Seeing is believing

I've traveled to Thailand quite frequently over the last decade in order to get to know my family there. Thailand is a very different world from what I'm used to here in the United States. In Bangkok, there's the smell of machine oil mixed with banana leaves. The dogs are mangy and numerous, since Buddhists don't believe in killing them and let them roam free. Street vendors sell all kinds of edible goodies--grilled calamari, satay, cut pineapple, and coconut ice-cream in hot dog buns, to name a few. There, exotic fruits are not durian, lychee, or mangosteen, but rather Red Delicious apples with the little "Washington State" sticker. But if you ask me, one of the most striking differences is that the supernatural (ghosts, spirits--that sort of thing) is not just something for scary movies over there. It's real, and I've seen it.

One day about five years ago, my aunts took me to a Chinese temple built by my grandfather's cousin, who emigrated from China about the same time as my grandparents and became quite a successful businessman. All the people who go to that temple are my relatives. My aunts are now Christian, but at that time they consulted the Chinese god about major decisions. For instance, they asked whether one of my cousins should come to the United States to study or not. The Chinese god answered no.

Anyway, the day I went to the temple, I got to see first-hand how this stuff works. There is an expansive hall on the second floor of the building where everyone sits on polished wood floors. At the head of the hall sits a big, gold-colored Chinese idol in a glass case. There are other idols around him, along with incense and other idol stuff. About 30 of us were there that Sunday, and sat along the sides with the people making the requests in the middle, facing the idol.

There are also two servant girls sitting at the foot of the idol, in a trance and sitting cross-legged with their eyes closed. They don't move, except for each grasping the ends of a Y-shaped stick with one inside hand. They use the stick to write Chinese characters in a sandbox about 2' x 3' in size. Each time they write a character and it is read aloud, they start on the next one. That's how the Chinese god "talks" to the people.

I was really shocked when I saw that, because I knew there was no way they could know what to write ahead of time. Also, writing Chinese is not a haphazard exercise because each stroke has to be made in order, in the correct direction, and the correct length.

Anyway, I just thought it interesting how in the Western world we don't really see that much of the supernatural, but in places like Thailand it is part of everyday life. If you have an undeniably supernatural experience, please share it in the comments.