Misfortune Cat print from here.
Is it just me, or have you ever thought that malas is not just some abstract concept, but a living, breathing entity? One that can be carried like a virus and spread by certain people, just like in the vernacular phrase "Ingat, baka dapuan ka ng malas."
Superstition imbues places, objects, actions, words and dates with inherent qualities of fortune and misfortune. "Malas ang bahay na yan," we say of houses and establishments located at crossroads, or tumbok. Or places where tragedies have taken place, and succeeding inhabitants have consistently experienced strange happenings and/or reversals of fortune until they abandon said places.
"Malas ang petsang/buwan na yan," caution I-Ching and Feng Shui practitioners, as they calculate and divine "auspicious" dates for life-changing events such as weddings, baptisms, business launches.
If places, objects, and dates could harbor malas, could some people themselves be walking harbingers of misfortune, through their own making or not?
Your thoughts?
Yes!
ReplyDeleteBut unlike viruses, they're someone we can't easily get rid of.
It isn't simply a matter of people who perennially bring bad vibes. Sometimes I find myself actively avoiding people who come bringing their troubles to me asking for help, for fear that the misfortune so prevalent in their lives might cross over and contaminate my own.
DeleteAm I a bad person for thinking this way, or simply a foolish one?
you're not a bad person. not foolish either. i think it's just human instinct to feel that way. wee see their miserable lives and fear being in that situation.
Deletebut we can always help. and you do that. and that's nice.
i believe that some people bring about kamalasan. our family took in someone in spite of everyone's warning. true enough, we lost money, property, even lives were lost. not even feng shui that the family practised could dispel her kamalasan. siya ang sinwerte, kami ang minalas.
ReplyDeleteThanks for that, Sean. Sometimes I think I'm a crackpot but ...yeah. Every so often we cross paths with people who seem to carry a string of misfortunes along with them.
DeleteMy father has such an attitude towards one of my maternal aunts. She's a loving, giving person but seems to take everyone else's problems so much to heart that she becomes a sort of beacon for bad things.
Mabigat kasama is the term my father uses.
I wonder if there are other people out there who've encountered something similar.
i heard twinks attract lotsa good vibes.
ReplyDeleteteehee
Quite the opposite, in my experience.
DeleteBut don't let me stop you.
i think it's how you perceive things, you believe someone is malas, most likely you'd blame that person if something bad happens to you.
ReplyDeletei know someone who has the "balat sa pwet" (i have not personally seen it) but i haven't really experienced anything bad whenever i'm with her.
I imagine there's a difference between someone who brings nothing but negative vibes into our lives - like overbearing parents or a nagging, jealous lover - and other people whose mere appearance at the door seems to trigger a series of unfortunate events.
DeleteI'm talking about the latter, but yes, it's possible that my perceptions may also be taken into account. I could simply be scapegoating, or, having associated that person with enough bad events in the past, could be equating him/her with all bad events from then on.
I think luck is when preparation meets
ReplyDeleteopurrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrtunity ^_^
i shall coin it as negativity instead, that someone can indeed be a carrier of negativity (not malas). i think you described it best as "mabigat kasama." i believe it's not because of something supernatural, but because of things you mentioned too, like having a cynical perspective, taking on the problems of the world, etal.
ReplyDeleteI guess it's that old Law of Attraction, eh, JM. Good vibes attract good things, bad vibes attract bad things - but certainly to an extent. All the positive thinking in te world won't prevent misfortune from happening, but I suppose it can keep them at bay longer than a negative mindset would.
DeleteAs a colleague of mine once put it "Don't be a Negatron; be an Optimist Prime."
nice pun, your colleague's. i guess life's just like that. shit happens. miracles do too. because both just do.
DeleteMaybe its true, wala naman masama sumunod hehe. If they say its bad luck then we'll avoid it go somewhere else or do something else :-0)
ReplyDeleteI don't like to think I'm overly superstitious, Mac, but...yeah.
DeleteIt's the opposite of whatever "healthy skepticism" is. Not exactly "belief," but..."hedging your bets" I guess?
My industry is rife with superstitious beliefs, such as the taboo on eating mani or any other crunchy thing during a shoot. The belief was that since these are things that break, then the entire production would break, too.
One hotshot director I worked with - a veteran in the industry - pooh-poohed this superstition and made a point of crunching as many peanuts as he could during one of our shoots. Whether by coincidence or not, the shoot became bogged with several problems, and the malas carried over into our two ensuing shoots, as well.
Again, as you said: "Wala naman masama sumunod."