Do you Believe in Witchcraft? (Naniniwala ka ba sa Kulam?) - My Near Death Experience (SWC)
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Do you believe in witchcraft? How about in sorcerers or witches or wizards?
Have you ever watched or read a book "Harry Potter"? Yes, the fantasy novels about witchcraft and wizardry. That is somehow related to my story here.
In my country, our ancestors and elders believes in ancient urban legends and superstitious beliefs. One of them is about a "Mangkukulam" or Witch. A person who casts spells (in Filipino, we call it "kulam") on their enemies for them to suffer in pain, making them to regret who they messed up with. A witch or mangkukulam was said to use a black magic, rituals, spells and potions.
At first, I really don't believe in supernatural stories or in anything that doesn't have Scientific basis (God and the Bible is an exception). I don't believe in supernatural creatures, ghosts and anything like that. For me, those are just created by our imaginative minds. I really don't until this weird thing happened to me....
September 23, 2016 - We just had celebrated my son's birthday, he turned 4. A few weeks passed, he happened to have a flu. It is just an ordinary flu (some old folks says it happens whenever you grow old, they call it "lagnat-laki" ). When one of my kids are sick, I always want to be there beside them and take care of them. I want to spend all of my time for them so I decided not to do my home-based job for that week. When my son's fever rises and his nose bleeds, I hurriedly brought him to the nearest clinic, Since I didn't work that entire week, I don't have any salary to withdraw in my ATM. I am totally broke that day so I decided to just borrow money from one of my sisters to pay for the doctor's fee and the laboratory exams. Afterwards, the doctor prescribed him some medicines to take. Then, I decided to borrow money again from one of my sisters (another sister, I have 3 sisters) to buy his medicines.
Later that day, I left my son at home to buy his medicine. I promised him that I will be back soon and have his medicines with me when I returned. I promised him that he will get well soon as he take that medicine. So I hurriedly went to the nearest drugstore. It is kilometers away from our house so I need to take a ride. It is a generic drugstore without any doors for customers to walk-in. It just has windows and grills where customers just stand upfront to buy medicines. When I get there, I only have an exact money in my coin purse (which I borrowed from my sisters) for the medicines and for the fare. In the drugstore, while buying my son's medicine, an old person (I really can't distinguish if he's a man or a woman because his face is black all covered with grease) approaches me.
She (let's just say, she's is a woman) is an old beggar, wearing torn clothes, walking barefoot, his body and face is black, covered with grease and dust and dirt. I think she's around 70 or 80, I can tell because of the lines on her face and hands. She is laughing. For that, I can tell she has only few teeth left in her mouth. Her eyes are red, big and wide. Her hair is short, messy and frizzy. I really can remember she's holding a pack of cigarette in her hand while there's a lit stick of cigar in between her two fingers. She looks miserable. Singing and laughing and talking by herself.So, she approaches me by saying "Give me your coins!" showing her dirty palm to me ("Pengeng barya!") in a bossy or command manner. She never used please or beg for it. She just repeat it louder and louder. "Give me coins!" Another woman standing beside me who's buying a medicine too got afraid on her so she hurriedly took the medicines she bought and ran away while saying "You're scaring away the customers here!" ("Ano ba yan! nananakot ka ng customer dito"). I was still standing there, waiting for the pharmacist to give me the medicine that I bought. The old woman keeps yelling at me, saying "Give me your money!" I stepped back but she stepped forward. I told her, "I'm sorry, I only have exact money in my coin purse, I don't have any spare money left" ("pasensya na po, wala na po akong natitirang barya") Her face seems mad like she doesn't believe or heard what I said. She pointed on my coin purse, yelling "Give me money!" I think she saw my left coins there (that I intended to left there for my ride home) I shook my head. As I refused to give her my left coins, her red eyes gazed at me like eyes of a mad tiger. (I came to think of giving her the only coins that I've got but I told myself, I need those coins, I needed to get a ride home soon, my son is waiting for me) So, I still shook my head. She then slapped my shoulder. By then, an old fat man arrived to buy medicines too. He yelled at her to drive her away. "Hey!!! Go away!!" ("Hoy!! Alis! Alis ka dito!") The old woman then walked away laughing while speaking words which I can't identify the language. The man saw my shoulder turns red. He asked if I'm okay. I told him I'm fine (though the slap really hurts). He said that women uses illegal drugs (rugby or solvent) and maybe she gets insane from overusing it ("adik kasi yan kaya siguro wala na sa sarili"). So, I went home and give my son his medicines. My son went well and I felt relieved.
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A day after that, while eating lunch, my mom asked me, "What's that on your arms?" I told her, "Maybe just a ringworm, just ignore it." ("Baka buni lang, wag muna lang pansinin") I thought she was referring to the one on my shoulder that I saw the day before. But when I look at what she's pointing out, I was surprised! the reddish thing became too many!! I can't even count it. It spreads on both of my arms!! I decided to use a sulfur soap and add more cream on it.
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The next day, when I turn off my clothes to take a bath. I was shocked!! The reddish thing spreads more!! It is all over my body now!! Later then I did an online research on how to put some home remedies on it. I tried aloe vera sap ( we have the aloe plant in your back yard). I put aloe vera gel every time after taking a bath for a few days. But still nothing happens. It continues to grow and spread.
Few days later, the red thing grows bigger and spreads all over my body and even in my face and scalp!! It is really itchy and it is flaky. It looks like a burn from a cigarette. (My mom told me, in their province, they call it "paso-paso" kasi mukhang pinaso ng sigarilyo) And when I scratch it, there's some flakes fell off from it and when I sweep it on the floor, they look like ashes. My body looks burnt. It is like I'm alive but like a corpse my body is decaying. I came up to a point that I can't even hug or kiss my kids because I'm afraid that they will get it too from me. I wear long sleeves and pajamas all the time even if the weather is hot. It makes me take a bath three times a day to relieve the itchiness. I tried everything I search online about it but nothing happens. My father and my friends who notices it told me to consult a dermatologist. But I'm broke! I don't have any money left. I still owe a lot from my sisters. I don't know what to do anymore!
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That time, I prayed "Lord, please forgive me for all the sins that I have done! please help me relieve this pain... I want to live more and take care of my kids.. I want to be there as they grow.. please...!" I prayed "Our Father" and "Hail Mary" on my mind, but I heard a voice, laughing... trying to distract me from praying. I keep praying but I ran out of breathe...
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When I opened my eyes, I saw my kids' faces. I saw the smile on their faces and I felt relieved. My mom said they found me sleeping on the floor when they woke up. My mom also told me she thought she heard me calling her last night.
That day, a friend texted me. Her mom is an officer in our village's home owner association. She said her mom told her that there is a free check up or doctor consultation in our village's basketball covered court that will be held this morning by the certified Doctors of the Department of Health. I thanked her for informing me and then I went there.
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Few days passed and my wounds started to heal. I still went to the same drugstore every now and then to buy medicines but I never see that old woman again (and I wish I will never see her in the future again). I am not sure if it's the unfamiliar woman healed me or the medicines. But one thing is important, I am still alive and kicking! yeah!!!
Scientific Explanations: I caught a virus/ bacteria / fungi when the old dirty woman slapped my shoulder. Since I didn't consult a doctor right away, it spreads all-over my body. The medicines that the doctor gave me and proper hygiene helped me to make the wounds heal.
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Whatever it is, this near death experience taught me some lessons in life.
- To help other people in anyway I can without expecting anything in return
- To work hard to have spare money on me in case of emergency
- Avoid talking with strangers.
- Don't let anyone touch your skin ;)
- Always maintain a good hygiene
- There's no harm in believing old folks stories or superstitious beliefs or urban legends. Safety first.
- Sometimes, you won't believe on something not until you see it for yourself or you personally experience it. Don't wait for it to happen to you before you believe.
- Believe in the power of God. If supernatural creatures and evils do exists, therefore God too!
- Heaven is real. Maybe the stairs I saw is the stairway to heaven. I believe heaven is real. There is also a place or different dimension between heaven and Earth where souls stays for a while. I think they called it "astral world or astral dimension", I'm not sure. I think that is where I'm at that night.
- Live your life to the fullest! Always spend quality time with your loves ones. You'll never know when your time is over. So, live each day like it is your last!
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This experience changed my life. I makes me believe, that maybe, there are still things in this world that are left unexplained. There are supernatural things in this world that science can't explain. Who knows?? Maybe you're sitting with an evil spirit right now! (don't look beside you!) hahaha..!
Thanks for reading!!
I believe. Same experience. An old lady beggar in Baclaran tapped my arm when I refused to give her coins. And just a few meters away, I got goosebumps and cold sweats. I chased her afterwards, and gave her my coins. Then she whispered something and spit. After that I feel okay.
whoa! thanks for sharing the same experience you've encountered!
hope we won't come across them again..
Scientific explanations are certainly correct but there are some things that science can't explain. Aside from supernatural story involved here, I like the fact that there is a moral value we can get.
no i don't believe in
I'm gonna tell you, that they are reallllll.....
Yes, I do. It's real coz I have a friend who was a victim of witchcraft.
Your first image @maylyn09 is a Shutterstock image, would you replace it with a CC0 image from pixabay.com?
oh.. I apologize for that...
Thank you for the comment. I updated it.
Thanks!
That's great @maylyn09, it's in the list and will be read soon.
Thank you very much @maylyn09 for writing this story and submitting it to SWC. This must have been scary to have this on your body after meeting that old dirty beggar. I enjoyed reading it and I see that you have also learnt some valuable lessons. I sent 20 STEEM directly to your account for your participation in the contest.
thank you very much sir @gmichelbkk ! 😍♥
I'm glad you enjoyed reading my story.