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| comment | | "parent_author":"",<br>"parent_permlink":"jerrybanfield",<br>"author":"ablaire",<br>"permlink":"engkanto-my-entry-to-jerrybanfield-s-swc",<br>"title":"\"Engkanto\" - My Entry to @jerrybanfield's SWC",<br>"body":"I'm not superstitious at all but I feel that I have to share this story. I don't even know which category this fits. This is not a ghost haunting story,<br> a miraculous event or any inter-galactic experience. It's simply inexplicable and mysterious.\n\nIt all started with I was 12,<br> going on 13 when my family and I went on a vacation to my dad\u2019s hometown. We live in the city but my father\u2019s parents lived on a farm several islands away. To give you an idea on how it looks like there,<br> take a look at the picture below.\n\n![Tagasilay_rice_field_06.jpg (https:\/\/steemitimages.com\/DQmdzW5UighJUFdrt9acP5vdZTukyGLNmX2dYZrjqHbFAj2\/Tagasilay_rice_field_06.jpg)\n\n[Source (https:\/\/www.zamboanga.com\/z\/images\/6\/6d\/Tagasilay_rice_field_06.jpg)\n\nThere are just a few houses near the main road on where they lived and acres and acres of rice fields at the back. The next neighborhood is a few kilometers away. My grandparents' house was across a small school and a convenience store. Other than that,<br> I don\u2019t remember any other commercial establishment that was near.\n\nAnother reference picture:\n![rice-fields-stock-image_csp10547662.jpg (https:\/\/steemitimages.com\/DQmd4UTX7g97JDGzGimqwHgLK5K6UUK63iUnzsbjGjmsXJU\/rice-fields-stock-image_csp10547662.jpg)\n[Source (https:\/\/steemitimages.com\/DQmd4UTX7g97JDGzGimqwHgLK5K6UUK63iUnzsbjGjmsXJU\/rice-fields-stock-image_csp10547662.jpg)\n\nBy the way,<br> I\u2019m sorry if only have reference pictures. I was just a kid back then and I won\u2019t dare look for pictures in our albums. I also never went back.\n\nAnyway,<br> the vacation was also a reunion. There was another family who came to visit - my dad's sister,<br> her husband and three children. \n\nThere were five of us kids. The first few days went pretty smooth. We woke up each morning and went to the nearby hot spring to play. It was really cold in this province. We fed the pet turtles,<br> harvested cocoas,<br> helped make local delicacies -- nothing eventful. One afternoon at around 5 o'clock,<br> my younger brother and I decided to play on the rice fields. We were told to not take long because the \"engkantos\" might get us.\n\nAccording to local folklore,<br> it is at dusk when \"spirits\" or \"engkantos\" go out of their dwellings and walk among us. They are human in form but cannot be seen by those who do not have a third eye. (I'm already getting goosebumps as I'm typing this.)\n\n![Engkanto-encounter.jpg (https:\/\/steemitimages.com\/DQmdCKiyk1DTDEBjaJuLs1yM5PBWTgZZ7CEX98Ljjexg5EH\/Engkanto-encounter.jpg) \n [Source (https:\/\/www.aswangproject.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/06\/Engkanto-encounter.jpg)\n\nThey supposedly live in a parallel dimension. They are like us,<br> but more powerful. They also have families,<br> and live in a structured society. The difference between us and them is,<br> they can see us but we can't see them. They can close and open their world to us. They live inside trees which is their \"castle\" or \"kingdom\". There can be many \"engkantos\" in a single tree. Even in the modern day,<br> here in the Philippines,<br> when an old tree is about to be cut,<br> an offering and prayer is performed. We ask permission before a tree is cut by striking that tree with an ax. If the ax doesn't fall,<br> permission is granted,<br> if the ax falls,<br> we are not allowed to cut it.\n\nGoing back to our adventures in the rice fields,<br> the only memory I recall is that my then 8 year old brother fell into the rice fields and was all muddy. One of his slippers got stuck in the mud and we went back to the house with only one slipper. Here's when it got a little freaky. My mom noticed that my right earring was gone. My aunt gave it to me as a gift that morning and it was real gold so my mom got upset. It was impossible for me to take it off,<br> because I didn't know how to and there was no reason to. In less than a minute after she got upset,<br> I saw her eyes widen with confusion. My right earring was hanging on my left earring!\n\n(like this)\n![ear.JPG (https:\/\/steemitimages.com\/DQmNkMZmuk7ZXfi7Q69GU6tHCMT6ugsosAJFCpNwW6JBrx8\/ear.JPG)\n\nActually,<br> I don't recall feeling anything at that point. I just shrugged it off. But it was then that mysterious things started happening to me. I remember feeling the hairs at the back of my neck were standing on end and that someone was touching me at random times. It left the adults wondering and very perplexed.\n\nWhen we got back to the city,<br> my mom decided to seek out a psychic or faith healer. In our place,<br> they are the same. We met with one,<br> we didn't tell her much except what happened to my earrings. She asked if the room where I was staying had a big mango tree. It was a big yes. She explained,<br> a gentleman who is not part of our world (an \"engkanto\"),<br> eldest of a few siblings (I forgot how many) came to like me and played tricks. (\"Engkantos\" are also known to play tricks. They can also take humans into their world and not return them.)\n\nI still wasn't convinced. The psychic could just have guessed that mango tree and made up the rest of the story. But regardless,<br> I still couldn't explain what happened to my earrings. Nothing significant or life changing happened after that. I eventually stopped remembering the event but I did tell my friends and some people about my experience. They also found it hard to believe. \n\nFour years later,<br> my mom told me we were going to visit my grandparent's house again. The moment I her \"no\",<br> I wasn't coming,<br> our door bell rang. We went out,<br> nobody was there. We went back to the conversation. She said she already bought be tickets for the boat ride and that my things were ready. We almost went into an argument,<br> again,<br> I said \"no\". The door bell rang again. Nobody was outside. This happened 3 times. Every time I said no,<br> the door bell rang. That was really the time that I freaked out. Everybody freaked out. My mom's mom,<br> gave me a booklet and some latin words to recite. She said this should counter evil spirits,<br> engkantos or anyone who wishes to harm me. She also gave me a charm to wear. Everything went fine after the door bell episode,<br> the only side effect is that I could hear strange things at night like door knobs trying to open by themselves,<br> really loud knocking on our kitchen doors and goosebumps at random times for no reason. I'm not the only who hears things though,<br> it's my brother and me. \n\nUp to this day,<br> I'm still wondering what happened - the earrings,<br> the doorbell,<br> coincidence? I'm still not superstitious but I know 100% that the earring incident was paranormal. \n\nI wish someone could read this story and provide insights. I still don't know what to make of it. I am almost convinced but not quite.. that it was that \"gentleman\". This was over a decade ago. \n\n I'm not a writer and this is the longest piece I've written here on Steemit but I've made this effort knowing that this is a \"supernatural\" thread and there may be are others with a similar experience. I couldn't share this story on my other social media pages. People will just probably roll their eyes. But here,<br> there could a Steemian with an answer. Who knows. I'm not really expecting anything. I just thought I would share. \n\nThanks a lot for reading. :)",<br>"json_metadata":" \"tags\":[\"jerrybanfield\",<br>\"philippines\",<br>\"steemph\",<br>\"travel\",<br>\"swc\" ,<br>\"image\":[\"https:\/\/steemitimages.com\/DQmdzW5UighJUFdrt9acP5vdZTukyGLNmX2dYZrjqHbFAj2\/Tagasilay_rice_field_06.jpg\",<br>\"https:\/\/steemitimages.com\/DQmd4UTX7g97JDGzGimqwHgLK5K6UUK63iUnzsbjGjmsXJU\/rice-fields-stock-image_csp10547662.jpg\",<br>\"https:\/\/steemitimages.com\/DQmdCKiyk1DTDEBjaJuLs1yM5PBWTgZZ7CEX98Ljjexg5EH\/Engkanto-encounter.jpg\",<br>\"https:\/\/steemitimages.com\/DQmNkMZmuk7ZXfi7Q69GU6tHCMT6ugsosAJFCpNwW6JBrx8\/ear.JPG\" ,<br>\"links\":[\"https:\/\/www.zamboanga.com\/z\/images\/6\/6d\/Tagasilay_rice_field_06.jpg\",<br>\"https:\/\/steemitimages.com\/DQmd4UTX7g97JDGzGimqwHgLK5K6UUK63iUnzsbjGjmsXJU\/rice-fields-stock-image_csp10547662.jpg\",<br>\"https:\/\/www.aswangproject.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/06\/Engkanto-encounter.jpg\" ,<br>\"app\":\"steemit\/0.1\",<br>\"format\":\"markdown\" " | | vote | "voter":"ablaire",
"author":"ablaire",
"permlink":"engkanto-my-entry-to-jerrybanfield-s-swc",
"weight":10000 |
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