Holy shit. I need to park here.

Addendum: Just the way I like it. Pictures and wall of text. Great stuff. Thanks for sharing. Be right back later tonight.

This post has been edited by Joey Christensen: Jan 28 2015, 07:17 PM

Hi there! I've just made time to read your thread and the postings done here. Somewhere near my place, there's a big tree and under the tree, there's an altar. If not mistaken there's a rock in the small wooden altar.

Is it to pray for the "La Tok Kong"? I usually walk/drive past the area and sometimes I avoid walking near the altar. A bit creepy but I would like to know more. Would it be a good idea to snap a picture of the altar (to share)?

My late grandparents house has a very large altar and I notice there's a few three legged golden toads around on the altar. The weird thing is, when it's day time, the frogs are facing out from the house and when it's evening (about 6pm-ish) they will be turned around facing inward.

Out of curiousity, why toads? Any significant meaning? Oh, by the way, the golden toads got ancient Chinese coin in their mouth.

This post has been edited by Joey Christensen: Feb 5 2015, 12:43 AM

The altar is facing the road. I don't really read/write Mandarin but I think there's some writing and a red string/rope tied on the rock.

I think the turning is based on certain time. I was told not to touch anything on the altar when I was a small kid.

nachtsider

My ex-girlfriend's mum was a practitioner of trance (tiao tang - Hokkien) long ago, however, I believe she has stopped due to age/health problem. Is it possible to stop entirely?

In addition, I was told that her mum has the "third eye" gift/curse. She shared a lot of stories (when we were together) like her mum could see an old uncle with a child at the back of the alley of her house, a woman with long hair standing under a mango tree in front of her house...etc. She told me that her mum opted to pretending of not seeing these entities because afraid of "them" asking for favours to be done. Could this be even possible with the given gift/curse?

Thanks for the enlightenment and thanks for the images provided too. An eye opener for me indeed because the usual Datuk's altar is rather small and usually placed near some trees or bushes. I do agree that it's a bit "risky" for me to snap a pic of the said altar. I was afraid that I might offend in some way or the other. Anyway, thank you again for sharing.

Given a chance, I would walk further from the altar. If not, I would just say something in my heart "I'm just walking past and I have no ill intention. Please excuse me."

I feel pity for the entities that her mum can see. Maybe the entities were left alone and needed some company or maybe they need some small favour. I somewhat feel pity for them. Maybe it's just me.

Another thing that ticks my fancy. Do you have any stories about the Chinese book (thick book with numbers and images in quadrants)? I'm very interested with that and perhaps if you have any stories pertaining the book, mind to share? I'm not sure what's it's called in English.

Thank you for the heads up. Ahhhhh...Yes, yes. Chinese almanac. I've always curious about it because there's numbers and images in it and I couldn't make a single clue out of it. I was once told by my mum that the older the Chinese almanac were kept, the more powerful they become. Some parents put it under their child's pillow/corner of the bed to ward of evil spirits or something.

Wolves As much as I love to read, but seriously, you really need to learn paragraphing and avoid littering with a lot of ellipses in your wall of text .

Reading your postings caused severe headache for me and in the end, I just skip reading your posting entirely.

Erm...You don't have to do so. Maybe the subsequent postings (hereafter). Nevertheless, it's a good effort.

Absolutely staggering! My utmost respect and admiration toward your commitment.

Exactly like the way my mum told me the story when I was young. The Hokkien people's salvation from barbarian invaders and it's actually like Thanksgiving Day (for the Hokkien) ritual to the Heaven God.

Could I say that they are are somehow like assistants for the higher ranked Heaven or Hell deities? Segregated into different fields;namely; military and administration?

The more I read the more associations I make with the Heaven and Hell being closely resembling what's happening in Earth.

Anyway, who is the most feared Hell deity?

Hi nachtsider

I went to see someone in Taiping a couple months back and he said I owed "Tua Pek Kong" something and now he is holding my luck because of something. He asked me to pray and give some offerings so that 'Tua Pek Kong" will release my luck to me. I'm kind of baffled about the whole thing. Care to give a few pointers? Who is "Tua Pek Kong"? One of the Hell's God?