Firewalkers: A Book Review

CHAPTER I

A. INTRODUCTION

Philippines, being an archipelago is a home to numerous folks and cultures, each different from the other, separated by bodies of water, language and beliefs. The fact that we, Filipinos have been under the ---- of different countries, our ancestors have had their share of the stories. Today, during our modern times, such stories are now considered a mere folklore.

In this book “The Firewalkers”, the first chapter presents us with a character, Gabriel Diego, who is a relative of warlords and shamans, who “could will themselves into creatures of splendor, (they) could pass unsinged through the flames”. It was claimed that the shamans, Gabriel Diego’s maternal uncles, ‘in their young manhood, (they) knew the locations and usage of all ancient vulneraries, plant and animal, and that from leaf and bark, from gristle and bone, they fashioned unguents, salves, brews and powders that caused death or healing, and made them masters over ordinary men, over horses and women. In fighting, they seemed invulnerable, proof against blades and bullets, tempting hellfire and lightning