The 'Ohana who lived in Liliha heights had a legitimate claim. Indeed, their house was haunted and indeed there was an apparition flitting about. Everyone saw it, every communicated and interacted with it in some capacity big and small. It wasn't anyone they knew, the family had only recently purchased the property and had not yet lived there a full two months before the apparition manifested.
In their compassion, the 'Ohana stated that they did not want an exorcism or any kind of extrication of the apparition. They surmised that it must have been someone who lived on the premises long before their arrival. The husband Leonard told me over the phone that he wanted the apparition to understand that it could stay, but it also had to understand that the family it once knew no longer lived there. If the apparition wanted to be with its old family, that would be fine too. I directed Leonard to set aside a day when he and his family could clean their home from top to bottom. Once they did that, they could clean the outside as well, which included the yard, the driveway. They would also have to organize the storage locker in their garage.
"Once that is done," I said over the phone. "Prepare a big meal and invite everyone. It may not sound like it, but this plays a big part in the blessing."
"Ok," Leonard mused. "Does it have to be a particular kind of food?"
"Any food you're accustomed to is fine," I replied. "I'll take care of the part for the blessing."
.......................
The time came for the blessing of the Liliha heights property. Once Leonard and his family completed the task of cleaning and then putting together a meal after, I proceeded to bless the outside of the property and then inside the home. Everyone waited in the main dining room of the house where I then blessed the food. In the Hawaiian prayer, I set aside a plate for the unseen and instructed them, good and bad to come and partake of the blessing and to also protect all of those who were present. In this capacity, once something like this is asked with sincerity, even the bad spirits must come forward and comply. With everything set in motion, I took my leave and walked out to the street where my car was parked. Leonard came out of the house and followed me half-way out of the drive-way.
"I have to ask you a question because I'm curious about something," Leonard rubbed his chin with his hand for a second. "Have you been to our house before?"
"No," I replied. "I have not."
"Never?" Leonard raised his eyebrow and gave me a sideways glance.
Shaking my head I replied, "Never."
"Then how did you know we had a storage locker in our garage?" He asked, completely bewildered.
I smiled at Leonard and gestured toward the street, "Follow me out to my car and you'll find out."
Leonard complied but he only managed to get ten feet to the sidewalk and then he stopped, he couldn't move. He looked at me in utter confusion and then his face went white with horror. He jumped up and down and screamed, "The apparition! The apparition! Watch out it's coming toward you! It's coming toward you!"
"Leonard," I spoke calmly. "This is Mr. Lau, he's the owner of the house. He's been trying to sell it but he's been having a degree of difficulty because of the ghosts that haunt it."
"It's him that's why! He's the one that's been haunting this place!" Leonard shrieked while pointing at Mr. Lau. "And you're helping him you goddamned fake!"
"Leonard, turn around and look at your house, look at it," I instructed. Leonard did exactly that and then did a double-take. The house was old and devoid of life, the windows and doors were boarded up to prevent squatters from occupying the place. The grass hadn't been trimmed around the house and now it stood fifteen feet high. "You and your family celebrated moving into this house thirty years ago by preparing a grand feast for lunch. While preparing the steak and vegetables your wife ran out of mushrooms but she was on a time schedule, so instead of running down to the store to get mushrooms, she picked the ones that were growing in your yard. She figured mushrooms were mushrooms but she didn't know that the ones in your yard were poisonous. You, your wife and children died later that night. It was quick, you didn't suffer. Up until a month or two ago, you guys were only residual until Mr. Lau began to come into the house to look at it in order to see if it was salvageable enough to sell. That's when you and the ghosts of your family became cognitive and began to interact with Mr. Lau thinking that HE was the ghost."
"But I spoke to you over the phone!" Leonard shouted. "That proves that he's the ghost, not me!"
"Mr. Lau used the speakerphone mode, Leonard, that's how we were able to communicate. This blessing ceremony is for you and your family. All of you are now protectors of this property. Whoever buys this place will be under your care, they will never see you, but they will honor you with offerings of food at each meal." Leonard understood and then he nodded his head and gave me a pained smile before he faded into the light of day.
As we walked back to our cars, Mr. Lau couldn't help but ask, "You get calls from spirits all the time?"
"Yes," I nodded. "Sometimes in the dead of night."
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Come listen to Lopaka's storytelling LIVE - Friday, August 23rd, 7:30pm, at the Honolulu Museum of Art Doris Duke Theater
Please note: This is not a scientific study; the "most haunted" stories are purely based on the number of ghost stories and haunted tales shared with our storyteller about each place.
7:30pm, Friday, August 23rd
$15 per person/ $12 museum members
Get your tickets HERE
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