My Sister In Law Is A Medium

[Debothai]

I don't know what to make of this but maybe some of you have seen similar things.

The sister of my wife has a shrine in the family house where the spirit of our late grandfather RIP lives. There are loads of buddhist objects and other stuff like offerings like whisky brandy cigars etc. We always pay our respects and i have brought some cubanos and whisky to be offered on many occasions.

one day as we are all sitting around and talking my sister in law starts shaking strangely and making terrifying sounds...She is sweating and her eyes are only white, they have rolled over...She is holding her head as in great pain.. Then she relaxes and starts talking with a kind of masculine voice. She demands cigarettes, (she is a non smoker) and hot tea...Our family members tell me not to worry, it's the spirit of PHRA BOO. In fact, the say that PHRA BOO has descended. So she proceeds to talk and smoke three cigarettes (KRONG THIP) simultaneously while sipping extremely hot tea (with no milk) Her eyes are rolled over. She talks to each of us giving us advice and talking like a Monk would talk to you at the temple. This goes on for 20 minutes or so, then she snaps out of it, but it is clearly painful, we have to hold her due to violent shaking and following that she is back to normal, her eyes have assumed their normal position. She appears shaken, but otherwise okay.

She says PHRA BOO comes around every 3 months or so.

I am lost as to this. I do have great respect for the Buddhist religion and beliefs and I make offerings at temples and generally do give respect where it is due.

How does this phenomenon happen? Is it self-induced hypnosis? Is it madness? Is she a medium?

I appreciate your views on this, but please refrain from negative comments about the Buddhist Faith.:jap:

[Beetlejuice]

My girlfriend`s sister was suffering from the same problem.

Then the doctor took her off the green tablets and put her on the pink ones.

She`s been fine ever since.

[IanForbes]

My ex-wife WAS a medium. Now she is an extra large.

[nocturn]

ian, that was the easy answer, though admittedly my first thought.

OP, you were there, was it credible? did you believe?

the catholic church still performs excorcisms

there are more things on heaven and earth....

[Debothai]

ian, that was the easy answer, though admittedly my first thought.

OP, you were there, was it credible? did you believe?

the catholic church still performs excorcisms

there are more things on heaven and earth....

I was there...what was fascinating was that all family members regarded the whole thing with a calm and 'seen that before' attitude...Apparently in some rural locations there are group gatherings were spirits are challenged to folkes...But I have only seen that on TV. Mostly Thai people believe these phenomena...My problem is, I try to explain it logically but cannot.

[nocturn]

can i rescind my Shakespeare quote? it got way too much play in the superstition thread.

[Moonrakers]

How does this phenomenon happen? Is it self-induced hypnosis? Is it madness? Is she a medium?

I understand that this phenomenon is otherwise known as attention seeking.

I also understand it is written in the scriptures that those who are sympathetic to such a phenomenon are known as gullible grunts

There's one born every day

[travelmann]

Mines a small and she s Nuts sounds a bit like yours?

[travelmann]

How does this phenomenon happen? Is it self-induced hypnosis? Is it madness? Is she a medium?

I understand that this phenomenon is otherwise known as attention seeking.

I also understand it is written in the scriptures that those who are sympathetic to such a phenomenon are known as gullible grunts

There's one born every day

Judging by recent posts looks like there's several born everyday

[Goshawk]

the daughter of our neighbour is the same.. has a separate small building/shrine built in the garden inside which she performs her similar 'thing'. With her though there are 3 'spirits' whom she becomes a conduit of.. a young girl, an old hmong man & another one that evades me.. (i've only seen her 'do' the old man.. )

she's a well respected '30 something' member of the village, definitely not seen as a kook & is a very nice woman. Known her a few years & we usually chat daily...

a few weeks ago at the latest session i could just hear beginning to take place over the wall, i went out to find & sort of tongue-in-cheekily ask her 17yr old daughter (a very smart fluent english speaking BKK Uni student, on a rare home visit to CM) to explain in detail exactly what was 'happening' to her mother at this time...?

With a kind of broad knowing smile that she understood how strange & fake it would look to most westerners (not myself, although she didn't know that at the time) she slowly shook her head, slightly raised both hands & said almost laughingly, "no... no.. no."

the villagers, very occasionally including Mrs G, give offerings (usually food, never money) for personal insight from these 'spirits'.. Its simply an old Thai tradition, akin to tarot thats quite quaint & very entertaining too. To hear & see her become this old hmong guy is something to behold !

my conclusion - its nothing more than a harmless, dare i say, charade in the same vein as the Spiritualists of the West. Not to be taken too seriously..

of course, i could be wrong.. it may be a genuine supernatural event...

[IanForbes]

As a more sreious reply than my first one, I have experienced several things over my 71 years of existance on this planet that I have no logical explanation for. I won't bother listing them all other than to say that they DID happen. I"ve seen identical twins living many miles apart react at the same moment when something unusual happens. The twin I was with received a phone call moments after a dear aunt passed away in an accident. The twin who was in another part of the country at the time had no possible way of knowing about the accident, but he just had a flash through his brain that his brother needed him. I've had out of body experiences that I have no explanation for. I've seen the people who could walk across hot coals in their bare feet. I'm loath to call anything fake when there is so much that we don't know about the mind.

[edwinchester]

My wife has a good friend who used to behave in a.very similar manner. She has since been dianosed and is receiving treatment for mental illmess.

[coolhandjoe]

Can you ask her to predict 6 numbers between 1 and 49 before Saturday, i'll give her a cut if i win.

[robblok]

Seen one of the younger sisters of my gf do it the wife just says she is crazy and acting seeking attention. Same with the other family members they just ignore her when she is like that. I don't say everyone is always faking stuff like this but im petty sure more is faked then genuine.

[deejah]

video please

[happyrobert]

I see dead people.....

[geriatrickid]

Mild mental illness. Fortunately you are not living in the middle ages as she would have burnt at the stake.

[transam]

Expect on the 3 monthly repeat to be advised by her to '' hand over loads of cash to the extended family or a Cobra will be upon you ''

[Kwasaki]

Seen one of the younger sisters of my gf do it the wife just says she is crazy and acting seeking attention. Same with the other family members they just ignore her when she is like that. I don't say everyone is always faking stuff like this but im petty sure more is faked then genuine.

You told us what your wife said what about gf.

[Heng]

Mental illness combined with entrepreneurial (albeit bumpkin) drive. To be filed in the same family as quack doctors and snake (cure all) oil salesmen.

[Debothai]

I remember when my wife waied the spirit of PHRA BOO as it was being expressed by my sister-in-law and asked her about any winning lottery numbers...PHRA BOO told my wife to stop wasting your husband's (me) money on the lottery and just wait for your husband to support you!!! I think all that was a bit strange...

Edited May 20, 2011 by Debothai

[sotsira]

Im always opened minded about these people that are referred to as mediums.

I believe that some are fake but not all, as some mediums have the ability to even assist police investigations.

They can look into the past without prior knowledge and communicate with spirits that were murdered.

They can also tell you things about yourself that only you would know at the first time of meeting you.

So there has to be truth in their ability.

[mrtoad]

How does this phenomenon happen? Is it self-induced hypnosis? Is it madness? Is she a medium?

I understand that this phenomenon is otherwise known as attention seeking.

I also understand it is written in the scriptures that those who are sympathetic to such a phenomenon are known as gullible grunts

There's one born every day

Put more simply, she needs to start taking her meds again.

[dominique355]

My ex-wife WAS a medium. Now she is an extra large.

I prefer rare to medium, more taste.

[mrtoad]

My ex-wife WAS a medium. Now she is an extra large.

I prefer rare to medium, more taste.

Is that once a month?

[Richb2004v2]

The only possible logical answer has to be that she is a medium contacting the dead, right. It couldn't possibly be anything else, right?

And you say the ghost of the dead grandfather lives in a bird box in the garden?

One case of mild mental illness, and one of more serious mental illness I'd say.

[Kimera]

There are older Katoys that live near me, every year they have a street party that Buda attends, that is takes over people, much chanting and then possession of an onlooker, what was worrying that a well respected and sane man was being held down by his family, asking I was told that Buda always came to him if he is not restrained.

[Debothai]

The only possible logical answer has to be that she is a medium contacting the dead, right. It couldn't possibly be anything else, right?

And you say the ghost of the dead grandfather lives in a bird box in the garden?

One case of mild mental illness, and one of more serious mental illness I'd say.

No no grandfather has a whole room to himself....The rest of the family are crammed into the other two rooms, this room is a complete shrine and the decorations (mostly made by my sister in law are quite elaborate.) Everytime i visit I bring a couple of COHIBAs and a bottle of scotch as offering....We drink the scotch and I smoke the cigars after the offering!:jap:

[jayjayjayjay]

ian, that was the easy answer, though admittedly my first thought.

OP, you were there, was it credible? did you believe?

the catholic church still performs excorcisms

there are more things on heaven and earth....

I was there...what was fascinating was that all family members regarded the whole thing with a calm and 'seen that before' attitude...Apparently in some rural locations there are group gatherings were spirits are challenged to folkes...But I have only seen that on TV. Mostly Thai people believe these phenomena...My problem is, I try to explain it logically but cannot.

Ask any reasonably devout Christian about speaking in tongues. Really no different than this. There is no need for exorcism as this is not possession, it is as you've said, she is a medium. I witnessed speaking in tongues many times. I never got used to it, nor really cared for it. There are those that will speak in tongues, then there are others that without know a second language can understand/interpret/translate what is being spoken. Thailand/Australia/Japan/Russia/UK, no matter where you are it happens. Freaky, yes, unique, no!

[EirikJohannesen]

10 Years ago my ex GF mother did the same thing. I moved out................................