Ghost Games (玩鬼)

Games played in the hope to see and experience ghosts were once popular before the advent of computer games and smart phones in Asia, especially amongst the Chinese youths. Believe it or not, the girls are normally bolder than the boys in thrill seeking activities now and then. There are actually many types of games people would play to prove that they are brave enough in facing the spiritual world. I have seen people playing many types of ghost games: Ouija boards and variants, simple conjuration games, incantations and etc.

Personally speaking, I don’t encourage youngsters playing this type of ghost hunting games because many of those games involved autosuggestion techniques. For example, before the game, players are told of what to expect and what can be seen. With simple suggestive techniques, players’ mind would start to play tricks on themselves. If one of those panicked stricken participants cried out hysterically, then everyone in the team would be frightened and run away. When asked afterwards, almost all participants would give the same answer that the reason they run away was due to fright and not that they have seen a ghost.

I can assure you that if anyone could just stay put on the hearing of strange noise or seeing white shadows, and not run away; then those strange sightings or sounds would be gone in a jiffy. So said, our human nature is that we would automatically react when others have reacted. This is the same as when you are driving on a straight road, and another car runs parallel with you. If you stepped onto the accelerator, then the other guy will also go a little faster. One car must slow down or accident will definitely occur.

A lady I know, Lisa joined a TV paranormal shows years ago to play a ghost game in an old abandoned school building. The school was said to be haunted because it was built on a piece of graveyard and added to that, a female teacher was said to have hung herself in the toilet. The organizer even invited a master who first ‘pre-programmed’ Lisa’s mind on what to expect during the game session.

In the ghost game, Lisa was asked to carry a white lantern to enter the most haunted place of that school, i.e. the school female toilet. In the toilet, Lisa was asked to chant some chanting to call out whatever spirits there might be. Then, these spooks would be led into a class room with a few big mirrors, a stool and many burning candles. Lisa was asked to sit on the stool and to fold a few pieces of joss paper while calling out for the ghosts to come to get her.

Everything seemed to be okay as recalled by Lisa before the master called Lisa through walkie-talkie and informed Lisa that there is a ghost behind her. Starting from that point, Lisa started to feel that someone was rubbing her back. The more she thought of the ghost, the scarier Lisa became until she cried out loud hysterically. And, Lisa was subsequently ‘rescued’ by the TV crews.

It was a well done on the TV crews, but the horrifying experienced lingered long after Lisa returned home. She kept on dreaming a few old men in Qing Dynasty (清朝) costumes staring at her and that she could not sleep for days. Later, Lisa’s father asked me to have a look at Lisa’s condition. After looking at Lisa for a while, I told her that all her visions are due to auto-suggestive instructions given by the master. If she was to attract the hung ghost, then she wouldn’t have attracted the non-related old men.

Lisa still wasn’t too convinced on what I said, so I said to her: “If you are still scared, then you come and sleep with me…”

Of course, she never come to my place and I certainly didn’t expect her to do what I have just said. Maybe I was scarier than those ghosts, Lisa never experienced further ghostly disturbances again. I further asked Lisa to decline any future invitation to take part in these types of paranormal shows ever again for the sake of herself and her parents. The audiences like to watch Lisa’s panicked stricken expressions but really, this is not too good for her mental developments.