Since childhood, many of us Filipinos were taught that every person is accompanied by a guardian angel and a guardian demon.
I remember elders telling stories that these unseen beings watched our lives closely. One recorded our good deeds while the other recorded our mistakes. When a person dies, these records would supposedly be presented before the Divine Judgment, determining whether one would enter heaven or hell.
As I began my own spiritual journey, I discovered that similar beliefs existed in many parts of the world. Among the ancient Greeks and Romans, there was a concept that each person was accompanied by spiritual beings sometimes referred to as daemons. Contrary to modern interpretations of the word "demon," these beings were not necessarily evil. They acted as intermediaries, guides, and companions who influenced human destiny.
This realization led me to reflect on the spiritual traditions of our own ancestors.
The Indigenous Filipino Understanding
Among the Tagalogs, there are concepts that may be understood as Gabay and Bantay.
In parts of the Visayas and Mindanao, especially in Siargao, the homeland of my paternal ancestors, we encounter the concepts of Abyan and Busaw.
Over the years, I have written extensively about the Abyan.
The Abyan is often understood as a spirit guide, ancestral helper, or companion who provides wisdom, inspiration, intuition, and healing. Many healers, shamans, and spiritual practitioners attribute their knowledge and guidance to their relationship with an Abyan.
However, I have written far less about the Busaw.
This is largely because modern Filipinos often associate Busaw exclusively with malevolent spirits, monsters, or demons. Colonial religious narratives reinforced the idea that any spirit outside Christian cosmology must be evil.
But what if our ancestors understood something more nuanced?
What if the Busaw was not purely evil?
Rethinking the Busaw
In recent years, I have come to a different realization.
What if the Busaw is not inherently evil at all?
What if it is simply performing its function?
In everyday life, when we hire a security guard or bodyguard, we do not choose the gentlest and most passive individual. We seek someone strong, fierce, vigilant, and capable of protecting us from danger.
A guard stands watch at the boundary.
A warrior confronts threats directly.
A protector does not need to be pleasant all the time.
Their role is different.
Perhaps the Busaw performs a similar role within our spiritual ecosystem.
While the Abyan guides and teaches, the Busaw may defend and protect.
While the Abyan comforts, the Busaw confronts.
While the Abyan nurtures growth, the Busaw stands at the gates and challenges whatever threatens the soul.
Seen from this perspective, the Busaw is not evil.
It is simply fierce.
The Two Sides of the Human Spirit
One of the greatest differences between precolonial spirituality and many modern religious perspectives is the recognition that light and shadow coexist within every human being.
Our ancestors did not necessarily divide reality into absolute categories of good versus evil.
Instead, they understood balance.
We all possess compassion and anger.
We all carry wisdom and ignorance.
We all have the ability to create and destroy.
To acknowledge this truth is not to celebrate darkness. Rather, it is to recognize our complete humanity.
Perhaps this is why we find stories of spirit guides who comfort as well as spirits who challenge.
One helps us become stronger through encouragement.
The other helps us become stronger through testing.
Both contribute to our growth.
The Power of Relationship
In many traditional spiritual systems, the strength of a practitioner's spirit work is not based solely on ritual tools or sacred words.
It depends on relationship.
A healer who maintains a strong connection with their Abyan often receives insights, dreams, guidance, and inspiration.
Their healing work becomes deeper because they are listening to a trusted companion.
Likewise, a practitioner who has established a healthy relationship with their Busaw may find an ally in times of spiritual warfare and protection.
The Abyan teaches.
The Busaw guards.
The Abyan illuminates.
The Busaw defends.
One is often associated with wisdom.
The other with strength.
Both are necessary.
A Conversation with Lakay
I remember once speaking with Lakay about this subject.
He asked me:
"If you became a demon, what kind of demon would you be?"
I laughed before answering.
I said that I would probably be a terrifying one.
Not because I enjoy violence, but because I know that hidden within me is a fierce protector. In moments of true warfare, whether physical or spiritual, I can imagine myself acting with overwhelming force against anything that threatens those under my care.
Perhaps that realization taught me something important.
I am grateful to be human.
As humans, we possess choice.
We can acknowledge our fierce side without being controlled by it.
We can recognize our capacity for destruction while choosing compassion.
The warrior within us does not need to dominate our lives.
Sometimes its greatest service is simply standing watch in silence.
Someday We Too May Become Guides
Many Indigenous Filipino traditions teach that our relationship with the spirit world does not end at death.
Our ancestors continue to watch, guide, and protect future generations.
If that is true, then perhaps one day we too may become spirit companions.
Perhaps some of us will become Abyan, offering wisdom to descendants.
Perhaps some of us will become Busaw, standing guard against unseen dangers.
And perhaps the distinction between the two is not as vast as we imagine.
After all, both arise from the same source: love for those entrusted to our care.
A Question for Reflection
Let me leave you with two questions.
If one day you became an Abyan, what wisdom would you offer to those who seek your guidance?
And if you became a Busaw, what would you protect with such passion that no darkness could pass?
The answers may reveal something profound about your soul.
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Maraming salamat. May your Abyan guide your path, and may your Busaw guard your spirit well.