Ghosts, spirits and black magic........Part 1

The normal question when it came to this topic used to be, Do you believe in it ? Or, Hello..... wake up...... we are in the modern world !!! Now the trend seems to be....... Have you seen one ? Or, did someone do it to you ? Some people say it's the TV programmes or movies trends that are influencing us...... too many ghost stories, Charmed Ones, Harry Potter, the Ring, American Hauntings, etc....... you name it.

Or are we simply fed-up of our daily dose of facts and figures (usually scary credit card statements) and real life tragedies (bad hair, pimple, wrinkles, flat tyre, not-so-flat tummy, pesky boss) and we need some of form of escapism ? Well, whatever the influence or cause..... whether the spiritual world has become more active or whether we are more exposed to their existence, it seems to stir quite an interest nowadays.

As for me, I was a science student and I was taught everything has to be proven and must be logically explained before we can say, `Hey, that's a fact!' But that was years ago.....

As a kid, I used to follow my parents to Chinese temple celebrations. Sometimes, it was interesting. There would be a medium who would fall shiver and then fall into a trance. Some actually looked genuine....... the medium's voice would change and some of them could even sing Chinese opera! At that time, I was a bit sceptical or maybe confused, I don't know... I mean, c'mon..... but we have been taught to be respectful, so, I gave it the benefit of the doubt. Despite that, well, I have been praying faithfully at the temples.

My first encounter with the spiritual world was in Singapore. I had just graduated from the uni and was looking for a job. After moving out of the hostel, I had to find a room. Got myself a roomate and we went searching. Finally, we found a place..... the house was a bit old.... standing on stilts....... and there were many rooms. It looked like the owner converted his house to a `room for rent' place.

The first impression when I got off the cab was...... Eeeieww.... a pair of big white lanterns hanging at the patio of the house. Looked like a funeral parlour. There were a few old photos of old people on an altar..... and when the owner saw my expression, he told us it was his parents and ancestors. I tried hard to look relieved but I didn't think I was convincing enough cos he said, `Don't worry, they won't harm you!' Then I had to force a smile and shrug it off. Surprisingly, the room was nice.... and with air-conditioning. A bit pricey but my roomate convinced me by asking, `Are you scared or what ?' .... so, I said, `Oh, what the heck ! Let's take it !'

It was a Saturday when we moved in. And, being young and the party-going type.... we quickly dumped our stuff in the room, hung all the unwashed jeans, pants, t-shirts, towels on the hanger at the back to the door and left for the disco. After the boozing and midnite snack, we went back to the house with two other friends who couldn't afford midnight the cab fare.

We tip-toed into the room cos we didnt' want to stir up the owner. It was, afterall, 3 a.m. After some light nonsense talk, all of my friends began to doze off. I couldn't sleep but locked the door and switched off the light. Then as I was recollecting the day's activities in my bed, I heard a loud thud.

Oh no....... the hanger at the door had given way, too many clothes...... never mind.... pick up the clothes the next day...... I told myself. Besides, our two guests were sleeping on the floor and I didn't want to step on them.

Then, with my eyes half-closed, I saw the door opening. And I said to myself, `Well, well, well! This owner is quite a guy, he has a spare key and now he wants to check on us! ' My first impluse was to sit up and ask him what he was doing but then I thought.... let's see if he's going to steal anything. So, I pretended to be asleep and watched the door opening slowly with my half-closed eyes.......

`Hey, the whole the family is here to check on us !!! ' I thought to myself..... Hmm.... pale faces though..... can't see very clearly cos our room was dark and there was the light in the hallway. They didn't come in..... they just looked with curiousity, with the door half -opened and then they closed it back.

Tomorrow, I am going to confront the owner, I thought. How dare his whole family just open the door like that...... I mean, what if I was with someone doing something private at the time ??? So, I made a mental note to talk to him. Then.......a cold shiver rang down my spine.

My room door was not only locked...... it was latched, from the inside !!! Okay... okay....... calm down, there's a perfectly logical explanation to this. I tried to wake my roomate but he was sleeping like a log. So, I took a deep breath and walked to the door......... switched on the lights. There it was...... the door was still latched, from the inside !!!

Okay, maybe I was dreaming..... I just imagined everything. But what I saw next really gave me the chills. The clothes that fell on the floor were swept to one side, in a straight line, like the door opened............... and the reason why the door was half opened was because we put a Buddha image on the other side of the room, so the opening was just enough to avoid exposing themselves to the Buddha image.

I woke my roomate up very fiercely...... someone had to take the blame... (hehe!)...... and showed everything to him..... and we both ran to our beds and hid under the blankets!

We wanted to move out but we had already paid for two months and being unemployed waiting for convocation guys, we didn't have the money. So we stayed on...... sometimes, at night, the dogs howled non-stop....... phew ! What an experience..... but there was just the beginning...... look out for part 2.....