There is an art to presentation that caught my attention recently, a student-made project for their subject which focused on Carolina, the princess of Biringan. This piqued my interest, as I had heard of Biringan before on a podcast I had listened to. I love listening to podcasts about unsolved crimes, mythology, and strange phenomena, so this topic was right up my alley.
“Biringan”, in the local dialect of Samar, Philippines, is a “place of lost people”. It is believed to be a hidden city where portals to other realms are only visible to those who are gifted, or those who are adored by the city's inhabitants. It is a modern enchanted city, full of strange yet amusing things.
There are two stories about Biringan, but they both lead to the same conclusion: once you enter Biringan, you will never come back. But who is Carolina, and why is she the princess of Biringan? I was intrigued by this portrayal of Carolina, as she is described as a beautiful and wealthy woman who is believed to still be alive today.
Carolina is the one who invites people to Biringan City, but the city is not on any map of the world or the Philippines, which is why it is called the "invisible city." You can only enter the realm when Carolina invites you, and she only invites those who are gifted. She is said to be a diwata, a creature in the Philippines who lives outside of people and has powers and magical strings that can cause either illness or goodness for those she encounters.
Biringan City is said to be the city where all the diwata live, including Carolina, but they look for others to invite who are never seen again. Once you are invited, the city, which is rich and modernized, promises a happy life.
However, there is another side to the story of Biringan, and it is one that terrifies the locals. Some believe that only souls enter the realm, and the body remains in our world. They say that Biringan is the place of demons, and that once you are there, your body is unconscious, and someone is wearing it like it was their own, or we call it being possessed.
Despite the horror stories, people still believe that Carolina is still around, looking for people to invite to Biringan. Legends like this are closely related to the question of the existence of multiple dimensions in the world, suggesting that there are places we cannot see because they exist in other dimensions.
I was fascinated by the way the artist portrayed Carolina, with the girl wearing nature, representing the diwata figure, and the horn of Bambi representing the other side of the story where she is the devil. Philippines had rich of culture and stories and I am proud to be Filipino.