Unseen entities and dealing with them

After six stitches and an X-ray, my sister was cleared to go home.  Arriving home, we talked about how it happened that her head was knocked on a stone.  She said it was as if someone pushed her that she slipped and it was also as if a force shoved her head onto the stone with the sharp edges on the ground.  Did she see anyone? No.  I told her neither did I saw someone when I passed by her sweeping nor did I see anyone when I came to her aid.  She was of course defensive and emphasized that she said it was only “as if” or “like” and not that someone shoved her.

My sister-in-law, who lives with us, said that there be could be someone unseen who did push my sister.  She pointed out the incident all of us witnessed when the laborers of a road being constructed placed lighted candles on the spot they bulldozed as according to them the frequent shutdown of the engines of their equipment while doing work there is abnormal.  That spot was just a couple of meters from where my sister fell.

When I told the story of the laborers to some officemates, they said that the place near our house which is now the path of the new road construction was once a greenhouse where a farmer was suffocated to death.  Then I recalled that some two years ago, the previous occupants of what is now our residence came back to perform a ritual on that spot where my sister had been hurt.  They came with a native chicken with its feet tied and let it leap around the spot.  According to one of those who came (who apologized for barging in the premises without permission) they were trying to determine the actual spot where they buried two embryos who were not born due to miscarriage so they could take some soil and do further rituals to appease the spirits.  The last spot where the chicken settled was where they took the soil for their ritual.  With these two accounts, it is then possible that some restless souls are just around our location.

That made me google “how to deal with restless souls.”  My search led to the more encompassing subject of unseen entities like evil spirits and other unseen mystical beings.

My native Ifugao upbringing reminded me of “pinading” that guards rivers, springs, forests, or some particular spots.  Where I live now is not Ifugao but friends from here tell of some similar belief.  Our residence is near a creek so the possibility of “pinading” is there.

I came across an article that says one of the favorite dwelling of unseen spirits are old structures.  My household is now living in a house which is estimated to be about fifty years old.  So could it be old enough to be a dwelling of unseen entities?  The article also says that the unseen entities become furious when there is disturbance in their habitat.  The road construction nearby is surely a disturbance on their part if they exist there as there is movement of soil and cutting of trees.

In the end though, we still concluded that my sister’s incident was an accident.  She stumbled on some pebbles probably then the laws of physics got her head hitting a sharp stone.  The presence of unseen entities could also possibly be true.  

Unseen entities do exist and they could just be present anywhere.  People just have to co-exist with them and hopefully, in a peaceful manner.  For restless souls, they need prayers.  For evil spirits, the armor from the Almighty is needed to defeat them.  And for the unseen entities that also guards nature, people must be one with them.

My scare over the weekend

I call that my scare of the weekend!

I just passed by my sister sweeping dried leaves side of the house. I was on my way to the comfort room outside the house.  I usually  do not use that as there was one inside but for some reason I decided to do my morning things at the outside CR before going to planned activities last Saturday.  But just as I closed the door and was about to open the faucet, I heard my sisters call.  Her voice was weak. Some seconds more, I heard her again.  I realized something went wrong and so I rushed out to check.

There she was laid on the ground, blood oozing from her forehead.  She could have slipped and hit her head on one of the stones nearby.  The first thing that came to mind was stop the bleeding and bring her to the hospital.  But in truth, I was clueless on how to stop the bleeding.  All I could do was ask if she wasn't feeling dizzy.  She shook her head.  I let her press her palm where the blood was coming out, and supported it with my arms and shoulder and carried her.  I shouted to our housemates for help as  I ran to the highway, about a hundred meters away, where we could possibly have a ride to the hospital.  I felt my sister was getting weaker but I always reminded her not to close eyes or sleep.

Some men busy on something on a truck even as we are afar noticed our emergency.  They stopped what they were doing and jumped off and went ahead to the highway to flag down any vehicle that could bring us faster to the hospital.  The truck owner was apologetic that his truck was loaded with cement and feeds that it was not available.  No vehicle was immediately flagged but I appreciate the gesture of the men.  My wife who followed was alert enough to proceed to where garage taxis (those sometimes labelled as colorum) that as soon as the men were able to flag down a jeep, the taxi called by wife was in.

 I thought it was adrenalin working all through out that as soon as my sister was already being attended by the doctor and nurses, I started to feel weak.  Even my sense of hearing seemed affected that I always say "ah" (or can you repeat) while she was asking info for her patient data sheet.  I was asked to go buy some medical supplies which they will use to replace whatever they will use to close the wound.  The supplies have to be bought outside of the hospital.  I thought I can but before I could go to a next pharmacy as the nearest one said they had gone out of stock, I realized I need a place to simply just sit down and let my nerve settle down.

While sitting down, my mind drifted back to the minutes beforehand.  What if I have not gone to use the outside CR?  Perhaps, my sister’s weak call for help could have just drifted through the air and was not immediately by those inside as we would have been farther where she was.  Maybe, we were not able to attend to her immediately.

I realized God knows exactly where we should be at some particular moments to give help.

We went home after my sister got six stitches and patch of gauze on her forehead.  And activities for the day went about smoothly.

Lizard on my Epitaph?

In an office seminar cum recollection, the speaker asked everyone, “If you were to be an animal, what would you like to be?”  I was in the last row and by chance, the speaker let those on the front answer first.  That would have given me ample time to reflect but I wasn’t too concerted on such seminar/recollection.  Someone said “lion” because of its show of strength.  Another said “same” referring to lion and its strength.  I thought of simply saying “same” then mention an animal that was previously mentioned just so to say something.  But as the microphone passed from one person to another, unique answers and reasons were given.  I realized people were taking the recollection seriously.  I thought I have to give a matchless answer so as not to be obvious that I wasn’t taking the question seriously.  I wasn’t still ready for words when I held the mike, but an animal just got into my head.  “Lizard,” I blurted.  “And it’s simply because it sounded like my name.”

“Great! Lizards dwell in palaces,” the speaker said something to this effect.  They are living with kings, queens, prince and princesses.

His last remarks made me unmindful of the answers of those next to me.  Lizards and palaces!  My mind flew to a castle amidst trees and greeneries dutifully surrounded by guards.  I thought of the comfort that people living there are enjoying.  I thought of the abundance that people of such a fortress take pleasure in.  And perhaps the lizard living there was feeling so comfortable too.

My mind soon traveled back to my reality.  I am dwelling not at a palace.  Then I asked myself, does the lizard living with my household have some complaint?

Lizard on a poor man's abode

Not too long after that recollection, I was in a graduate school class where the report of a classmate was about death.  Before the discussion, the reporter asked that each one think and write about an animal that each wanted to be on one’s epitaph.  Still looming in my mind was my animal in the recollection.  And so I wrote lizard.  My rationalization focused mainly on its commonness – it being in farms, forests, mountains, rocks, in palaces and even on poor man’s dwellings.  I identified variation and ability to adapt to environments or flexibility as good characteristics.  I added that in Cordilleran ethnic implements, the lizard is a common image.  The ancestors must have seen something significant about the lizard.  Of course, there are also negative depictions about lizard.  For one, the villain in a popular movie is pictured as a lizard.  But in reasoning for that particular discussion, I have to highlight the good.

Then I realized – it is hard to measure up to a lizard.  So I have to doubly ask, would that lizard still be on my epitaph?