The doorknob & other ‘ghost’ stories

Do all ghosts spook the people they reportedly visit?

Let’s investigate.

My mother’s ancestral house, built around 1932, still stands today in Oriental Mindoro. It was built by carpenters from Taal, Batangas, so it has the Spanish colonial vibe of Taal’s heritage houses.

My uncle Edward Reyes lives there with his 10 German Shepherds. He is convinced a ghost has visited him there a couple of times.

In the almost century-old house, a wooden staircase with graceful balusters leads to the second floor, where another door opens up to an enclave of rooms surrounding a sala or family room.

Oh, how many times would I pass through those doors during the summers I spent in that stately home. At night, we would gather around a piano in the family room and swap stories about the day, sometimes, even ghost stories. You could say that next to the dining room on the first floor, this was the heart of the house when my grandparents were still alive and their grandchildren were visiting. The first-floor sala (sala mayor) was mainly for visitors.

One night this year, at around 2 a.m., my uncle was roused from sleep by the sound of floorboards creaking. It was persistent. Then he heard the doorknob to the family room turning left and right. Left. Right. Left. Right. The door was unlocked and yet whoever was turning the knob didn’t proceed to open it. The dogs were not barking either.

My uncle turned on the light in his room. When the room is lit, the glow is visible through the calado, pierced and intricately carved panels that line the upper part of the bedroom walls and doors in old houses for air to circulate.

Despite the glow, and the silent warning that someone was awake, the doorknob kept on turning. Still, not one of the dogs barked to spook any intruder, neither did they race to the family room to pounce on him — if he existed at all. It’s as if they knew the visitor.

It happened many nights. Finally, my uncle said, “Tatay, ikaw ba ‘yan?”

***

The answer? Silence.

“From that time on, the doorknob stopped turning,” recalls my uncle. There was a catch in his voice, laden with emotion, as he was narrating the incident. You see, if there was anything my grandfather was, it was protective.

My uncle believes the turning of the doorknob was Tatay checking on him, and on the beloved home he built for his family.

Still, my uncle keeps his 10 German Shepherds close by.

***

Tourism industry veteran Bob Zozobrado believes in “ghosts.”

“My ghost stories are all about my Mamá,” he shares.

“I was extremely scared when I had my angioplasty because I heard of many stories about people who never made it after the procedure.  I had been praying the rosary several days before.  After having been given anesthesia and a pill to calm me down, I was half-awake, half-asleep on the operating table.  After seeing the blockage on my artery on the monitor, my doctor left the room to talk to my sons who were asked to wait outside so he could explain the location of the three blockages and the resulting risk involved.  Naturally, the more I got scared as I was imagining the worst scenario.

“While alone on the operating table, I saw, on my left, my Mamá approaching me with a tender smile on her face, the same smile I used to see every time I’d share with her my little successes in life.  She told me in Cebuano, ‘Don’t be scared, hijo, you’ll be alright.’  Then I dozed off.  When I woke up, I was already back in my room with a stent.”

It wasn’t the first time he believes his Mom made her presence felt to him.

“Once was at the height of a typhoon that hit Metro Manila several years ago. Sure enough, the decor was in disarray and the sofa was wet, which my maid and I immediately took care of. When she was still alive, Mamá would call me from wherever she was (New York or Cebu) every time she learned of a typhoon hitting Manila,” recalls Bob.

“These days, I still feel her presence, smell her perfume, every time I ask her for help. A few years ago I asked her to intercede for me with Mama Mary for a smooth sail because I heard the open sea is quite rough this time of the year.  Everything went well. On our last day, while I was finishing my breakfast alone in the ship’s dining hall, an old Chinese lady decided to share my table. She was using the same perfume as my mom, so I looked up! She was the spitting image of my mom! I had to take her picture and told her why.”

Then Bob hurried back to his cabin because he needed a private place to cry!

“It’s been 12 years since Mamá left us, but she still looks after my siblings and me.”

***

Today, All Saints’ Day, is when Filipinos troop in hordes to cemeteries to remember their beloved departed. But the eve of Nov. 1 is usually associated with ghosts and all the spooky characters of Halloween.

My good friend Fr. Joy Tajonera, a Maryknoll priest who takes care of the spiritual needs of OFWs in Taiwan, once told me “ghosts” are spirits. In fact, Fr. Joy pointed out that in the past, the “Holy Spirit” was referred to in prayers as the “Holy Ghost.” (i.e. “In the name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost. Amen.”)

There are also good spirits. “When we are in deep prayers or when we are in a holy place we can feel the presence of the spirit,” said Fr. Joy. “The celebration of All Saints’ Day on Nov. 1 and All Souls’ Day on Nov. 2 is our faith and belief in the communion of saints and our dear ones, our deceased family members. Every Mass is a prayer that one day we will all be united and no one can separate us from the love of God.”

“(But) evil spirits, bad spirits exist as well.  So, we offer our prayers. We ask for blessings. We ask for exorcism,” said Fr. Joy.

So when you’re in doubt whether your ghost is friendly or not,  Fr. Joy has shared this prayer: “Come, Holy Ghost, Creator blest, And in our hearts take up thy rest; Come with thy grace and heav’nly aid, To fill the hearts which thou hast made, To fill the hearts which thou hast made.”

(You may e-mail me at [email protected]. Follow me on Instagram @joanneraeramirez.)