers and The Cursed.

The Fallen are believed to have originated from the legendary first wave of war in heaven. Following the sin of Adam and Eve and their banishment from the Garden of Eden, an angel named Lucifer was waging war against God. One third of the total number of celestial beings allied with him, one third also allied with the Archangel Michael to defend God and Heaven, while the remaining one third of the total celestial populace sought refuge on earth. They were said to be undecided, afraid or doubtful which camp to choose.

Lucifer and his allies of angels, of course lost the battle and were casted out of Heaven by none other than the Archangel Michael and his troops of angels. God then opened the grounds of the Earth and created Hell to house Lucifer, then referred to as Satan (God's adversary) and his minion of "demons".

When the war was over, the angels who hid on earth saw the fallen star who was Lucifer signaled the victory of God. They all flew up to heaven, seeking entrance once more. However, God barred their way back and they were never allowed to come home.

The booming voice of God echoed through the walls of heaven saying, "Oh you coward, weak and wretched sons of mine! You are no better than your brothers who followed Lucifer into their doom. Your cowardice is now your curse. The sunlight is now your enemy. The goodness and pureness of heart are your poisons. And the earth is your eternal prison."

The once beautiful and magnificent angels fell to earth once more as their white, large and strong wings were cut off, burnt and ripped apart by the lightning and fire cast at them by the Powers and the Archangels.

They fell all over the earth. Their numbers were estimated to be about 266 million which was about 3.89% of our world's population.

These banished angels went to hide and live amongst the Nature spirits or Elemental beings. They ruled and governed them because of their superiority and immortality. They referred to themselves as "the Fallen". They live in dark forests, underground, underwater, inside of caves or bases of mountains. They lived amongst the dwarves, elves, nature sprites, nymphs, and fairies. They were part of the few of the Fallen who were dominated with guilt and regret that they vowed to buy their way into heaven by aiding men and women in their advancements, or by caring for the environment, nature and animals.

But most of the Fallen were consumed with anger and vengeance. Their new mission was to terrorize humanity and inflict much pain to the beloved sons and daughters of their God. They allied with the troops of Lucifer who turned into demons roaming the Earth taunting or tempting humans, destroying goodness in human spirits and imprisoning souls on Earth.

Another breed of angels was called the Watchers. They were commissioned by God to watch humans on Earth. Two hundred of them fell in love with the daughters of men, made them their wives who bore their sons and daughters. Their offspring were called the Nephilim, who were vicious giants, but some became heroes of old and renowned men as described in the Book of Enoch. They taught their wives and sons f*******n knowledge in witchcraft, conjuration, magic, astrology, weaponry, cosmetics, metal works, arts and ornaments, crystal uses, medicines and other subjects for men's advancement or independence from God. Men became self-sufficient, greedy, corrupt and lustful that they had forgotten to praise God for all His glory. Men prayed to the Watchers instead.

And along with mankind's sins, the vicious giants consumed all living things on Earth, killing men and women, devouring their flesh and drinking their blood. The cries of humanity were heard by four Archangels, Michael, Gabriel, Suriel and Uriel who reported to God, the Most High what the Watchers had done.

God punished the Watchers who were then trying to correct their mistakes by imprisoning their most vicious sons. He ordered Gabriel to set free the bastards and children of f*********n, give each of them swords and let them kill each other until they become extinct. The wives of the Watchers were sentenced to death too, and the erring Watchers watched their loved-ones die.

Then Michael was sent by God to tie-up all the Dark Watchers under the hills of the Earth until judgement day and they will be thrown down to hell for t*****e and imprisonment for eternity, except for Azazel who instigated the sharing of secret knowledge to humanity. He was bounded hand and feet by Rafael, and was placed beneath the desert, pressed under pointed rocks, blindfolded and in total darkness until judgment day, also to be thrown in hell for t*****e and imprisonment for eternity.

They were the reasons God flooded the Earth for 40 days and 40 nights to cleanse the Earth with the sinfulness and wickedness of humanity.

The Nephilim's spirits survived, for they were from the Earth and therefore were bound on Earth but were from angels too who were immortals and celestial beings. They turned into evil spirits and their dwelling places will be upon earth. They will not feel hunger or thirst. They were therefore invisible and could not go against men and women, because they were also from men. So, they went warring with the nature spirits and good Fallen instead for they were helping men and caring for God's creations. Some of these Nephilim spirits then mutated into vicious demons who also inhabited the depths of the Earth.

But some of them evaded the m******e and went on to live amongst mortal men and women. Some speculations, their offspring are the superhumans, gifted psychics, powerful wizards and witches, and even the Hunters possessing supernatural powers. While the giants who survived hid on mountains, caves and dark vast forests.

Some Watchers also evaded punishment but went into hiding from God, His faithful Watchers and Archangels. They inhabited the lowest Heaven, Earth, Waters and Underworld, disguised themselves as Fallen, demons, evil spirits and even as men and women. Some even lived amongst men to live as human beings.

In Greek and Roman Mythology, these Watchers were the God and Goddesses residing on Mount Olympus. And they very well could be.

Soon, the Evil Watchers gave powers to witches and created the "Cursed".

The Cursed existed to wreak havoc to mankind and disrupt the good balance in nature. To name a few of these armies of monsters popular to Filipino culture are the shape-shifters or lycanthropes, wicked witches and wizards, visceral suckers, vampires, ghouls, evil ogres, and evil dragons. Hunters call them in general as the "Cursed" or "mga Isinumpa".

Some of the Cursed learned to live amongst humans too, learned to transform into animal forms (shape-shifters) and perfected casting dark spells.

While the good Watchers, there were 7 of them with their troops remaining in 5th Heaven, still continued to watch and aid men in different kinds of knowledge about the secret of the Universe but as directed or willed only by God. So, a select few men and women were gifted with supernatural powers, were aided in their reincarnation journeys and directed in cleansing their karmic energies to achieve fullness of consciousness on Earth and in the afterlife. They gave powers to shamans, priestesses, oracles, prophets, psychics, mediums, faith healers, superheroes, and alien races. While they also curse those who are guilty of the 7 deadly sins, take vengeance on the Earth and the luminaries. They also guard Hell, Paradise and lead the Cherubim. Hunters superstitiously believed that to invoke their protections before a hunt is always good luck.

Believing in these legends, we hunters took notes, discovered by experiences, researched of the lethal weapons that cast away or imprison the "evil Fallen" and "dark Watchers" (since they are angels and purely spirits, they can't be killed or destroyed, just be casted away, banished to the underworld and hell, or imprisoned by powerful or magical beings in magical places) and kill the "Watchers" armies of Cursed (some are not immortals or invincible) who vowed to torment humanity, kill men and destroy the earth as vengeance to God.

The following angers, weakens and kills them;

Symbols of God's Power: Sunlight and Fire

Symbols of Purity: Salt, holy water and virgin coconut oil

Symbols of Faith: Crucifix, The Lord's Prayer in Latin (for that was the language of the ancient spirits), The Holy Rosary, Churches, Consecrated grounds like cemeteries, places of worships, seminaries and even some old bridges in the Philippines.

Symbols of Courage and Strength: Pure Silver, Bamboo Stakes or any wooden Stake

The aswangs are the most popular mythological creature in the Philippines. Part of the dark Watchers' army of Cursed, believed to be a witch, it can transform into an old woman or a beautiful maiden who casts magic spells to lure its victims. It can also transform into animals, inherently has a werewolf's characteristics, most often, it transforms into a big black dog, or a big black pig, or even as a horse. An aswang is also a visceral sucker, which eats the internal organs of sick people, children and sucks fetuses from pregnant women's bellies while asleep. It is therefore likened to a vampire that sucks blood from its victim also paralyzing and hypnotizing them. Lastly, an aswang is also believed to be a ghoul-like creature for it devours human corpses or sick people at the brink of death.

Amongst the creatures listed on my family's journal, the aswang is the most evil, tricky, vicious and hardest to track. They are fast, especially when they transform into animals. They can fly or transform into human birds. They are strong but not invincible. They heal fast as long as they lick their wounds before sunlight. They are tricky because, at daytime, they are just ordinary people. Therefore, you cannot kill them at daylight, if you do not want to be imprisoned for first degree murder. They can transform into an aswang after sunset and return to human form before daybreak. Full moon or not, aswangs can transform and will hunt for food. But they are most powerful during Hunger Moon (February's full moon) and Lenten Moon (March's full moon).

Timing and speed are keys to a successful aswang hunt. In the past, hunters were imprisoned because of killing aswangs at the first streak of sunlight, when they already retained their human forms. There was no way to prove the monstrosity of the alleged aswang once the sun rises.

None of us really knew where the aswang originated or how it came to take its form. There are a lot of versions to the origins of the aswangs. It's just a matter of choosing which one to believe. For me, I believed them to be the desperate Babaylans who wanted to escape the burning stakes by offering their souls, powers and servitude to an evil Watcher, whom they called "Armaros". But instead of receiving freedom, they were given an eternity of a cursed life... the life intended for a monster.

When story-telling was over, it was almost 10:00 pm and I asked for the following:

Salt, rosaries, crucifixes, bamboo stakes, virgin coconut oil, torches or oil lamps and silver knives

Miguel helped his father to look for all the stuffs I asked while Roberto and I went into the cows' pen to check on the cows. 

"What's the coconut oil for?" he asked.

"The oil will boil once the aswangs are near. You can use that as a fire accelerant too when putting them on fire. Just hang a bottle by the porch or even by the door, once it boils, you'll know the aswangs are close by," I replied.

He asked me then, "How could you be sure that there are at least 4?"

"Aswangs don't hunt alone anymore, they are not solitary men or women like they used to. They have evolved like us too." I answered and added, "Aswangs can procreate you know. They grow old but slow to age. And unlike most popular tales, aswangs cannot transfer their powers to a chosen one by throwing up a black chick and passing it into the mouth of her successor. Nor are there truths in mortal men standing under a full moon at a cemetery on a Good Friday, with eggs under their armpits and stare at the full moon for an hour without breaking the eggs to become an aswang."

He laughed at that theory. 

I continued my story, "And my most favorite tale was, if you get bitten by the aswang, and then she licked the wounds, you'll get infected and turned into an aswang. The curse can only be passed on through birth. And the transformation occurs little by little. Only at age 16, an aswang can fully transform into its defined form, it can be a dog, a pig, a bat, a giant bird, or a horse.

Roberto looked worried but composed. "So, a family of Aswang, have you encountered one before?" he asked.

"Yes, when I was only 11 years old. They nearly killed a whole barangay before we got to them."

All the memories of that gruesome night came flashing back. Just like the demonic sound described by Mang Reno, I could hear the same hellish symphony in my mind.

"Are you okay?" Roberto asked, touching my shoulder. I looked at him as the spotlight from the pen was casting dark shadows around us. He looked more intimidating. But I felt a sense of safety by the way he gazed at me. This was a man who could definitely slay dragons for a princess. But here I was teaching him how to slay monsters.

"I'm fine," I answered with a forced smile. I needed all the strength, concentration and sharpness of all my senses. I had to defog my entire system, flush away all the toxicity, and summon all I learned from almost 2 decades of training, studying, researching and actual experience.

I surveyed the dark fields. The dogs, I noticed, were still cowered inside the shed. Two heads were peeking out of the half opened door. Suddenly, I missed my two babies, Macy and Pac. I left my apartment door keys to my next door neighbor, Karen. She would go into my room to feed my dogs, and walk them at night. I also left the T.V. on auto-timer at a four-hour interval, tuned in to Cartoon Network channel. I also left a message to my landlady to check on my room once in a while. I had nothing valuable there to steal anyway, except for my two dogs. Hopefully, they will still be there once I get home. If not... all hell shall break loose. I will hunt down whoever gets my babies!!! Okay, deep breaths... don't be too exaggerated. Mac and Paw would be fine. I was sure that they were already snoring their little lungs out at that very moment. 

I gazed at the February night sky and forgot all my worries just seeing billions of bright stars made me focus on the now. It was a little bit foggy but I didn't mind the chill.

"Wow, if I'm not in this kind of situation, I would be feeling a little bit romantic," I said, still craning my neck to view the stars like strewn-jewels in the night sky. I stared at the moon and once again, felt an invisible bomb timer ticking nearer and nearer to its explosion.

"It's almost a full moon," Roberto might had sensed my change in mood.

"Yes, the Hunger Moon is coming. That's what my ancestors call the February full moon; it gives more insatiable hunger and rationalized anger to the creatures of the dark."

"Hunger Moon, a creepy description as opposed to the Lover's Moon version of the hopeless romantics," he gazed back to the night sky and continued to ask, "Do you happen to know the reason why dark forces love the full moon?" 

I knew he was thinking about his father, mother and wife then.

"Yes, simply put by my grandfather. The Fallen and Watchers, being once accustomed to the brightness of the light shining from the power of God, the creator, from which they also received the strength and power they possessed then. Since the curse, they could no longer stand in His presence nor bask in the sunlight, which is another symbol and proof of God's power. They were reduced to recharge from the artificial light of a lesser creation which was also the symbol of the night. They took what they could from the night's resources. Thus, they discovered the magical phenomena brought about by the moonlight during its fullest cycle," with that answer I could definitely enter the Ms. Huntress Beauty Contest this year! Clap, clap, clap! I was so proud of my freaking self!

"Hmmm, what age were you when taught this?" I could sense humor in his voice and his eyes were dancing with mirth.

"Oh, I was about 13 or so, of course if you want the version I was told when I was just 10, I could though."

He laughed and said, "It was pretty much heavy info for a 13 year old don't you think? Even as a 31 year old guy, I still could not get it. Or because it defies logic."

"There is no logic in what hunters do. As a kid I was taught, never to ask questions, believe in your heart that every story the old folks tell us to be true. Follow the bizarre rules, weird superstitions, believe impossible tales and legends. As a hunter, I trusted both magic, make-beliefs, invisible, visible, logical and illogical things and events as the truth."

"So, you are saying, you believe everything?" he asked with a tone of disbelief.

"Yeah... 'coz in this world we live in, what you utter and believe in are all reality."

He fell into silence and just studied my face. I just hoped the almost Hunger Moon was bathing me with more beautifying light at that moment.

He was about to say something when Miguel's rude call was heard from the porch, "Hey, lovers under the moonlight, time to go!"

"We have to get going," Roberto said instead and rather looked embarrassed.

Damn, was he about to tell me... "I believe then with all my heart that we are meant to be, that's my only reality."

"Yeah right, dream on, Maya," I sighed. I whispered at Miguel as I passed by him at the porch steps, "Damn you!"