The 21-year-old informant was born in the Philippines, but moved to the U.S. (Hawaii) at the age of 9. As ghosts and other mythical creatures play a large role in Filipino culture, the informant recounts personal stories and myths that she encountered during her time in the Philippines.

Informant: “My family’s super religious, and so they had a priest come through and bless the whole house when I lived in the Philippines. Or–was it a priest? I know they had it blessed, but then there was also… I think there was also like, a person who could feel ghosts or souls or whatever?”

Collector: “Oh, like a shaman or something?”

I: “Yeah, yeah! Whatever they’re called.”

C: “Or a medium?”

I: “Yeah a medium. And the medium said that one of the ghosts started having a crush on my uncle that lived there *laughs*. I don’t know the extent of the truth on these stories. I remember hearing that.”

C: “Wait, so do they bless the house, just like, when you move in?”

I: “Yeah, just like, my family– they always bless the house that they move into… But I guess since it was my grandma’s house, and people kept kind of like, coming in and out–like not really living there permanently– it was left vacant for so long that they said it’s like a sign for ghosts–or like, it attracts ghosts. Like, big empty spaces attracts souls.”

C: “Ohh, interesting!”

I: “Yeah, and the shaman said that a lot of the souls that were in the house were kind of confused… Like they didn’t know they were dead.”

C: “Like they still needed to ‘cross over’?”

I: “Yeah, exactly.”