Our beliefs shape us as a person. I have recently met a few people from a small village who are very superstitious. That made them very fearful of so many things including the unknown.

I was at my grandparents Golden Wedding Anniversary. Among the visitors were their old friends and former neighbors. We had our celebration at the cottage outside my folks’ house near the beach. I didn’t mind eating alone under the coconut tree. I just let the old folks had their chitchats during the meal because they had so much to catch up about each of the updates of their lives.

At some point, I heard one of them mentioned about spirits and other fictitious characters. Then a big dark-skinned guy in his 40’s said he saw dark spirits near their house. He is a healer I heard. His wife had been sick for 3 months. According to him the dark spirits from a mango tree at their backyard attacked her wife. In order to beat the dark spirits, he had to play like one of them. Ne needed to convince them that he is not an enemy. Eventually he conquered them all and his wife became well again.

I listened to his entire story. It was fascinating. And it surely captivated everyone’s attention. He had a loud voice and he shared his story with conviction as if he was on a podium delivering his oratorical speech.

When he was about to finish his oration an old woman stood up from her seat carrying her plate half-filled with food. She said, “I couldn’t agree more. They really do exist.” I was outside the cottage sitting on a motorcycle. In my mind, I was like “there you go.” It was enjoyable to listen to how the conversion developed. The old woman also shared her own experience. She had the same enthusiasm with the guy who first shared his victory over the dark spirits. One Friday morning, she brought her cows to feed them in the field. She suddenly felt a wisp of cold air touching the back of her neck. She ignored it. Later that day, she noticed some rashes appeared all over her body. She immediately went to a healer. She had disturbed the invisible creatures dwelling in the field. She must bring a whole live chicken in the field for peace offering. She followed the healer’s instruction. And a few days after the offering, her rashes disappeared.

Both orators who attended in my grandparents’ left the same advice. Never mess with the unknown. I grew up in a small village and I had also been told about these things before. As a kid, it was very scary. Until now, part of me still believes that those stories are true. I also have met a lot of professionals and educated people who share similar stories with those old folks from a remote village. What if they really are true?