Hungry Ghost Festival. Encounter of the 3rd kind.
Seems that today is the beginning of the 7th month of the chinese lunar calendar. A month associated with ghost stories and appeasing those poor lost, hungry souls with no where to go and can't get reincarnated. A month when the chinese would definite not want to hold any wedding functions or birthday parties lest they get some "uninvited guest". Being a chinese, i seldom partake in all these festivals, ghost or no ghost.
Both hubby and i are not the superstitious nor religious kind. Both of us grew up in a house with an altar that our moms prays at everyday. My mom being the more fanatic one many years ago. The must-do-things-correctly type with very elaborate rituals complete with matching decorations, fresh flowers, fruits and long long prayers and chants. I can imagine her kneeling down, joss papers in hands, chant, chant, chant, lights up the joss papers and walks out to put those lit joss papers into the red metal bin with patterned holes all over. She'll then walk back into the house and repeat the entire process until all the gods on the altar are worshipped.
I seldom pray. And i definitely do not like being told to do so by anyone at all. I pray when i feel like it or when i simply needed to. A simple '1 joss-stick in hand/palms together and bless-me-and-my-family one-liner with eyes closed will do. No kneeling down rituals for me.
But this month will be slightly different from the rest. Mom will perform a simpler less elaborate praying session at the front and back entrance of the house with offerings like a small bowl of rice and some condiments on the 14th night of the month. When i was just a small child, i was not allowed to follow her when she prays outside of the house at night. Everyone is to refrain from going out after dusk during that particular month unless absolutely necessary.
I still remember my old schooldays. Some of us will stayback after school to play "tip-sin" (translation: plate spirit), similar to the quiji board. Only no real store-bought quiji board then, just the art-class version, complete with A-Z, 0-9 and some simple words like yes, no, and goodbye (which in my humble opinion is the most important word as it's used to close the board when we're done with our session). There will be a small round plate of about 5cm in diameter on which a small arrow is drawn on the edge. It's to point on the letters/numbers/words which were written on the home-made paper board we'd use. Since the spirit cant talk, it's suppose to spell out all the answers to the never-ending barrage of questions we ever-inquisitive kaypoh schoolgirls would ask. One of us will be assigned to write down the answers as it is spelled out, normally quite fast. We will go to a quiet and rather dark and secluded corner and invite our ghost to come out and talk to us. Some of us will even bring along some sweets just in case the ghost that was invited happened to be a small child and refuse to leave when told to do so and had to be bribed away. I would normally follow as an observer but never put my hands on the plate. Sigh... that's me, only want to kaypoh. Maybe i kiasi, i'm the what you'd call it's better to believe in existence, than not at all type of person. To date, i have no idea whether that plate moved on its own paranormal powers or its another one of those schoolgirls jokes since i've never so much as laid hands on the plate before. So, cant attest to that. Should have at least tried once. No case of hysteria nor did anyone ever got possessed during our ghost-talk sessions on school records. But sometimes, some teacher-on-duty will come and spoil the party and send us home with a warning. Ishh!
I had my fair share of ghostly encounters too. The first when i was 17 years old. I was recuperating at home after my appendicitis operation. And since my room is up in the attic, mom asked me to sleep downstairs in my eldest brother's room instead so that i can call out to her should i need her. Naturally, i obliged since my brother was out at sea and the room was occupied by my foster brother (1yr my junior) then. He slept on a single-mattress between the queen-sized bed and the wardrobe. I was to sleep on the bed. No problem.
It was sometime after midnight. I was sleeping on my left side, facing the blank white walls with my back to him. He was fast asleep on the single-mattress snoring away as usual. And then i felt it. It's a hand....... and it's sliding slowly up and down my right leg; from my thigh right down to my shin. I opened my eyes groggily...... but the hand did not stop moving. I thought it was my foster brother playing a rude joke with me. So i turned around and slept on my back. The rubbing stopped..... but then my foster brother was still very fast asleep and snoring away like a pig. And he's not faking it. It's the kind of long, deep snore when one is in deep slumber. So, i thought i must have been imagining things. Blame it on the medication.
To play it safe this time, i went back to sleep on my back. Should i catch him red-handed touching me again, i swore i was going to give it to him left, right, centre. I closed my eyes again to feign sleep. And slowly...... eventually...... just as i was about to drift back to slumberland; i felt it again. Up and down my thigh it went. With my eyes still closed but fully awake, i waited a few seconds longer. I wanted to holler out at him. Tell him to stop this sick joke of his. I started counting 1.....2.....3 in my head. By the time i reached 3, i opened my eyes slowly and i saw him..... squatting by my bedside. A dark shadow......... and my foster brother....... YIKES!!!! Still snoring away like a pig. It was gone the very instant i sat up in bed. And that's when i ran to my mom's room, scared shit. I still get goosebumps whenever i think of this till today. I'm damn sure i wasn't dreaming or imagining things.
The eerie part was whilst i was halfway drafting this post using my mobile phone...... it power itself off twice. Thank god i saved it periodically. I sent a email version to my mailbox to be continued on the following morning before i went to bed. And this morning, when i logged in to continue writing this post.......... my notebook suddenly powered itself off......... what do you think? So coincidental?? I dont know......
Both hubby and i are not the superstitious nor religious kind. Both of us grew up in a house with an altar that our moms prays at everyday. My mom being the more fanatic one many years ago. The must-do-things-correctly type with very elaborate rituals complete with matching decorations, fresh flowers, fruits and long long prayers and chants. I can imagine her kneeling down, joss papers in hands, chant, chant, chant, lights up the joss papers and walks out to put those lit joss papers into the red metal bin with patterned holes all over. She'll then walk back into the house and repeat the entire process until all the gods on the altar are worshipped.
I seldom pray. And i definitely do not like being told to do so by anyone at all. I pray when i feel like it or when i simply needed to. A simple '1 joss-stick in hand/palms together and bless-me-and-my-family one-liner with eyes closed will do. No kneeling down rituals for me.
But this month will be slightly different from the rest. Mom will perform a simpler less elaborate praying session at the front and back entrance of the house with offerings like a small bowl of rice and some condiments on the 14th night of the month. When i was just a small child, i was not allowed to follow her when she prays outside of the house at night. Everyone is to refrain from going out after dusk during that particular month unless absolutely necessary.
I still remember my old schooldays. Some of us will stayback after school to play "tip-sin" (translation: plate spirit), similar to the quiji board. Only no real store-bought quiji board then, just the art-class version, complete with A-Z, 0-9 and some simple words like yes, no, and goodbye (which in my humble opinion is the most important word as it's used to close the board when we're done with our session). There will be a small round plate of about 5cm in diameter on which a small arrow is drawn on the edge. It's to point on the letters/numbers/words which were written on the home-made paper board we'd use. Since the spirit cant talk, it's suppose to spell out all the answers to the never-ending barrage of questions we ever-inquisitive kaypoh schoolgirls would ask. One of us will be assigned to write down the answers as it is spelled out, normally quite fast. We will go to a quiet and rather dark and secluded corner and invite our ghost to come out and talk to us. Some of us will even bring along some sweets just in case the ghost that was invited happened to be a small child and refuse to leave when told to do so and had to be bribed away. I would normally follow as an observer but never put my hands on the plate. Sigh... that's me, only want to kaypoh. Maybe i kiasi, i'm the what you'd call it's better to believe in existence, than not at all type of person. To date, i have no idea whether that plate moved on its own paranormal powers or its another one of those schoolgirls jokes since i've never so much as laid hands on the plate before. So, cant attest to that. Should have at least tried once. No case of hysteria nor did anyone ever got possessed during our ghost-talk sessions on school records. But sometimes, some teacher-on-duty will come and spoil the party and send us home with a warning. Ishh!
I had my fair share of ghostly encounters too. The first when i was 17 years old. I was recuperating at home after my appendicitis operation. And since my room is up in the attic, mom asked me to sleep downstairs in my eldest brother's room instead so that i can call out to her should i need her. Naturally, i obliged since my brother was out at sea and the room was occupied by my foster brother (1yr my junior) then. He slept on a single-mattress between the queen-sized bed and the wardrobe. I was to sleep on the bed. No problem.
It was sometime after midnight. I was sleeping on my left side, facing the blank white walls with my back to him. He was fast asleep on the single-mattress snoring away as usual. And then i felt it. It's a hand....... and it's sliding slowly up and down my right leg; from my thigh right down to my shin. I opened my eyes groggily...... but the hand did not stop moving. I thought it was my foster brother playing a rude joke with me. So i turned around and slept on my back. The rubbing stopped..... but then my foster brother was still very fast asleep and snoring away like a pig. And he's not faking it. It's the kind of long, deep snore when one is in deep slumber. So, i thought i must have been imagining things. Blame it on the medication.
To play it safe this time, i went back to sleep on my back. Should i catch him red-handed touching me again, i swore i was going to give it to him left, right, centre. I closed my eyes again to feign sleep. And slowly...... eventually...... just as i was about to drift back to slumberland; i felt it again. Up and down my thigh it went. With my eyes still closed but fully awake, i waited a few seconds longer. I wanted to holler out at him. Tell him to stop this sick joke of his. I started counting 1.....2.....3 in my head. By the time i reached 3, i opened my eyes slowly and i saw him..... squatting by my bedside. A dark shadow......... and my foster brother....... YIKES!!!! Still snoring away like a pig. It was gone the very instant i sat up in bed. And that's when i ran to my mom's room, scared shit. I still get goosebumps whenever i think of this till today. I'm damn sure i wasn't dreaming or imagining things.
The eerie part was whilst i was halfway drafting this post using my mobile phone...... it power itself off twice. Thank god i saved it periodically. I sent a email version to my mailbox to be continued on the following morning before i went to bed. And this morning, when i logged in to continue writing this post.......... my notebook suddenly powered itself off......... what do you think? So coincidental?? I dont know......
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