Regardless of who conducts a house blessing, and regardless of the religion, I don't believe it has any effect on benign spirits. A ghost, or some other spirit of some kind, has been in and out of my house since the day it was built. Before 2003, I didn't even believe in ghosts. Now I do and it's based on my own experiences and not some Filipino folklore. Whether a house blessing wards off evil spirits or not, I can't say because I've never been haunted by an evil spirit.

Our House Blessing

In August of 2006 (on my wife's birthday), before our house was completely finished and before we moved in, my wife had a local Catholic priest conduct a house blessing. We had our Toyota Corolla in the driveway, an electric range and a microwave oven in the kitchen, a refrigerator and a dining table in the dining area (without the chairs – they were being delivered the next day), an entertainment unit in the living room and two beds in two bedrooms (out of three).

The priest walked around chanting and sprinkling holy water on everything in sight. He blessed the inside of the car and the inside of both the refrigerator and the microwave oven (there would have to be some awfully small evil spirits hanging out in those places). It took every ounce of energy for me to keep from laughing until it was all over and the priest had left.

Noticing the Ghost for the First Time

I wrote a somewhat lengthy article about being weirded out in April of 2007, followed up by another article about solving one mystery that I previously mentioned.

I put all that behind me as I ignored any kind of weird feelings I continued to experience until August of 2008, exactly two years to the day after the house was blessed.

A Ghost or a Shadow Person or Something

I wrote about the uninvited guest back then and followed it up with an article about shadow people a couple of weeks later. That ghost or shadow person or whatever continues to visit our house. He, she or it (you never know) doesn't appear to actually live with us. I think it's a he and that he's visiting just to screw with us. Actually, I think he's screwing with me more than everyone else — yes, other relatives in our compound have been exposed to whatever this thing is as well, but only when inside our house.

Again, I put all that behind me and ignored anything unusual until just a few days ago, February 4th.

Nothing but a Head

I think it's a male, benign ghost that visits and I think he visits to screw with people's heads. He could be a dead brother-in-law, for all I know.

Anyway, I was sitting at my PC in the late evening and my wife was asleep in bed not far from me. My bedroom door was open, as usual, and all I had to do was look to my right to see the area above the first landing of the staircase. The hallway light was off, but the light from my bedroom was enough for me to see the area above the first landing of the stairwell. My son, Jon, wasn't home yet — he was out with classmates (other video game addicts) at an Internet cafe.

Out of the corner of my right eye, I kept seeing movement and attempted to ignore it. In the last instance, I turned my head to the right and saw the top of someone's head! I jumped from my chair (I was fully dressed and wore sneakers) and ran down the stairs. I flipped light switches on and quickly checked any place a person could hide downstairs. I thought one of my brothers-in-law (June) might be screwing with me since he has a key to the house and comes in and out on occasion (he does all the maintenance here). No one was inside and I hadn't heard any doors opening or closing — my door hinges creak and need to be greased again.

I ran out the front door and around all sides of the house. No one was outside of their homes in the compound and no one was up on the street.

When my son came home, I had him stand on the landing so that I could sit at the PC to see how the top of a head should look. My son is tall enough (about 5 feet 9 inches) that his entire head is visible while standing there. Whatever head I saw had to belong to a person a few inches shorter — there are plenty of men around here as short as that, but even June is nearly as tall as Jon.

Imagining things?

I wish it was that easy. When I saw the top of someone's head in the stairwell, I saw it long enough to be sure I actually saw it. The head disappeared just like it would if someone walked down the last flight of stairs.

Again, I'll repeat that I think it's a benign ghost (kind of like Casper) and not someone looking to do anyone any harm. I'm not afraid or shocked by it anymore. I'm more annoyed by it than anything else. Yes, I believe in ghosts and no, I don't think any kind of house blessing keeps non-evil ones away.

• Shadow People in the Philippines
• An Uninvited Guest
• Okay, I Am Officially Weirded Out
• One Mystery Solved
• Do You Believe In Ghosts?