February 3, 2009
I have never been talking with an indigo person, a person that admittedly mentions that he/she has the ability to do the ‘supernatural’ things like talking to ghosts and spirit of the deaths. In the past, I sometimes just met them who are partly able to feel the ‘aura’ of the spirits or ghosts, and can detect whether a house is haunted and by what kind of creature. There are plenty of stories about the description of this and that ghost by these people, which usually is transmitted happily and curiously (well, of course with lots of additional ‘seasoning’ and ‘spices’) as perfect type of stories to kill boredom among many Indonesians. In my opinion, the topic about spirits and ghosts is tantamount to the topic about weather in current Westerners’ conversation: neutral, do no harm to anyone, one can add as many stories as possible due to countless number of them that one ever heard from a friend, from a friend’s friend, from family member, family member’s family, and so on. Indonesia, as we all know, is a country in which most of the population officially hold Monotheism, Hinduism or Buddhism, - as the state sponsored religions, but the majority indeed holds strong animism and dynamism belief, de facto. One can tell that by identifying so many ghost stories that are nationally believed in this modern 21st century, and so many superstitions that are alive as they were centuries ago.
This is the excerpt from Wikipedia about indigo children:
“In the New Age movement, Indigo children are children who are believed to represent a higher state of human evolution. The term itself is a reference to the belief that such children have an indigo-colored aura.[1] Beliefs concerning the exact nature of Indigo children vary, with some believing that they have paranormal abilities such as the ability to read minds, and others that they are distinguished from non-Indigo children merely by more conventional traits such as increased empathy and creativity”.
This definition does not sound fit with my understanding about indigo child/person. From my perception, and I believe many other friends’ too, it is simply about a person, whether a child or a grown-up, who possess the ability to see other reality, such as ghosts and spirits, those from other dimensional reality, which is mostly cannot be seen by the ‘normal’ people. This ability ranges from weak, mild and strong ability. Some people are able to feel when the ghost or spirit is passing the room (they feel as if a chilling wind is passing the room), some people are able to smell the fragrance (or stink) of the ghost or spirit, which is usually associated with different smells in different regions, for example in Java it is kenanga (Cananga odorata)or sedap malam (Polianthes tuberose), while in Timor and surroundings, it is pandan (Pandanus odorus, P. latifolius). Some other people are able to see the ‘black shadow’ which moves quickly in the room but they cannot really describe whether it is a man, woman, or a child. The other can describe although in vague description about how the ghost looks like, or whether it is a man or woman or a child and what they wear. Some, can see the eyes of the spirits (‘sharp like a knife’ or ‘burning like the flame’ or ‘like cat’s or dog’s eyes at night’), but cannot describe how the ghosts are look like physically. Some have stronger ability, and can describe that what he/she just see is actually ‘an old man’, ‘an old woman’ or ‘a small boy’. I have met many people with this variety of supernatural ability, or at least have heard the stories about that quite often. However, meeting someone who said that he/she meets spirits and ghosts like normal people, and talk to them like to normal people, is a rare occasion. I was like ‘Whew, really? You’ve gotta be kidding me!’ She seriously said she has that ability. Then I said ‘Would you mind I ask you a lot of questions, just to address my curiosity?’I was really curios because this is the first time I would have a chance to sort of cross check what others have been said before about these super natural issues, or what the horror movies that I’ve watched have suggested. She said OK, so I will write some of my short ‘interview’ with her down here. Do not laugh, or hundred percent believe, this is just the information that I received, of course, whether it is objective or not, true or false, will depend on one’s belief and also further research.
Astral journey: she called this experience ‘ngintip’ –or sneaking, which means her spirit can go beyond her body to other places which are impossible to travel physically at short period of time (well, this is still a burning question I forgot to ask about how time is in that other reality: faster? shorter? just about the same?). I did jokingly said, ‘So does it mean you can save some money and go back to your hometown (Jogjakarta) easily?’ To my surprise, she said, “Yes, I go to Jogjakarta quite often to meet my friends and family’. GUBRAKK..I did not expect such a straightforward answer. I hope not so many people are able to do this frequently, because then the airline industry will suffer a lot. Nobody will need Qantas, or Garuda, or SQ. Just whoos…and a-8/9 hours flight between Melbourne and Jogjakarta can be accomplished within seconds.
For comparison, this is what Wikipedia suggests about out-of body experience:
An out-of-body experience (OBE or sometimes OOBE), is an experience that typically involves a sensation of floating outside of one’s body and, in some cases, perceiving one’s physical body from a place outside one’s body (autoscopy). The term out of body experience was introduced by Robert Monroe in 1971[1] as a bias-free alternative to belief-centric labels such as “astral projection” or “spirit walking”. Though the term usefully distances researchers from scientifically problematic concepts such as the soul, scientists still know little about the phenomenon.[2] One in ten people has an out-of-body experience at some time in their lives[3]. OBEs are often part of the near-death experience, and reportedly may also lead to astral projection. Those who have experienced OBEs sometimes claim to have observed details which were unknown to them beforehand.[4]
Some neurologists have suspected that the event is triggered by a mismatch between visual and tactile signals. They used a virtual reality setup to recreate an OBE. The subject looked through goggles and saw his own body as it would appear to an outside observer standing behind him. The experimenter then touched the subject at the same time as a rod appeared to touch the virtual image. The experiment created an illusion of being behind and outside one’s body.[7]
From her experience, she said that it is really difficult to return to her body after the journey, because it feels so heavy and even a bit hurt, feels like all her muscles have just been exercised too much, and feel so weak like ill people. She also said that during the travel, she feels cold when passing the ocean. OMG, must be so thrilling to fly through Pacific Ocean with your sole body and see it far below with your own eyes –and not from an aircraft window!
Telepathy: she usually talks to her friend in Jogja, but she said that her telepathy ability can only be used with people with similar ability. It means, she cannot be connected with common people with no such ability. Although sometimes she can see what happened to the missing or lost items for example, she said she’s not going to announce it clearly that she has the ability. She’s afraid of giving an impression that she’s a ‘dukun’ or magician. No she is not, she insists.
Talking with spirit of the death: she said that the 3 days, 7 days, 40 days, 100 days commemoration does mean something, but I forgot which one is for which meaning. For example, if I’m not mistaken, 3 days means the death is still around the house, and then go further and further. Though, this sound inconsistent with what she told me earlier that she usually talked with her belated father because if he has travelled further, then how come it’s easy for them to meet? Anyhow, she told me the story about her moving to a new office, which building is haunted by an old Italian couple who introduced themselves with Italian language. The old man was having cigarettes and the lady was weaving. She said that we share same space but different dimension because they are still in the building as if it is their house perhaps a century or so ago. She also told me the story about some victims of a car accident in the city centre, where the three teenagers were still stuck inside the car and were asking for her help to get them out of there. Sadly, she said sorry because she can’t help them. ‘Why?’ I asked. She said because it’s a huge job and she was afraid she can’t accomplish it, even she might have made things worse. And she told me that it might seem easy, but the effort will be as difficult as in the movie ‘Ghost Whisperer’, where this psychic must look for the dead child’s parents and explained to them to have a peace in order to make the child realized that she has to proceed to other reality, heaven. I was amazed. It is so movie like. I confirmed again whether it is like ‘The Others’ or “Sixth Sense’, and she approved. Whew..
Their physical appearance: exactly just like human being. They wear clothes like normal people. Strangely however, she mentioned about ‘pocong’ and ‘muka rata’ whose appearances are the worst of all. I actually asked about this strange things several times, but she really really seriously answered that the ‘pocong’ who has an unfinished business (the cloth tie is not properly untied), and gosh, it loves to chase people (including her) to help unwrap its clothes! The other that she said is that the ‘pocong’ is that they are so stinks like rotten meat (pretty sure they are indeed!). About ‘muka rata’ (or flat face), she said she hates this kind of ghost because they look like raw meat, like lizard’s skin, flat and round (oh, did I explain that ‘muka rata’ means that they have the head but without nose, ear, eyes or hair, but all face consists of the rounded cheek?). This kind of ghost usually surprised her to death. She always scared to see one of this kind.
Their behavior: they do their activity as if it is a ‘normal’ world. They do sitting and chat each other. They behave and talk like the way they talk when they were alive. I asked if they really don’t have feet like in the movies, and do they fly and not touching the ground when they walk? Her answer is quite unclear. She said yes they walk faster because they don’t need to carry the physical body. Just like her when she was doing her astral journey.
What happened when someone’s dying: the angel of death will come and take that person, but before that, a bunch of people usually the closest connection, whether it’s a brother, sister, parents or other family members will come first, which according to her, explains why some people sometime claim that they have seen their predecessors coming and waving to them. I asked her, ‘How about the musical that was heard by the dying person soon before they die? Because my grandmother was said to have listened to some choir and people singing Gospel songs before she died, and the other friend’s father was said to have listened to Java ‘tembang’ before he passed away’. She said it is part of the ‘entertainment’ to welcome them into the new reality. However, it depends much on their ‘taste’ and ‘habit’ when they were alive: did they like gospel or Javanese songs or jazz probably. I suppose Elvis might have been welcomed with rock and roll right after he took the drugs? And Kurt Cobain with trash rock and Pavarotti with opera music? Who knows..who knows…
The connection with heaven and hell: she said she believes that, as Bible says (oh yes, she’s a Christian I met in the church by the way), there is a place like ‘terminal’ where the deaths have been waiting for the second coming of the Messiah (this is applicable for Islam and Christian faith, but in Islam, the Last Judge is called Imam Mahdi). I’m pretty sure the name is Hades. Well, I have just googled it and it could be Hades or Sheol, which was popularized by Dante’s Divine Comedy. Below is what Wiki says about it:
Sheol (pronounced “Sheh-ole”)[1], in Hebrew שאול (Sh’ol), is the “abode of the dead”, the “underworld“, or “pit”.[2]Sheol is the common destination of both the righteous and the unrighteous dead, as recounted in Ecclesiastes and Job.
Sheol is sometimes compared to Hades, the gloomy, twilight afterlife of Greek mythology. The word “hades” was in fact substituted for “sheol” when the Hebrew scriptures were translated into Greek (see Septuagint). The New Testament (written in Greek) also uses “hades” to refer to the abode of the dead.
Some believe that it is just a transit place, all are in the same condition: awaiting for the second coming of Christ. However, some believe that people have started harvesting the consequences of their lives in the profane world. The latter refers to the story of what happen with the rich and the beggar when they’re dead, where there is a ‘unbridgeable gap’ between the paradise and the hades, as Abraham mentioned it to the rich who asked the poor to give him taste a bit of water because it is too hot in the place where he is.
Most horrible venue is hospital: because it is very busy, traffic sometimes, when she said she sometimes bumped into the family members of the deaths who are coming for a ‘welcoming ceremony’ of the dying person. Some music are played (depends on what kind of music is the dying’s favorite). She said that she met different kind of people (spirits I mean) in there. Those who are not yet realized that they have moved to different reality and busy asking here and there (and yeah, sure asking her ‘journeyed soul’ too! Scary huh!).
Well, this post may look a bit fictious, but even I myself could almost not believe of what I wrote so far. Did not make it up, so unbelievable! Will be interesting to confront with the religions’ belief and philosophy on this aspect. Must be intriguing to see..
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