SPI Hungry Ghost Eve Investigation 2006
Locating the Hell-gates (Portals) of Hungry Ghosts
Locating the Hell-gates (Portals) of Hungry Ghosts
In 7th month every year, it is hard to miss the swirling fragments of banknotes, addressed to hell, yet paradoxically drifting skywards. Joss sticks sprout like wildflowers. The meandering veil of incense paints an image of the languid "brethren" ruminating over the staid confections by the roadside. In modern Singapore, such cultic activities filled every corner of our neighborhood. Is it just a matter of cultural belief, or something more? What are these Hungry Ghosts? Are they facts or fictions? One of the important investigation missions in SPI during Hungry Ghost Month is pivoted on exploring what Hungry Ghosts really are. In particular, the related concept of "Hell Gate" or a portal through which the ghosts transport from the other dimension to here. How is a portal? Does it exist in reality or merely in myth? SPI checks it out.
Introduction
On the eve of the hungry ghost month, July 25 of 2006, an experiment has been performed by SPI that had not been attempted elsewhere to investigate the element of a 'hell gate' as perceived by believers worldwide. It has been said that this gate of hell will be opened on the eve of hungry ghost month letting loose a wave of spirits onto the living world to feast upon food offerings and burning incenses provided by the relations of the deceased. To verify upon this claim, SPI had enlisted the service of members hailing from the psychic, gadget and film footage areas of expertise in order to address the question whether such a spiritual portal exists singularly or in multiples especially to determine its location and direction. This is what SPI had set out to do to search for answers from a fusion of metaphysical and scientific means driven by its motto "Solve the unsolved, exPlain the unexplained, and Investigate into the unknown". Only then will SPI know for certain if this 'hell gate' is merely symbolic or true. The members involved from the psychic team was Azri, who is in his late teens having learnt the bomoh craft in Indonesia since young as well as Cahaya, a precision mechanical engineer, who is blessed with the ability to see and communicate with the paranormal. From the gadget team is Wired, who a polytechnic student is majoring in electrical and electronic engineering, and other seasoned paranormal investigator proficient in the use of SPI gadgets. The team responsible for filming the event for documentation purpose is Kenny, the founder of SPI along with Rina.
Investigation
The appointed time SPI arrived on the scene at Bukit Brown Cemetery was 10:30pm where a designated place was chosen at the centre of cemetery known also to be one of the highest hill peaks believed to emit a strong spiritual energy. The ritual was conducted on a quiet and lonely stretch of road in which the focus of the experiment is to investigate from both spiritual and scientific aspects on the alleged 'hell gate' phenomenon. Hence, the psychic team will execute a special ritual aided by an array of gadgets to capture any paranormal evidence that will determine the direction and position of any spiritual portal.
It is hoped that this experiment will shed some light on bridging subjective paranormal experiences (such as seeing or feeling the presence of the hell-gate portal by psychic) and objective existences by recording some hard footages or readings.
To prepare the ritual, Azri created a small 'spiritual path' on the road that was marked by three yellow candles of varying sizes from large to small in succession. Then, a number of spiritual artefacts were placed on a centrepiece including some ancient coins which are believed to house spirits, slices of lime, a seven-coloured string, a metal nail with cotton threads attached, a Chinese coin and a special ring. These artefacts act as a magnet to attract spirits wandering in the vicinity and also to maintain order among them. Other items like incense and camphor were used as food offerings for the spirits.
The main piece of the ritual was a sacred parang or machete that was believed to be used by an ancient warrior fought in battles long ago and being an epitome of death possesses strong spiritual power. Blood seeped from Azri's cut hand was smeared onto the blade to activate its power as a form of channelling during the chanting where his mind and words were focused along the blade to its tip. This ritual was taught to him by his Indonesian bomoh master used to summon any spirits without fail, which Azri was attempting to do. Once the ritual preparation was completed, the SPI team retreated to a safe distance as a precautionary measure while waiting for one hour hoping for the spirits to emerge on the intended spot. It was mentioned by a Taoist priest that the calculated time for hell-gate to open would be 11:30pm for this particular season, which the SPI members were waiting for the clock to strike at that time.
The following gadgets were used to record empirical measurements for scientific analysis at the site with the hope of capturing some solid evidences of the paranormal:
* Non-contact temperature laser gun
* Two infra-red recording cameras; they faced two different directions trying to capture whatever entities that may come near to the ritual ground centrepiece.
* EMF meter; it was put near the centrepiece where the entities supposed to come and feed on the food.
* Flour powder; a simple but most effective item to capture footprints of entities, which was poured right next to the candle lit path that was supposed to guide the spirits to the centrepiece and food offerings.
Results
Upon commencement of the ritual while SPI waited some distances away, several paranormal instances had occurred as listed below:
Paranormal #1. The temperature gun recorded a very unusual temperature fluctuation of a ritual coin. The temperature dropped from 25.5C to 13.3C, and then bounced back to 26C. The drop and rise happened only in a matter of few seconds. This is almost impossible for such acute temperature changes, let alone in such a short time. The copper coin was believed to contain a spirit that may have absorbed and released surrounding energies too. Azri explained such sudden fall and rise in temperature was attributed to the coin spirit sensing the presence of other nearby spirits nearby that excited it.
Paranormal #2. When the chanting was completed, the time hit 11:30pm whereby the hell gate was supposed to open and so we moved 60 meters away and observed from a far. Strange howling was heard, not once but twice. The first howling was short-lived and was heard when Azri started preparing the ritual. The howling escalated, when we left the food centrepiece alone. It sounded like a sad mourning, which was definitely not the sound of a bird or bat, coming from no tree. They came from behind the tombs just behind the ritual's location. They sounded as if the ambience was crying. We used the long-distance sound enhancer to pin-point the source of sounds and confirmed that.
Paranormal #3. A mysterious foot-print was found on the flour powder. It was like a human bare foot but more than that. The shape looked like a human foot for there were toes, an arch and the ball shape in the heel. The distinct feature however was the centre foot-print, which showed some scale like patterns. Human foot palm is smooth and almost flat. The footprint details can be viewed in the following photo.
Although the video footage on the event has not been analysed yet, SPI knew for certain that moving shadows were expected at the site based on past paranormal investigations. Later, Cahaya was asked on his opinion about the event looking through his 3rd eye, which he stated:
"In the beginning when we first stepped into the cemetery, I sensed there are many spirits there already. They are the natural spirits. Nothing hostile, nothing chaotic. But there are many of them. So they are already here even before the Chinese said the hell gates open. During Azri was doing the ritual, I noticed something unusual. They multiplied. They came in huge numbers and they were more active than before. A lot of movements, from tree to tree and tomb to tomb. They are everywhere, and seemed to have come from all the different directions."
"The sudden surge of activities started to happen from the moment Azri started chanting (which Azri mentioned, when asked by Kenny, that the chant was a set of secret phrases meant to summon and had being verbally passed down through the generations till it reached him via his master in Indonesia). As the chant was said out, the activities of the spirits peaked."
"(Kenny later asked, what kinds of spirits are they?). The spirits are just energies that take invisible form. Our normal eyes cannot see them. But can only feel them in our mind. Sometimes it works better when I close my eyes even. I sense images of them in energy form in my mind where the energies take shape, sometimes of a human, sometimes of just a creature, with some indefinite shape. But you know that they are alive creatures. They were excited because there were FOOD for them!"
"(Then Kenny asked again, are they the hungry ghosts in Chinese context?) Cahaya frowned. He said, "I know them only as jinns (demons) or spirits, some creatures from the other world, their intention is to feed on food. It is just like you dump a large piece of meat in an Africa jungle, then surrounded by many hungry tigers. You don't know what breeds the tigers are. You only know they can move, they want to eat, they have lives and they are hungry and excited. Throughout the year some people can see them. Not necessary only during hungry ghost month you can see so."
Kenny turned to ask Azri, what ritual did you do? What is the purpose of the ritual? Azri said that:
"The ritual is a fool-proof ritual he learnt from Indonesia, being able to summon any kind of spirit. This time, he was only calling them for a feast. That is the purpose. And they came very responsively. They came in a huge crowd that is much larger in amount than usual. Azri added, when I was chanting I felt their presence and their demands. I tried extra hard at the end of the chant to throw all my focused-mind to them until I became very exhausted. Why? There are just too many! Just like for example, when you stand in front of a very large crowd and wanted to talk to them, you need to raise your voice to peak in order to get them heard."
Indeed, large beads of sweat were seen on his forehead to confirm that he was totally drained out after the ritual, which was thought to be a simple prayer much to the surprise of Kenny.
Conclusion
In conclusion, what exactly is Hell Gate in the 7th month? How many of them were there? When consulting the two psychics, Azri and Cahaya, individually and separately, they both concluded that there are many "doors" sprouted around. Having no understanding of the Chinese 7th month culture, they described the portal as doors, which emerged everywhere in large numbers from all directions, either on the air or ground.
This description is analogous to a feast set in a centre of town calling for every human denizen to come join the food festivity and people come pouring forth with eagerness from every opening door of the town houses. On this aspect, the cemetery is like a paranormal town accommodating every tomb house, which spirits opened their doors from their supernatural domain or residence to join in the feast provided by SPI.
It may be a matter of coincidence that the psychics were not keeping the time but Azri's chanting ended exactly at 11:30pm, the time Taoist calculated Hell Gate to open. Furthermore, they verified that a very high surge of supernatural activities occurred just after the chanting ended at 11:30pm! According to them, the spirits certainly looked hungry. Indeed, portals, hell gates or doors may be just terms in the human language but it was told that there were certainly many of them appearing from different directions, which suddenly become opened for entities to come forth in huge numbers at 11:30pm sharp. Does this particular time only happens on the 7th month for spirits to be unleashed or it is something that occurs on a nightly basis on any other month? SPI investigation continues…
During 7th month, the hell gates open and the hungry souls roam out. The legend is passed down from generation after generation. This story exists in both Taoist and Buddhist, though in different versions. This experiment takes a step reinforcing the existence of spirits in the eve of hungry ghost month. They are believed to be "hungry" thus got attracted to food offering. They showed their presence by signs scattered across SPI footages. Whether you believe it or not, you should show respect.
As time was closing to 11:30pm, in a bushed cemetery hill water vapours became heavier. It might be normal that such atmospheric change attributes to the sensation of more "chaos", "quantity multiplied", etc. Also, if orbs and light balls in digital photos and infra-red photos respectively are debunked to be reflection of water droplets in air, the greater chance by which SPI captured such photos makes sense.
Then for the night vision photos that allegedly captured the portals, the hazy lights look like lens flare which is a very common thing in photography. (c.f. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lens_flare). Depending on the lens coating, lens flare usually scatter across the lens in circular shapes resembling some eerie ghostly lights. Aren't the lights in the photo which is believed to be a ghost portal just a result of lens fare?
Regarding the footprint found on the flour path, it could be imprinted by a tangki (Taoist medium) who paraded around cemetery. It is popular that temple fellows would come into cemeteries in bulks by lorries. It wouldn't be surprised if a tangki so happen to come across SPI's investigation station, he curiously came near and left his footprint. Those tangkis were known to be shoeless. Yes, they walked with their bare feet.
Adapted from>>>http://spi.com.sg/spi_files/hungry_ghost_eve_2006/index.htm
Investigation
The appointed time SPI arrived on the scene at Bukit Brown Cemetery was 10:30pm where a designated place was chosen at the centre of cemetery known also to be one of the highest hill peaks believed to emit a strong spiritual energy. The ritual was conducted on a quiet and lonely stretch of road in which the focus of the experiment is to investigate from both spiritual and scientific aspects on the alleged 'hell gate' phenomenon. Hence, the psychic team will execute a special ritual aided by an array of gadgets to capture any paranormal evidence that will determine the direction and position of any spiritual portal.
It is hoped that this experiment will shed some light on bridging subjective paranormal experiences (such as seeing or feeling the presence of the hell-gate portal by psychic) and objective existences by recording some hard footages or readings.
To prepare the ritual, Azri created a small 'spiritual path' on the road that was marked by three yellow candles of varying sizes from large to small in succession. Then, a number of spiritual artefacts were placed on a centrepiece including some ancient coins which are believed to house spirits, slices of lime, a seven-coloured string, a metal nail with cotton threads attached, a Chinese coin and a special ring. These artefacts act as a magnet to attract spirits wandering in the vicinity and also to maintain order among them. Other items like incense and camphor were used as food offerings for the spirits.
The main piece of the ritual was a sacred parang or machete that was believed to be used by an ancient warrior fought in battles long ago and being an epitome of death possesses strong spiritual power. Blood seeped from Azri's cut hand was smeared onto the blade to activate its power as a form of channelling during the chanting where his mind and words were focused along the blade to its tip. This ritual was taught to him by his Indonesian bomoh master used to summon any spirits without fail, which Azri was attempting to do. Once the ritual preparation was completed, the SPI team retreated to a safe distance as a precautionary measure while waiting for one hour hoping for the spirits to emerge on the intended spot. It was mentioned by a Taoist priest that the calculated time for hell-gate to open would be 11:30pm for this particular season, which the SPI members were waiting for the clock to strike at that time.
The following gadgets were used to record empirical measurements for scientific analysis at the site with the hope of capturing some solid evidences of the paranormal:
* Non-contact temperature laser gun
* Two infra-red recording cameras; they faced two different directions trying to capture whatever entities that may come near to the ritual ground centrepiece.
* EMF meter; it was put near the centrepiece where the entities supposed to come and feed on the food.
* Flour powder; a simple but most effective item to capture footprints of entities, which was poured right next to the candle lit path that was supposed to guide the spirits to the centrepiece and food offerings.
Results
Upon commencement of the ritual while SPI waited some distances away, several paranormal instances had occurred as listed below:
Paranormal #1. The temperature gun recorded a very unusual temperature fluctuation of a ritual coin. The temperature dropped from 25.5C to 13.3C, and then bounced back to 26C. The drop and rise happened only in a matter of few seconds. This is almost impossible for such acute temperature changes, let alone in such a short time. The copper coin was believed to contain a spirit that may have absorbed and released surrounding energies too. Azri explained such sudden fall and rise in temperature was attributed to the coin spirit sensing the presence of other nearby spirits nearby that excited it.
Paranormal #2. When the chanting was completed, the time hit 11:30pm whereby the hell gate was supposed to open and so we moved 60 meters away and observed from a far. Strange howling was heard, not once but twice. The first howling was short-lived and was heard when Azri started preparing the ritual. The howling escalated, when we left the food centrepiece alone. It sounded like a sad mourning, which was definitely not the sound of a bird or bat, coming from no tree. They came from behind the tombs just behind the ritual's location. They sounded as if the ambience was crying. We used the long-distance sound enhancer to pin-point the source of sounds and confirmed that.
Paranormal #3. A mysterious foot-print was found on the flour powder. It was like a human bare foot but more than that. The shape looked like a human foot for there were toes, an arch and the ball shape in the heel. The distinct feature however was the centre foot-print, which showed some scale like patterns. Human foot palm is smooth and almost flat. The footprint details can be viewed in the following photo.
Although the video footage on the event has not been analysed yet, SPI knew for certain that moving shadows were expected at the site based on past paranormal investigations. Later, Cahaya was asked on his opinion about the event looking through his 3rd eye, which he stated:
"In the beginning when we first stepped into the cemetery, I sensed there are many spirits there already. They are the natural spirits. Nothing hostile, nothing chaotic. But there are many of them. So they are already here even before the Chinese said the hell gates open. During Azri was doing the ritual, I noticed something unusual. They multiplied. They came in huge numbers and they were more active than before. A lot of movements, from tree to tree and tomb to tomb. They are everywhere, and seemed to have come from all the different directions."
"The sudden surge of activities started to happen from the moment Azri started chanting (which Azri mentioned, when asked by Kenny, that the chant was a set of secret phrases meant to summon and had being verbally passed down through the generations till it reached him via his master in Indonesia). As the chant was said out, the activities of the spirits peaked."
"(Kenny later asked, what kinds of spirits are they?). The spirits are just energies that take invisible form. Our normal eyes cannot see them. But can only feel them in our mind. Sometimes it works better when I close my eyes even. I sense images of them in energy form in my mind where the energies take shape, sometimes of a human, sometimes of just a creature, with some indefinite shape. But you know that they are alive creatures. They were excited because there were FOOD for them!"
"(Then Kenny asked again, are they the hungry ghosts in Chinese context?) Cahaya frowned. He said, "I know them only as jinns (demons) or spirits, some creatures from the other world, their intention is to feed on food. It is just like you dump a large piece of meat in an Africa jungle, then surrounded by many hungry tigers. You don't know what breeds the tigers are. You only know they can move, they want to eat, they have lives and they are hungry and excited. Throughout the year some people can see them. Not necessary only during hungry ghost month you can see so."
Kenny turned to ask Azri, what ritual did you do? What is the purpose of the ritual? Azri said that:
"The ritual is a fool-proof ritual he learnt from Indonesia, being able to summon any kind of spirit. This time, he was only calling them for a feast. That is the purpose. And they came very responsively. They came in a huge crowd that is much larger in amount than usual. Azri added, when I was chanting I felt their presence and their demands. I tried extra hard at the end of the chant to throw all my focused-mind to them until I became very exhausted. Why? There are just too many! Just like for example, when you stand in front of a very large crowd and wanted to talk to them, you need to raise your voice to peak in order to get them heard."
Indeed, large beads of sweat were seen on his forehead to confirm that he was totally drained out after the ritual, which was thought to be a simple prayer much to the surprise of Kenny.
Conclusion
In conclusion, what exactly is Hell Gate in the 7th month? How many of them were there? When consulting the two psychics, Azri and Cahaya, individually and separately, they both concluded that there are many "doors" sprouted around. Having no understanding of the Chinese 7th month culture, they described the portal as doors, which emerged everywhere in large numbers from all directions, either on the air or ground.
This description is analogous to a feast set in a centre of town calling for every human denizen to come join the food festivity and people come pouring forth with eagerness from every opening door of the town houses. On this aspect, the cemetery is like a paranormal town accommodating every tomb house, which spirits opened their doors from their supernatural domain or residence to join in the feast provided by SPI.
It may be a matter of coincidence that the psychics were not keeping the time but Azri's chanting ended exactly at 11:30pm, the time Taoist calculated Hell Gate to open. Furthermore, they verified that a very high surge of supernatural activities occurred just after the chanting ended at 11:30pm! According to them, the spirits certainly looked hungry. Indeed, portals, hell gates or doors may be just terms in the human language but it was told that there were certainly many of them appearing from different directions, which suddenly become opened for entities to come forth in huge numbers at 11:30pm sharp. Does this particular time only happens on the 7th month for spirits to be unleashed or it is something that occurs on a nightly basis on any other month? SPI investigation continues…
During 7th month, the hell gates open and the hungry souls roam out. The legend is passed down from generation after generation. This story exists in both Taoist and Buddhist, though in different versions. This experiment takes a step reinforcing the existence of spirits in the eve of hungry ghost month. They are believed to be "hungry" thus got attracted to food offering. They showed their presence by signs scattered across SPI footages. Whether you believe it or not, you should show respect.
As time was closing to 11:30pm, in a bushed cemetery hill water vapours became heavier. It might be normal that such atmospheric change attributes to the sensation of more "chaos", "quantity multiplied", etc. Also, if orbs and light balls in digital photos and infra-red photos respectively are debunked to be reflection of water droplets in air, the greater chance by which SPI captured such photos makes sense.
Then for the night vision photos that allegedly captured the portals, the hazy lights look like lens flare which is a very common thing in photography. (c.f. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lens_flare). Depending on the lens coating, lens flare usually scatter across the lens in circular shapes resembling some eerie ghostly lights. Aren't the lights in the photo which is believed to be a ghost portal just a result of lens fare?
Regarding the footprint found on the flour path, it could be imprinted by a tangki (Taoist medium) who paraded around cemetery. It is popular that temple fellows would come into cemeteries in bulks by lorries. It wouldn't be surprised if a tangki so happen to come across SPI's investigation station, he curiously came near and left his footprint. Those tangkis were known to be shoeless. Yes, they walked with their bare feet.
Adapted from>>>http://spi.com.sg/spi_files/hungry_ghost_eve_2006/index.htm