Announcing the opening of the Gates of Hell
Yes, it’s that time of the year again.This morning mom reminded brother and me to be careful.
To ‘be careful’ entails not kicking seemingly innocent-looking objects by the street, not stepping on seemingly innocent-looking objects, not touching anything that is remotely connected to altars, joss-sticks, offerings and looking at a tomb upside-down between your legs.
Well, my mom did that when she was a little girl and got a visitation from the ‘friendly’ being who resided at the tomb.
True story. So be warned.
The Westerners, or rather, the Irish, would say that this is the time when the Veil between the human realm and the fey realm momentarily lift. And the time when spirits can flit in and out of the human realm at will. For the humans, not so lucky. If the human unwittingly stumbles into the fey realm, chances are, there is no way back or they won’t let you go back.
For the Asians, or the Chinese ones, the ‘Lifting of the Veil’ is more dramatic. Movies depict a huge door that swing open to reveal fog and mist, with a shimmering firelight in the background, as the spirits and demons emerge for their annual romp in the human world. The sentimentalists would like to think of their departed loved ones using this opportunity to ‘visit’ them and ‘be’ with them. Some will swear that they can sense their presence. Some will swear that there were little indications that they were present. Suddenly everyone’s 5 senses (and some claim a 6th) will flare up extra sensitive.
What about me? Did I have an encounter? Did I ‘sense’ anyone? Have I ‘seen’ anything?
I don’t know really. It happened a long time ago when I was, perhaps, ten? Too old now to be able to say that it was real. But back then it felt real. And it was scary.
I thought I saw a white shape in my bedroom. Earlier that night, the family had been talking about my late grandfather who was blackmailed by his partners and charmed and died under the charm. And I loudly wondered if he would visit us, at which my mother and aunt quickly admonished me. Of course I puzzled and wondered why. And then they said it was ‘that’ time of the year.
Ok…
So got a friendly visit from Casper.
Maybe.
My brother wasn’t so lucky. One day he accidentally touched someone else’s plaque at the temple. That afternoon he was feverish till night. The next day he seemed fine, but when the afternoon came, he was sluggish and weak again. Quickly my mom called my aunt as she suspected that he had accidentally offended a spirit. So my aunt went to the temple to find out, and sure enough, he had. So my aunt had to offer prayers, incense and offerings to appease the spirit. By that night, he was better.
There was a point in time when I could smell my late grandmother’s fragrance. It would be in an empty room, with no open windows, or in the car, or in the house. And I would acknowledge her in mind and talk to her. Silly. But I loved her very much. And I never got to see her one last time. Nowadays I don’t smell her anymore. I wonder if this time around I could.
posted by Jennirhiow @ 10:34 am
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