A neophyte on an expert on ghosts

As an inveterate and firm believer in the afterlife, we continue to communicate with those left behind to enjoy each other’s company better than we did in the past and make new discoveries about one another that we never knew before.

We love going to Book Sale where we go through new or used books for a fraction they used to cost. This, we call, is our ukay-ukay of written discoveries where we can stay for hours, along with similar bookworms, until the stomach tells us we need to return home to reality, unpleasant as it may seem.

One book we stumbled upon was titled The Ghost Manual by Josef Frank B. Regis. Its back cover called out to us promising “Everything you’ve always wanted to know about ghosts” and there was no way we could ignore that. Another attraction of the book was its being exceedingly portable with a main section of only 159 pages in large font. There was no problem of our bringing it along in our tote bag to read during hours of traffic along EDSA.

Chapter One out of 16 deals with the Nature of Ghosts. Author Regis says ghosts may either appear solid or transparent, a shadow or part of a body, or simply a blur. Also, the same ghost may appear differently to people in the same room.

Chapter Two billed Why on Earth explains what makes ghosts Earth-bound, attached to the physical body they have been used to. Regis explains that our human body is simply a vehicle through which we express ourselves. When we leave the physical body, we should allow the soul to heal quickly and move on in peace for our sake and that of the “ghost”.

Chapter Three’s Seeing the Unseen tells us that ghosts can be felt, smelled, sensed. We ourselves can feel a presence, and remember carrying on a conversation with a ghost like she/he were a friend.

Chapter Four’s Can We Talk shows the various ways in which we communicate including that of the popular Spirit of the Glass.

Chapter Five’s Life Goes On tackles how newly-deceased ghosts continue the habits they had in the past. This may take long or may be immediate.

Hanging Around from Chapter Six lists down locations where one should expect ghosts like cemeteries, hospitals and places where people died violently without the proper preparation. A lesson we learned from this chapter is that of the power of prayer. When you feel a presence and are afraid, say a prayer. If you are not a Christian, pray to Allah or any higher protector of the human race.

Chapter Seven’s Friend or Foe? pursues the subject of whether the ghost is an enemy or a friend. “Good ghosts will never sneak up on you so as to alarm or startle you,” writes Regis.

The rest of the book consists of evidences and advice on what kind of ghost one has encountered. Suffice it to say that we Filipinos will find the book easy reading precisely because we have grown up with these various types of creatures normally lumped together as ghosts. There is the kapre, the duwende and the manananggal, which divides itself into the top and the bottom.

Historically, the belief in ghosts or aswangs in Filipino is known to have existed among tribal Filipinos as early as the 1200s. When the Spaniards colonized the Philippines, they accused our tribal spiritual healers of being aswangs in order to convert to Christianity. Conversion succeeded but the belief in aswangs stayed as well.

The existence of the White Lady has been confirmed at Balete Drive, but apparently is also seen elsewhere around the country. A recent sighting in Eastwood, Libis was caught in the camera of two girls who didn’t see the ghost at all. Of course, the Ghostbuster games and animated series continue to attract the youth.

Go through The Ghost Manual of Regis and include your own experiences on the subject matter. Aswangs are said to be the Filipino counterpart of the English vampire. But that would be another story.

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