Supernatural Gifts of the Holy Spirit:
Wisdom: The gift by which the Holy Spirit directs a person to make the right decision or judgment and to live a true Christian life. Generally most Catholics acknowledge this gift by praying for the Light of the Spirit.
Knowledge: The gift by which the Spirit gives a person a deeper understanding of a Mystery of Faith or specific knowledge about a person or situation that could not be known, unless God revealed it.
Faith: This gift inspires a person to pray with God given confidence. Knowing that what is asked for will be granted.
Healing: This gift speeds up the natural healing powers of the body. Jesus healed many who came to him, for example, Peter's mother-in-law.
Miracles: This gift is different from healing in that it does not depend on the laws of nature. An example of a miracle, or mighty deed, is the raising of Lazarus from the dead.
Prophecy: This is a gift by which God, through a person, speaks a message to an individual or to the whole Christian community.
Discernment of spirits: Through this gift one senses the presence of good or evil spirits. Many experience a form of discernment when meeting people. Some people come across as loving and good; others radiate negative aspects.
Tongues: Catholic Charismatics believe that God gives the gift of praying in an "unknown tongue" to anyone who seeks it. The person is able to speak this new language of praise of God, even though the individual does not understand what is being said.
Source: The Catholic Charismatic Center.
Bear Legend (Cherokee Indian)
In the long ago time, there was a Cherokee Clan called the Ani-
Tsaguhi, and in one family of this clan was a boy who used to leave
home and be gone all day in the mountains. After awhile he went more
often and stayed longer, until at last he would not eat in the house
at all, starting off at daybreak and not coming back until night.
His parents scolded, but that did no good, and the boy still went
every day until they noticed that long brown hair was beginning to
grow out all over his body. Then they wondered and asked him why it
was that he wanted to be so much in the woods that he would not even
eat at home.
Said the boy, "I find plenty to eat there, and it is better than the
corn and beans we have in the settlements, and pretty soon I am going
into the woods to say all the time."
His parents were worried and begged him not leave them, but he
said, "It is better there than here, and you see I am beginning to be
different already, so that I can not live here any longer. If you
will come with me, there is plenty for all of us and you will never
have to work for it; but if you want to come, you must first fast
seven days."
The father and mother talked it over and then told the headmen of the
clan. They held a council about the matter and after everything had
been said they decided: "Here we must work hard and have not always
enough. There he says is always plenty without work. We will go with
him."
So they fasted seven days, and on the seventh morning al the Ani
Tsaguhi left the settlement and started for the mountains as the boy
led the way.
When the people of the other towns heard of it they were very sorry
and sent their headmen to persuade the Ani Tsaguhi to stay at home
and not go into the woods to live. The messengers found them already
on the way, and were surprised to notice that their bodies were
beginning to be covered with hair like that of animals, because for
seven days they had not taken human food and their nature was
changing.
The Ani Tsaguhi would not come back, but said, "We are going where
there is always plenty to eat. From now on, we shall be called Yonva
(bears), and when you yourselves are hungry come into the woods and
call us and we shall shall come to give you our own flesh. You need
not be afraid to kill us, for we shall live always."
Then they taught the messengers the songs with which to call them and
bear hunters have these songs still. When they had finished the
songs, the Ani Tsaguhi started on again and the messengers turned
back to the settlements, but after going a little way they looked
back and saw a drove of bears going into the woods.
Be alert and behave respectfully, it is time for underworld souls to stay with you.
An oil-painting featuring Zhong Kui, a legendary figure whose sole mission is to catch and devour ghosts.
WHEN ghosts appear, it's like someone blowing cold air on the back of your neck, your hair stands on end and you breathe out cold vapour. So said the boy who could see "dead people" in the film, "The Sixth Sense".
Stay quiet for a while and see if you feel anything the boy said, because ghosts are supposed to be wandering about.
According to legends and Chinese folklore, during the seventh lunar month, the gate of hell is wide open and all the spirits are let out to stay with their living families until the end of the month when they have to return to hell.
There is a festival called Zhongyuan Jie or Yulan Jie, on the 15th day of the seventh lunar month - that is Friday, August 23. Local families used to place offerings for their ancestors - usually food, incense, candles and joss money - to be spent in the underworld.
The festival is recognized in both Taoism and Buddhism, the two dominant religions in China. In both, this day is a time when the souls of the dead are redeemed.
Yulan festival
The word Yulan means "liberation from suffering" in the original Sanskrit (ullambana), and Yulan Jie has its roots in the Buddhist story of Mu Lian, a disciple of Buddha, who saved his own mother.
It is said that Mu Lian (Maudgalyayana in Sanskrit), who gained magical powers on reaching a high level in knowledge of Buddhist doctrines, saw his mother starving in hell, with a huge belly and very small mouth, unable to swallow any food.
His mother had been a miserly woman and had not done a single charitable deed in her lifetime. She was condemned as a hungry ghost in the lowest depths of hell. Mu immediately fed his mother some rice, but the rice was reduced to ashes when it touched her mouth.
Mu begged Buddha for help, but Buddha said the mother had committed too many sins in her lifetime. The Buddha advised Mu to collect various types of fruit and vegetables in Yulan basins as an offering to the Buddhist monks. Only by doing this could his mother's suffering be alleviated.
Future generations continue to put fruit and vegetables in Yulan basins as offerings to monks, and the festival turned into a time for remembrance of ancestors.
In many places of South China and Japan, people used to make paper boats on each of which a lit candle is placed. They would put these little lanterns into the river and let them float down the water. Children would try to follow the paths of their lanterns from the riverbank to see whose lantern could go the farthest.
One folk story said this custom is to send the lanterns as a guide for the spirits of their loved ones, to show them the road back home. Another tale said these lanterns are to send away the spirits of those who died of drowning. It is believed that these spirits, "drowned ghosts", will suffer in the water until someone else comes to take their place.
It is thought that many people have died by drowning simply because they were pulled into the water by ghosts who were eager to find a substitute for their suffering.
Afterdeath myth
Chinese people have had very practical attitude toward religion and faith. Religions, either initiated in China like Taoism or through other countries like Buddhism and Christianity, are perceived in a totally pragmatic way.
People build temples and worship whatever god they believe will be efficacious and will respond to prayers. They do not care much about what religion the god represents.
In folklore and general belief, all the gods are like officials in charge of different affairs, judging people from different aspects and giving out punishments and rewards.
In Buddhist books, there are vivid descriptions about the horrible hell, the torment that sinners would suffer after death. Those with the worst sins would be sent to the 18th floor of hell, which means they could never be born as a human again.
And those who died of persecution, or after being wronged, would seek revenge in the living world. They would become malicious ghosts, who would bother the living and bring bad luck to people and places affected by their hatred.
Many scary movies have been made about ghosts. Classical literature also has stories about ghosts seeking justice through super-natural means.
Dou E, a character in a drama by Guan Hanqing (circa 1210-1300) was executed on false accusations and she made some severe curses before her death: it would snow in summer and there would be drought for long years.
All her curses were realized and it was not until her father came back to the region as a high official and redressed her case under the guidance of her spirit, did the natural disasters stop.
Horrifying images
Chinese ghosts don't always take on real forms. Often they come and leave in a breeze. But sometimes they come in horrifying images of their death: hanged ghosts have protruding tongues, drowned ghosts leave water wherever they stay, and young beautiful women make the most scary ghosts, with long hair covering their pale faces with blood trickling down.
But ghosts are not invincible. There is a figure in Chinese legends whose sole mission is to catch and devour ghosts.
The character, Zhong Kui, is often pictured as being tough and dark, with a thick beard. His portrait is often hung in the house to protect the family from being hurt by wandering ghosts.
Not all Chinese communities take the festival seriously. In a modern metropolis like Shanghai, people cannot expect to see large-scale rituals of worshipping or temple operas held on the day.
But if you look carefully, you will find in some unconspicuous corners in residential quarters, candles being lit and incense and joss paper being burned. It is the past ones of the family enjoying the offerings of the living.
All Copyrights © are acknowledged. Material reproduced here is for educational and research purposes only.
Many, many generations ago, a Penobscot, his wife, and their little
son started out from their village to go to Canada. They were from
Penobscot Bay, bound for a great council and dance to be held at the
Iroquois village of Caughnawaga. They went upriver to the point where
they had to make a 20-mile portage to reach another river that would
take them to the St. Lawrence.
The man started ahead with the canoe on his back, leaving his wife to
pack part of the luggage to their first overnight campsite. The
little boy ran alongside of her. While she was busy arranging her
pack, her son ran on ahead to catch up with his father.
The man had gone so far ahead, the boy became lost. The mother
assumed the boy was with his father. When she arrived at the
campground, they discovered that their son was with neither of them.
They began a search immediately, but they could not find him.
The parents returned home to tell their story to their tribe. All of
the men turned out for a wide search party, which lasted for several
months without success. In March of the next year, the Penobscots
found some sharpened sticks near the river. They concluded that the
boy must be alive and had been spearing fish. Footprints of bears
were seen, and they thought perhaps the boy had been adopted by a
bear family.
In the village, there was a lazy man who did not enter into the
search, but lay around idly. Everyone asked him, "Why don't you help
hunt for the boy? You seem to be good for nothing."
"Very well, I will," he replied. He went right to the bear's den and
knocked with his bow on the rocks at the entrance. Inside, a great
noise arose where the father, mother, baby bear, and adopted boy
lived. The father-bear went to the entrance, holding out a birch-bark
vessel. The lazy man shot at it and killed the bear.
The mother-bear says, "Now I will go." She took another vessel, held
it out at the entrance, and also was killed. The baby bear did the
same and was killed. All of the bears were laid out dead in the cave.
Then the lazy man entered and saw the little boy terribly afraid and
huddled in a dark corner, crying for his relatives and trying to
hide.
The lazy hunter gently carried him home to the village and gave him
to his parents. Everyone gave the lazy man presents: two blankets, a
canoe, ammunition, and other good things. He became rich overnight.
The boy's parents, however, noticed that their son seemed to be
turning into a bear. Bristles were showing on his upper back and
shoulders, and his manners had changed. Finally they helped him to
become a real person again, and he grew up to be a Penobscot Indian
like his father. He married and had children. Forever after he and
all of his descendants were called Bears.
They drew pictures of bears on pieces of birch-bark with charcoal and
left them at camps wherever they went. All of their descendants
seemed to do this and declare, "I am one of the Bear family."
Author unknown
The Raccoon and the Crawfish
Sharp and cunning is the raccoon, say the Indians, by whom he is named Spotted Face.
A crawfish one evening wandered along a river bank, looking for something dead to feast upon. A raccoon was also out looking for something to eat. He spied the crawfish and formed a plan to catch him.
He lay down on the bank and feigned to be dead. By and by the crawfish came near by.
"Ho," he thought, "here is a feast indeed; but is he really dead. I will go near and pinch him with my claws and find out."
So he went near and pinched the raccoon on the nose and then on his soft paws. The raccoon never moved. The crawfish then pinched him on the ribs and tickled him so that the raccoon could hardly keep from laughing. The crawfish at last left him.
"The raccoon is surely dead," he thought. And he hurried back to the crawfish village and reported his find to the chief.
All the villagers were called to go down to the feast. The chief bade the warriors and young men to paint their faces and dress in their gayest for a dance.
So they marched in a long line, first the warriors, with their weapons in hand, then the women with their babies and children, to the place where the raccoon lay.
They formed a great circle about him and danced, singing...
"We shall have a great feast on the spotted-faced beast, with soft smooth paws!"
"He is dead! He is dead! We shall dance!"
"We shall have a good time We shall feast on his flesh."
But as they danced, the raccoon suddenly sprang to his feet saying, "Who is that you say you are going to eat? He has a spotted face, has he? He has soft, smooth paws, has he? I'll break your ugly backs. I'll break your rough bones. I'll crunch your ugly, rough paws."
And he rushed among the crawfish, killing them by scores. The crawfish warriors fought bravely and the women ran screaming, all to no purpose.
They did not feast on the raccoon; the raccoon feasted on them!
As retold by Marie L. McLaughlin in "Myths and Legends of the Sioux" in 1913
The mysterious cry
Folklore
This legend is from the mexican state of Zacatecas and took place in
the middle 1800's.
The story begins when a man that lived in an Hacienda far from the
city had to leave his home because he needed to look for doctor
because his mother was very ill.
His friends told him that he should wait until the sunrise, because
it may be dangerous to travel by night, but he knew that his mother
was very ill, and she could not make it so he decided to travel by
night.
He rided his horse and hasted it to travel fast to the city.
In the middle of his way he passed near and old and abandoned
Hacienda. He almost has passed the old construction when he heard a
familiar noise but he could not recognize it.
He stepped out of his horse and walked towards the building.
As he approached he heard that noise more clear and knew it was a
baby crying. At this point his imagination went wild thinking how it
could be possible to hear that in the middle of nowwhere he became
nervous. He also thought that some thieves could be the ones who made
the noise to attract someone and kill him. But after a while the
crying was still the same he, calmed down and continued his way into
the house.
Thinking that it may be a family that was inside the building because
the night had surprised them he ran to offer his services and maybe
help them.
When he entered the house, he found nothing, not a light, food or
signs of any person. But the crying was still there, this angered him
because he thought a careless woman had abandoned a not expected baby.
After a short while he found the baby and waited there and finally
decided to explore the place with the hope to find his family.
The he realized that there was no one there, he felt pity for the
baby and took him with him expecting to find a place for the baby in
the city.
When he approached his horse, it became restless but after a while
the man could calm him and ride again toward the city.
But he realized that the baby was also restless, so this made the man
to haste to the city.
When he was reaching the limits of the city, he said to the baby that
he hoped he could find someone to feed him milk, but after he said
that the baby told him with a deep and gutural voice: "Dont worry I
already have teeth for meat" and started laughing in an evil way. The
man frozed and threw away the baby who ran away laughing.
The he realized it was the Devil, and that he had been carrying him
for almost all the way.
The man aged fastly and managed to reach the city's cathedral where
he found a Priest, told him the story and died shortly.
For a long time the Hacienda where this man picked up the baby was
avoided by the people during the day and no one dared to travel by
night in the area because they said the crying of a baby has still
heard in the place.
Alex
Mexico
Hopi Creation Myths:
Book: "The Truth" by "Thomas O. Mills," the Hopi Indians of Northern Arizona myth of creation is explored.
"Serpent Migration"
Folklore
10/21/05
"SERPENT MIGRATION"
My grandfather told me about a time he and his brother (my great-uncle)
were driving late-night through the Florida Everglades, theirs the
only car on the road. Driving became a chore when they began running
over snakes crossing the road. Millions of snakes, all going in the
same direction. My grandfather swore they drove for like five miles
over snakes and the tires on their car never once touching the surface
of the road. He claimed that later, when they stopped white-knuckled
for gas, the service station attendant brought the matter to their
attention when he pointed out all the dead snakes squashed and
plastered on their car. The attendant declared it the "great serpent
migration." He said he'd heard of it, rare occurrence that it was,
but that he had never actually seen any evidence of it.
My grandfather lived in Michigan, not Florida, and so had never heard
of any such thing. He told me he had related the story several times
to his northern friends, but that no one ever believed him, and so he
had stopped relating it. He further said that if I wanted to hear it
again from someone other, to ask his brother, my great-uncle. Which I
did. My great-uncle replied only that he had "gotten religion" in
1954--the year of their trip--and that there were two things he had
sworn their mother never to discuss. One of them was driving at
midnight through the Florida Everglades. He wouldn't tell me what the
other thing was.
Dan Mayfield
Deerpark, Oregon
Abe Lincoln's Missing Skull
Folklore
11/17/05
One of the most enduring "urban legends" ever is the one re President
Abraham Lincoln's missing skull. So enduring is it that many hold the
legend to be factual and regard it more an unsolved mystery. Being
one born and raised in Illinois--and therefore more than familiar with
the story--I personally find myself in the category of the latter.
According to legend, as related in a recent TV documentary, broadcast
in Asia, an intact skull belonging to a six-foot tall pre-teen male,
was discovered in the early 1890s near-at by a split-rail fence in
Illinois. And that skull was the very one "Honest Abe" had worn as a
child. Having been laid to rest in 1865, Mister Lincoln wasn't
available for comment--neither at the skull's discovery nor again in
regards the recent documentary--and so was unable to confirm or deny.
But it is held as truth that, during his eleventh year on Earth, young
Abe had "suffered the ailings" while "driving wood," and that for it
had "lost his mind" and had been confined to bed. And further that
several "witnesses" in attendance to the ailing youngster were made to
declare that his head appeared to have "flattened," and that it was
viewed as "limp and sagging."
Perhaps the most curious aspect of the story can be found in the
concluding remarks of the aforementioned Asian documentary, in that
the findings of recent DNA testing performed on the skull in question
have been "repressed without comment."
Illinois residents have long considered the story to be true. It is
safe to say that, whatever the truth behind the story, they at least
will not be swayed, and will continue to believe...
jj petersen
Woverton, Illinois
Abe Lincoln's Missing Skull and Calcium Build-up
Folklore
11/18/05
Not to ruin anyone's fun, but President Lincoln's missing skull is
hardly the stuff of urban legend. We discussed his deformities in
anatomy class, and came to the conclusion that he suffered severe
abnormal deposits of calcium, and which gave him his unhandsome
appearance. Severe abnormal deposits of calcium could likewise
explain his missing skull: if he had lost his skull while splitting
wood (say by an axe blow gone awry), calcium build-up under his softer
tissues could have been sufficient to serve as a substitute skull, the
collected deposits in effect furnishing him a replacement "brain pan."
Such incidents are unusual but not unknown.
chester allen
Tabatha Creek, Yukon Territory
CREEPY!!!
Folklore
2/12/06
A LONG TIME AGO THERE WAS A CHEROKEE INDIAN WOMAN BY THE NAME OF "CYNCKIAE" (SIN_KEY_AY) WHICH MEANS WOMAN OF THE NIGHT BUT SHE WASN'T JUST A CHEROKEE NATIVE BUT ALSO THE CHIEF "OBCAKEAI" (OF_COCY_I) ONE OF MANY DAUGHTERS SHE WAS ALSO MADE TO MARRY THE INDIAN WARRIOR "AKIEANI" (ACK_E_EN_I) BUT SHE WANTED TO MARRY A NATIVE SEQOUIN SOLDIER "MIKEAS" WHOM ONE DAY SHE MET IN A CABIN A CONCEIVED A CHILD WITH AND AFTER AKIEANI HEARD THE NEWS HE WENT OVER AND FOUND THE TWO LOVERS AND KILLED THEM CYNCKIAE'S GHOST WAS SO TORMENTED THAT SHE MADE CHEROKEE VILLAGERS LIVES JUST AS WORSE AS HERS BUT IT IS
SAID THAT AT NIGHT YOU SEE THE CHEROKEE GIRL AND THE SEQOUIN MAN WALKING WITH CHILD IN HAND AND WHEN SHE CROSSES THE STREET AND YOU HIT HER YOU WILL HEAR HER BLOOD CURDLING SCREAM AND SHE WILL HAUNT AND
TORMENT YOU FOR THE REST OF YOUR LIFE. AS FOR THE WARRIOR HE HAD DISAPPEARED......
THE WOMAN'S GHOST IS SEEN TO BE WALKING THE STREETS OF SUE SUALT MARIE AND PLEASE DON'T HIT HER LEAVE HER GHOST BE ABLE TO REST IN PEACE CAUSE I DON'T WANT ENDING UP MENTAL PSYCHOTIC.
ANONYMOUS,
MICHIGAN
The troll
Folklore
1/21/07
I was cycling through a quite country lane with my sister in
rushwick. the lane is called upperwick I think. anyway, we both saw
something small and black almost like a shadow that looked a bit like
a person but it just looked weird. almost like it was some creature
guarding the path. we turned away for a second as we were very
doubtful and afraid to continue our journey and when we looked again,
it had vanished! in a split second, how could it just disappear? any
way, when I told a friend who lives in rushwick, he told me a troll
supposedly exists near to that place, living by a farm apparently.
was it a troll we saw that day? who knows? if any one can help me
with this query, please do!
Laura
Worcester
Old High
Folklore
3/25/07
I live in a small town and well, you know how easy stories and legends get passed around. Well, there was this old high school across from the Junior High and there had been a huge fire that closed it down. Well, legend has it that one girl was trapped inside the fire and died. The firefighters found her body the next day right by the exit door. They say that her spirit is trapped trying to escape the flames. My friend, Allison, and I didn't believe this for one minute. One night we were bored out of our minds at my house and the school isn't far from my house. I suggested we go and see this so-called ghost at the old high school. She agreed and we went. When we got in through this open window on the side and ended up in the art room, we started walking round the room looking at the old trophies that had been partly burned in the fire. I was heading out the door to see what else was in the school and smelled smoke. "Allison, do you smell that?" I asked. She came over to me and nodded. "Hello" she said down the hall. Then we heard someone scream "Fire! Fire!!" Allison and I went running down the hall toward the door and heard someone running behinds us. When we turned around we didn't see anything or anyone. We ran out one of the exit doors and stood there catching our breath. As we were heading back we heard someone banging on the door. I went back to the door (Allison was to freaked to go back) I didn't see anyone but I still heard running inside. We went back to my house and we decided not to go see any other haunted places. Last year they burnt down the old high and built a band hall there. My friends say that sometimes they smell smoke.
Ashlee
Texas
The old woman and the jigsaw puzzle
Folklore
8/3/07
There was an old woman who lived in a mansion in one of the northern suburbs of Chicago, she lived in a gigantic mansion buried deep in the woods. She didn't have any family (her husband had died years ago) and they never had any kids. One dark and windy night she was sitting in front of the fire in her parlor when she heard a knock at the door. She made her way, guided by a single candle, down the dark corridor to the foyer where the front door was.
When she opened the door, no one was there. She looked down to see a box wrapped up in brown paper. The old woman grabbed the box and headed back inside.
The old woman sat back down in the parlor and unwrapped the box, she opened the box to find that it was a jigsaw puzzle. The woman figured she could use a little something to do besides sit and look in to the fire so she decided to try and complete it.
Piece by piece the old woman put the puzzle pieces in their place, getting a few of the edges done in a matter of minutes. she stared at the completed parts and got chills. The puzzle was of a room - her room! The walls where dark red drapes hung, the painting of her and her late husband, even the area by the bookshelf where the paint was beginning to chip, was in the puzzle.
The woman, sitting on the couch, wrapped in her blanket appeared through the puzzle pieces. The puzzle was almost done, the last couple of pieces were the window in the far corner of the parlor. the woman's shaking hands put together the final couple pieces. She gasped - the pieces revealed the twisted face of a madman in the window!
The last thing the old lady ever heard was crashing glass...
Robby Seymore
Chicago, IL
