Not One of Us

when somebody asks me if i believe in supernatural beings (aswang, engkanto, and other non-human creatures said to also roam the earth), i don't readily answer "yes," though a "no" isn't in order as well.

you see, i grew up in a province where majority of the people strongly believe in these...dili ingon nato. we are civilized, yes, lest there's a question about that (haha!) but in a place where stories of tiktik being heard patrolling a pregnant woman's house gets shared from one neighbor to another almost every week, one is bound to "believe" that this world is not populated by humans and ordinary animals after all.

i have more than my fair share of engkanto and aswang stories, having had to offer several prayers and even food to dwellers of a bungsod (a small hill growing in some vacant lots, could be a kingdom of termites for all we know) where dwendes (elves, dwarves?) supposedly live. we asked them to find a home elsewhere because we're building our home in that lot. and i also had an uncle who was believed to be enchanted by an engkanta who lived in our town's college's rubber tree. he would go out at midnight every night and would be seen walking towards the infamous tree. but he didn't have any recollection of the rendezvous. when he was brought to an albularyo (witch doctor), the latter confirmed that an engkanta fell inlove with him and would want him to be his husband. the witch doctor tried then to heal him by chants and offerings and some concoction. the most amazing thing was, small bits of rock, plants, twigs and leaves fell out of my uncle's head while the albularyo was doing his "pray over."

why this eerie topic today? it's because last tuesday, neighbors were talking about an abat (i presume an aswang equivalent in our province) was felt and heard and smelled some days ago in our subdivision. according to the grapevine (this sounds so gossipy! hahaha), a huge, seemingly heavy object (could be a thief, don't you think?) fell and crashed on their roofs. i heard all those crashes too but shrugged them off because of course, what with our houses so built closely together, a neighbor's ka-blag can easily be mistaken as your own ka-blag. the story went that they knew it was an abat because right after the thumping on the roof, a disgusting, yucky smell permeated their walls. according to my officemate slash carpoolmate slash neighbor, a pregnant woman lives across them so she could be the creature's prime target. but what we're more scared of is that, evil minds might use these aswang stories to get through some houses undetected since people are afraid of the winged beings than the thieves that could break in.

nonetheless, i whisked holy water on our windows last night. as i've always said, there's nothing to lose when we try to believe in these things as long as we're also careful of more realistic perils. it might sound funny but i had developed my own "rituals" as well in trying to drive off spirits and the like. my mother has quite outgrown this too superstitious mentality of province-dwellers but she still has several tips for me. my faith is my foremost weapon against all things bad and evil. i know that as long as He is watching over us and i believe He is, nothing could go wrong.