Magic in Manila
The Spaniards knew about the magic that was latent in the soil of Manila. This was the reason the colonial capital was set up on the island of Luzon despite their first landfall being in the Visayas. And by extension, the reason why they never strayed too far from Manila throughout the four hundred years of their colonization.
In 1569, soon after founding the second Spanish settlement on the banks of the Panay River, local shamans told the conqueror Miguel Lopez de Legaspi that the barang or raw magical power of the island Panay paled in comparison to the vitality of the barang of Luzon. Intrigued, Legazpi sent Martin de Goiti to take the Kingdom of Maynila and bring it under the Spanish colonial flag. By 1570, Maynila had been conquered and Legazpi renamed it Nueva Castilla, moving the colonial capital there.
By 1593, the Spanish drive to convert the natives was in full swing, culminating in the publication of the Doctrina Cristiana in the early part of that year. Unknown to many however, the Doctrina was not the only major publication that year. Together with the religious tract, the Dominicans – known colloquially as the Domini Canes or the Hounds of God for their missionary zeal – quietly published Rituales Hermeticos: Encantamientos y Secretos to be used by missionaries as a guide in their secret mission to tame the native magic of Manila. By October of that year, the Dominican mystics completed their first great working and succeeded in using the magic of Manila to teleport Gil Perez from his post standing guard at the Governor’s Palace in Manila to Mexico, thousands of kilometers across the sea.
From that point on, magic in Manila was a commonplace if unremarked upon occurrence. Throughout the colonial period, magic use was strictly regulated by the Dominicans, with some exceptions during which time the use of vulgar magic increased dramatically. Interesting, it was also during these times that the colonies were beset by enemies ranging from Chinese pirates, to the British and Dutch navies. The last spike in the use of vulgar magic occurred in 1898, on the eve of what would eventually be known as the Battle of Manila Bay.
Desperate to defeat the Americans, Admiral Patricio Montojo pressured the Dominicans to unleash a magical barrage against the American fleet. The resulting backlash from the use of vulgar magic led to the rout in Manila Bay. With the Spanish Armada shattered, Spanish colonial rule over the Philippines quickly ended.
It was at this point that the old houses of Manila stepped into the shoes of the former Spanish overlords. They inherited everything the Spaniards left behind, including knowledge of the barang of Manila. When told of this power, the Americans scoffed and turned their attention to less esoteric matters, proclaiming “Barons” to be nonsense. The old families knew better and did not push the matter, preferring instead to focus on developing the power for themselves, free from the overbearing regulations of the Dominicans.
