100 Ghost Stories Counting Down To Halloween 2024. #23. Blessings.

 The blessings I offer the community are not advertised.

There are no monetary costs. If a person gives something, then they give. If not, then they don't. Most blessings are simple and meant to alleviate stress or worry. Other blessings are sometimes for people with real problems they are unwilling to face, such as infidelity, insecurity, or a broken heart. Those circumstances require a different kind of blessing and healing. I had to refuse in the case of a particular building in Kaka'ako. Everyone who had a part in the development and construction of that structure was told and warned about its spiritual history, but as is the case, everything fell on deaf ears, and it was built anyway. Immediately, things began to happen. Faulty pipes, a/c in the building going out. Electricity and water came and went purely by will, and none of the residents wanted to park in the parking structure because, from the corner of their eyes, they claimed to see shadows following them. They could only employ security for a short time. No one would take the job. Blessings at this location were being done on different units almost daily. 

When the person who shall remain nameless consulted me for a blessing, this is what I asked.

"Didn't you already have someone come and bless the place for the official opening of the building?"

"We did, of course," he replied.

"That should have been sufficient," I told him. "So, what happened?"

"I have no idea," he lied.

"Come on now," I cautioned him. "You were involved with this place from day one; you know everything."

With desperation, he asked, "Brah, c'mon. Is there anything you can do, please?"

In the end, there was no blessing. Not from me, anyway. Those who bless from the standpoint of their ego and not from their hearts are the ones who water at the mouth to bless places with a long spiritual and historical history. Would you bless the site of the Battle of Nu'uanu or Pearl Harbor? On the same token, would you bless an area with a long, bloody history to make way for a newly developed sprawling neighborhood? The pay might be great, but what is the overall cost? Not a ghost story, but it's a cautionary tale to err on the side of common sense, dignity, humility rather than ego and money.