Can spirits inflict harm on human beings? The following letter I received from reader, Rosauro G. Fuente of Manila, seems to be a case in point.

For the past five years now, I have been thinking about a phenomenon that happens to me whenever I plan a trip to Zamboanga City. I get wounds on my feet as fast as the next day, or if I do not get them in Manila, they catch up with me in Zamboanga.

Since I had already spent a considerable sum of money on dermatologists, I tried paranormal healing. Two persons from Zamboanga City who do not know each other, told me that a woman had died in the house I am now occupying in Manila, and she does not want me to travel.

When I came back to Manila, I inquired from the neighborhood if a woman had really died in the house. The description made by the neighbors fitted that of Zamboangenians, "curly hair, morena." The high point of the story is that I saw her one time in my room — just as described. I just stared and kept watching her. Finally, she talked to me, and said, "I like you." I could not sleep until 2 a.m., so I woke my companion up in the other room, and told him about it.

Weeks ago, I started packing my things for a long trip to the South, since it was my vacation from teaching. As expected, I have the wounds again, and I am limping around the house. An espiritista is trying to cure me as he did in the past. I just want to know your comment on this.

The belief that the spirit of the dead comes back to cause either good or ill on the living has long been held by Filipinos and other societies since ancient times. And that is the reason why in certain primitive tribes, elaborate rituals have been devised to appease the spirit of the dead, and ensure it does no harm to the living.

Although orthodox science ignores the phenomenon, and Christian Churches deny that souls come back to haunt the living, the evidence obtained by serious researchers seem to confirm the ancient belief rather than contradict it. Not only spirits of human beings, but also various nature spirits inflict harm on man. There have been numerous cases of children, even adults, who develop rashes all over the body, or get afflicted with unexplainable fever, bloated stomach, or some other diseases of unknown medical origin, after having played in the yard, climbed or cut an old tree, or urinated on thick bushes, where elves are believed to reside.

When such things happen, only a spirit doctor, an exorcist, or a shaman can help the victim or patient. No amount of medication will eradicate the illness. Here is where spiritual healing can greatly assist man. Doctors of medicine, meanwhile, can address physically-caused illness.

You are lucky that the spirit in your house chose to show herself, and reveal to you the motive for inflicting the wounds on you. She must have been a very jealous wife or lover when still alive, and she carried the same trait in the afterlife.

Although your case has not yet reached the level of sexual molestation by the spirit, it may interest you to know that there are well-documented cases of such incidents in the annals of the Catholic Church. A male spirit who sexually molests or rapes a living woman is called an "incubus," a female spirit who sexually molests and forces herself on a living man is called "succubus." Victims have reported that the experience was usually sexually stimulating, but at the same time, terrifying.

I am glad to know that you are under treatment by an espiritista, who has succeeded in helping you in the past. You must do as he tells you for your own good. Your house needs an exorcism of some sort. Ask your espiritista friend if he can do this. If he can, ask him to do it soon.

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