Lost in the Woods and the Power of Faith

T+here used to be a lot more trees in my mother's province than there are now, and be it local superstition or or the mind playing tricks on you - There are always strange stories attached to old wild forests.


My mother's uncle, said to be a faith-healer, had many weird yet fascinating stories to tell. One of which was about a forest people had to walk through from time to time. He said that a mischievous spirit lived there, who liked to play tricks on travellers late at night.


The spirit did so by confusing its victims to the extent that they would no longer recognize their surroundings and for a while at least, would not be able to find their way through the forest.


My mother's uncle said that when found in such a situation, you had to humour the spirit so that it would let you pass through. As he did when one night he found himself the target of the spirit's mischief. One moment he was walking through confidently, the next it seemed like he was surrounded by trees with no path in sight. So he pulled his pants down and 'mooned' the trees, the action was immediately followed by loud laughter and he was able to find his way.


I am perfectly aware that there are hundreds if not thousands of charlatans out there who claim to have the abilities of a medium/psychic/seer...etc. Whereas only a tiny handful are in fact gifted and aren't likely to exploit desperate people and extort ridiculous sums of money from them.


I cannot say for certain if my mother's uncle was the real deal. She believes he was. People would regularly come to seek his advice about aches, persistent rashes, unexplained ailments...etc. And he would go to them and offer his assistance at no cost.


My mother watched him sometimes, how he would murmur prayers in Latin, blow into his hands and lay them on those asking his help and seemingly (miraculously) take the pain away.

There was an incident where a husband took his wife in to see him believing that she was suffering from an attack (black magic), the faith healer, according to my mother, murmured his prayers, blew into his hands and touched his thumbs to the woman's toes who screamed that it burned. Following the session she was no longer plagued by black magic, but her toes were blistered as if they had been burned. 


Other times, such as when one of my aunts had a large lingering rash on her arm, he told her to go to a specific location, to tell no one about it, gave her some Latin words to say, and instructed her to gather some soil and rub it onto her arm. My aunt was afraid to go alone, so she made my mother go with her, and once there, each knelt on the ground on a banana leaf to keep their legs clean. My aunt recited the words, took some of the soil and rubbed it onto her arm and in the days that followed the rash faded away.


I have to admit that when it comes to people who claim to be psychics and mediums, I tend to be sceptical, since there are so many frauds out there who insist they're the genuine article. But it is pretty special for someone to be able to help people just by having a strong faith in God, regardless of who and what they claim to be.

The Haunted Wardrobe

We all know that ghosts can get attached to a particular location, well some get attached to objects. 

As is the case in this story. 

Once again, this took place at a relatives house in the province. My aunt at this point was very used to seeing unusual things and is to this day not easily frightened. It is perhaps because of this that spirits seem to try their utmost in frightening her. 

One of the creepier occurrences she encountered on a fairly regular basis involved one apparition in particular and a large carved Nara (a type of wood indigenous to the Philippines) wardrobe. 

She would occasionally wake up at night, and a white shape would catch her eye...it would linger a moment, sometimes levitate, before slipping into the wardrobe. At this point it would drape itself over a hanger, and at a first glance looked like a garment swaying back and forth except that it had a head.

The only person these mischievous spirits ever succeeded in scaring were her husband who could not even see or hear them but was terrified of the stories his wife told him.

The wardrobe still exists as far as we know, although the house that held it has since been torn down. It has been set aside for safekeeping and my mother recently expressed interest in acquiring it if we manage to get our hands on a truck to transport it.

She does have some reservations about bringing it into our home of course, while none of us can sense otherworldly entities, we would like to avoid haunted furniture.

The Kapre

The Kapre is a mythological creature of the Philippines. It is best described as a 'tree ogre' rather than 'tree spirit'. Their appearance is typically described as male, very tall and also very hairy. They are also said to have a liking for smoking tobacco and that when one sees smoke emanating from a tree, it is likely a Kapre's dwelling. 

They are not usually malicious and in my mother's province are to some extent even considered guardians, if somewhat mischievous. 

You can read up on some more general information on the Kapre here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kapre

According to my mother and several relatives, there have been several occurrences and sightings involving a spirit/entity/creature described as "a very big man" (In the Philippines 'big' tends to be synonymous with 'tall' rather than 'fat') in the province.

There has been some debate about whether the spirit is a ghost, a Kapre or perhaps even an Aswang (a creature I will write more in detail about in future posts). For the most part however, he is believed to be a Kapre.

One of my uncles, who I shall refer to as Uncle B, has encountered him a few times...very recently in fact during my last few trips out to the province. We were staying at a relative's house, so while I, my brother, mother and aunt occupied the second bedroom there, Uncle B decided to stay at another relative's place nearby. He felt too warm inside the house though, so he chose to sleep outside in a Jeepney instead (a Jeepney is a converted US military jeep that serves as the Philippines primary means of public transport). It wasn't long before he woke up when he felt the vehicle shift significantly, as if a very heavy person had boarded it...when he looked around...he couldn't see anyone, but he knew whatever it was, it was still there...

He ran out of the Jeepney and back into the house. Warm or not, he could not spend the night outside with something unseen watching him.

Similarly, another relative experienced something outside her home, when the tall bamboo growing outside seemingly of their own accord bent all the way down to the ground. They stayed that way for a considerable amount of time before springing back into place. It had been as if something unseen had been sitting on it or had been holding it down (bamboo is very flexible).

Another incident, one of my aunts was up and about at around five in the morning to feed the horses. She said she saw a big man sitting there watching her, when she threw some of the horses feed at him he laughed and disappeared.

A more interesting story, however, is one about one of my older aunts. Now, one is not to speak ill of the elderly, but this particular aunt has a very unfortunate attitude problem that is likely an undiagnosed mental/personality disorder. When my mother was still a little girl, her older half-sister had a tendency to be very grumpy. She was often obstinate, surly, contradicting and generally strange. There were times she would spend the entire night wandering around outside until her feet and clothes were filthy and caked in mud - This apparently happened often after my grandmother would scold her for either not doing her chores or being cruel to her younger siblings. 

Because of this, she would usually insist on sleeping apart from her brothers and sisters, choosing to sleep instead on a cot in the kitchen. One night, the entire household awoke to terrible screaming from the kitchen. When they rushed to see what the matter was, they found my aunt sitting upright frantically beating her arms against the air, as if she was fighting some unseen force and initially they were not able to wake her. Within minutes neighbours had arrived with torches and machetes believing that someone was being attacked and asked my grandfather if something had happened. By then my aunt had stopped and they had been successful in waking her, my grandfather just told everyone she had had a nightmare and they left. My aunt claimed that a very big man had come into the kitchen and was attacking her.

My grandmother scolded her, saying that it was her own fault for being so mean all the time and for refusing to sleep in the same room as her siblings. Nevertheless, she told her to sleep in the bedroom adjacent to the kitchen and dining room.

The following night, my aunt did as she was told and moved to one of the bedrooms. There were no nightmares but there were some tapping sounds to be heard from the walls and ceiling that my grandmother explained away as just lizards or geckos being noisy (although, my mother who does not have the sixth sense or third eye never heard a thing).

Then on the third night, my aunt complained again about the tapping and when once more my grandmother said she was imagining things (despite the fact that she could hear it too), almost immediately after, there came a loud banging sound from the wall, as if someone was pounding hard against it with their fist. My mother who was sleeping next to her two brothers once again could not hear it, while both my uncles J and B had heard as well as my grandparents. My grandfather took a spear and my grandmother a flashlight to make sure no one had come into the house...But if someone had, there should have been footprints as it had been raining non-stop for days, and when he asked my uncle who lived next door and had a clear view of the house and the stairs that led up to the front door, if anyone had gone in or exited their home, he was told that no one had entered or left the house.

My mother believes that it had been the Kapre, that perhaps he had been offended somehow by my aunt's behaviour and had sought to teach her a lesson.

The White Lady Part 1

The "White Lady" is a worldwide phenomenon and each country has its own take on the mysterious wraith. White Lady sightings are very common in the Philippines, and this post would be far too long if I attempted to include all of the information in just the one post.


Since my return to the Philippines, I have visited my mother's province three times and have been at some of the locations where the supernatural occurrences I write about had taken place.


The above image does not specifically relate to this story, and is just there to show how little the rural town had changed since my mother's childhood. While houses now have electricity and running water for the most part, wells and outdoor water-pumps are still in use, and agriculture remains an important aspect of the local people's livelihood. 


Shortly after the second World War, my grandfather, an educated man who had previously been a foreman at an American gold mine decided that the town needed a school and took it upon himself to build the first school house. He would later go on to become a teacher and even principal and was a highly respected member of the community. The school-grounds at the time were still thick with trees and vegetation, and the school house itself was made entirely out of wood. It was situated fairly close to the river, and fisherman out in their boats in the dark morning hours would often row past it. 


It might have been the site or the construction itself that brought her forward - Whatever the case, there is a White Lady haunting the school-grounds and she had the tendency to appear inside the school-house. She is described as a woman with long hair, wearing a white dress, who would often call out to the fishermen on the river or those who happened to be on the school-grounds alone. It is not understood why she called out to those passing through, they were not believed to be her relatives, and no one claimed to know who she possibly had once been. Maybe, it was a cry for help.


The locals believed that she was a woman who had been raped and murdered by Japanese soldiers, her body subsequently hung on one of the trees. 


One of my distant relatives had gone to the grounds early in the morning to gather sap from the palm trees. It was best to collect the sap in the morning as it was cooler, but as he waited for the tubes to fill at the top of the palm tree, someone started to call him from below. He looked down and saw a woman with long hair, wearing a white dress...He had heard the stories of course and he was worried that she would climb up after him, or remove the ladder so that he would be stranded up there. She continued to call his name and circled the tree, in his desperation he sprinkled some of the palm sap he'd gathered onto her, and she disappeared. 


Another incident took place some time later when a dentist came to visit the town for three days to treat the locals. He turned down offers to spend the night in their houses and said he would sleep at the school house. He was immediately warned of the supernatural presence of the White Lady. The dentist was a sceptic, however, and shrugged the claims off. He went so far as to say, "Let her come! I'll face her." 


After the people's persistence, he did agree to at least take some safety measures. He told the people that if something did come to visit him that night he would fire his gun twice, and that they were to come and check on him.


Sure enough, late that night, two gunshots were heard from the school house and the locals who lived closest went to make sure no harm had come to the dentist.


The dentist was fine, but he had indeed been visited by the White Lady.


I've been to the school-grounds, while the old wooden school house is long gone - now replaced by sturdier concrete buildings. They say she haunts there still.


I hope that one day she will be at peace and move on.

White Legs

This story came from my mother's neighbouring town and occurred some time after the Japanese occupation of the Philippines during World War II.

Many people died during the war, both Filipinos and Japanese soldiers. As is common during such times of chaos, not every fallen victim was so fortunate to receive a proper burial or other final rites. It is said that these lost souls have to this day not yet found peace.

In the neighbouring town, there was a young woman who was called Amparing. No one can say for sure, when or why it started - It simply did. Amparing was said to be very pretty, and there were many suitors clamouring for her attention. Unfortunately for her, there was one particularly persistent suitor. He did not speak Tagalog - the language of the Philippines - and he would merely repeat her name, always calling "Amparing...Amparing..."

No one knew who he was, no one had ever seen his face. Just a pair of very white legs that would dangle from the ceiling of their house. 

It was believed to be the ghost of a Japanese soldier who must have met his end in the area during the war, and he had fallen in love with Amparing. Constantly he would call for her, occasionally, they would hear him sobbing. If another suitor dared approach the house of his beloved, he would get angry and fill the rooms with noise - thuds, banging and slamming.

Amparing and her family were of course very afraid of this ghost who would only manifest as a pair of dangling white legs. So, her parents sent her to stay at another relative's house. 

The ghostly legs followed.

I cannot say for how long all this carried on and how Amparing and her family rid themselves of the unwelcome spectre. I would like to think that they were able to find a priest or medium to lay the tormented spirit to rest.

But then, some things are never certain.

Hide and Seek

My mother is the second youngest of twelve children. Both of my maternal grandparents could sense otherworldly happenings to varying degrees. While my grandfather could both hear and see ghostly apparitions, my grandmother could only hear them. 


Two out of my eight aunts can hear and see, while two out of my three uncles can as well. And it is one of my uncle's stories that I will share today.


I will start with a story of one my uncle's earliest encounters, I will call him uncle J to prevent any confusion in future stories.

My mother's family lived out in the countryside in one of the many outlying provinces of the Philippines. Remote, steeped in tradition and surrounded by thick forests and farmlands, it provided the perfect setting for many strange occurrences.


My uncle was still a boy. A very typical boy. He was very mischievous and would often get himself into trouble. He and his family lived in a bamboo hut - I must add that the eldest siblings had by now of course moved out so there were not in fact fourteen people living under the same roof. Due to rainy weather and the occasional threat of flooding, the bamboo hut was elevated from the ground on thick sturdy posts. 


Uncle J and his friends had a peculiar tendency to play hide and seek at night, usually at the time of the full moon as there were no electric light posts and they had to rely on what little light the moon would cast. This game of hide and seek was always played with elements of tag in it, the seeker had to do more than just find the others, once found you still had the chance to make a run for it, as long as you did not get caught, you would not be 'it'. My uncle was a very fast runner and one of his friends was 'it'. He heard loud panting and heavy breathing behind him, assuming that he had been found, he started to run and whoever it was behind him gave chase. Uncle J was too focused on running to ever look behind him, but he could still hear the loud breathing and running footsteps behind him. 


My uncle was starting to get tired, so he started running back home, and he could still hear the runner behind him. He and the runner stopped abruptly as they came to the front of the house. Seated by the steps were all of his friends, resting sharing some green mangoes amongst themselves. They had gotten tired a while ago and gone to the front of his house to rest and wait for him to show up. Uncle J was confused, if all his friends had been waiting and resting here...who was chasing him up to the moment he stopped in front of them?


There was no one behind him.

His friends were very frightened when he told them, they had not seen anyone behind uncle J.


Needless to say, they never played hide and seek at night again.

Introduction

The stories I intend to share originate for the most part here in the Philippines. Most of them I heard from family, friends and co-workers. The Philippines just like other countries have their own set of bizarre, often terrifying, creatures that stem from superstition and old folklore. What fascinates me most is that the vast majority of people I have encountered firmly believe that these creatures exist and that perhaps because of this belief have even had encounters with them.

I cannot say for certain whether or not there is any truth to these stories, I will say, however, that those who have shared their tales with me were quite sincere and that in most cases I had no real reason to doubt their claims.

At the very least, you may find some interest in them, they're certainly not written down anywhere else that I know of.