Post by Micha on Feb 27, 2009 17:04:40 GMT -5
On the topic of Asian supersitions, I was just wondering what the views were on Black Magic as while jotting down all my apparently silly Asian superstitions, I realised how I still subconciously adhere to many of them.
Anyway, my Asian side is Malaysian and with South-East Asia being widely known in the practice of Black Magic whether it be effective or not, I find it slightly chilling that I OFTEN see front covers of newspapers with, "Four children slaughtered" and the cause of death is down to dark practices.. In any Western newspaper it would be a joke. All my white British friends who have visited S.E. Asia find it really odd and usually laughable but they just throw in phrases like, 'backwards culture' which I find slightly insulting as I actually find it a sensitive topic. Here are some of my personal experiences, all from family members but none were reminisced casually over dinner, they were whispered and came out of my curiousity: (?)
1. My Uncle had many problems with his family and his marriage and as he is very well-to-do, his wife would literally take his cards to spend thousands on Louis Vuitton in Milan. Anyway, while she was away on one of her trips, he decided to take the dark wood cladding away from his porch (which she had comissioned to be put there when they first bought the house) the Indonesian workers who were stripping the wood found a deep hole under the porch and in it was a little bag full of animal bones, hair, leaves - when he picked it up his hands were instantly scarred with deep cuts and my Aunt (who I deeply respect) was managing the workers witnessed it. After they disposed of the bag, he reconnected with the rest of the family, cut up all the cards and divorced his wife. I was a bit skeptical as it could be a placebo effect but he lived in the shadow of this women so much so that he neglected his three children.
2. My Mum's best friend moved to the British countryside after her husband worked in Indonesia for a while, while eavesdropping, I found out that he was murdered - his body was massacred in a ritualistic killing.
3. My cousin (when he was 17) and his gang of Malay friends thought they were hugely 'gangster' until there was some mass sleepover in their school (part of a Muslim prayer ritual etc.) Their school is also built in deep jungle. Anyway, my other cousins and other people I have met saw a girl they knew jump over an 8ft. fence as if she were superhuman and she was uncontrollable and 'posessed' (talking in a different voice. My cousin wet himself and they called a Bomoh (witch doctor) to restrain her. Consequently the girl moved out of the town after that.
4. An Uncle of mine was staying in a hostel in Thailand in the late '90s and he found a small voodoo doll with hair pinned into it hanging from the light in his room. They found an elderly woman hung from the very same place in the adjacent room.
5. My family have fired at least three Indonesian maids for practicing black magic - apparently dousing the food of my Aunts making them very docile so the maids were allowed to be lazy and steal money. Another wrote prayers in some sort of animal blood behind her door and covered her floor in photos and hair and all sorts before fleeing that morning. Lots of odd happenings..
6. I did some volunteer work in a hospital in Malaysia and they actually had a ward where people were suffering from 'curses' - I actually thought it was slightly ridiculous and Harry Potter-esque.
I'd like to believe it's all just idiotic but every single person I've come across (from Malaysia) has heard similar stories and when posed the question, ''do you believe in it?'' they remain silent, I'm slightly dubious whether it is just coincidence or culture... too many Asian horror movies me thinks.
Anyway, my Asian side is Malaysian and with South-East Asia being widely known in the practice of Black Magic whether it be effective or not, I find it slightly chilling that I OFTEN see front covers of newspapers with, "Four children slaughtered" and the cause of death is down to dark practices.. In any Western newspaper it would be a joke. All my white British friends who have visited S.E. Asia find it really odd and usually laughable but they just throw in phrases like, 'backwards culture' which I find slightly insulting as I actually find it a sensitive topic. Here are some of my personal experiences, all from family members but none were reminisced casually over dinner, they were whispered and came out of my curiousity: (?)
1. My Uncle had many problems with his family and his marriage and as he is very well-to-do, his wife would literally take his cards to spend thousands on Louis Vuitton in Milan. Anyway, while she was away on one of her trips, he decided to take the dark wood cladding away from his porch (which she had comissioned to be put there when they first bought the house) the Indonesian workers who were stripping the wood found a deep hole under the porch and in it was a little bag full of animal bones, hair, leaves - when he picked it up his hands were instantly scarred with deep cuts and my Aunt (who I deeply respect) was managing the workers witnessed it. After they disposed of the bag, he reconnected with the rest of the family, cut up all the cards and divorced his wife. I was a bit skeptical as it could be a placebo effect but he lived in the shadow of this women so much so that he neglected his three children.
2. My Mum's best friend moved to the British countryside after her husband worked in Indonesia for a while, while eavesdropping, I found out that he was murdered - his body was massacred in a ritualistic killing.
3. My cousin (when he was 17) and his gang of Malay friends thought they were hugely 'gangster' until there was some mass sleepover in their school (part of a Muslim prayer ritual etc.) Their school is also built in deep jungle. Anyway, my other cousins and other people I have met saw a girl they knew jump over an 8ft. fence as if she were superhuman and she was uncontrollable and 'posessed' (talking in a different voice. My cousin wet himself and they called a Bomoh (witch doctor) to restrain her. Consequently the girl moved out of the town after that.
4. An Uncle of mine was staying in a hostel in Thailand in the late '90s and he found a small voodoo doll with hair pinned into it hanging from the light in his room. They found an elderly woman hung from the very same place in the adjacent room.
5. My family have fired at least three Indonesian maids for practicing black magic - apparently dousing the food of my Aunts making them very docile so the maids were allowed to be lazy and steal money. Another wrote prayers in some sort of animal blood behind her door and covered her floor in photos and hair and all sorts before fleeing that morning. Lots of odd happenings..
6. I did some volunteer work in a hospital in Malaysia and they actually had a ward where people were suffering from 'curses' - I actually thought it was slightly ridiculous and Harry Potter-esque.
I'd like to believe it's all just idiotic but every single person I've come across (from Malaysia) has heard similar stories and when posed the question, ''do you believe in it?'' they remain silent, I'm slightly dubious whether it is just coincidence or culture... too many Asian horror movies me thinks.
