SINDA (The Curse of the Nature Spirits)

    In our place, where superstitious beliefs are prevalent, I usually carry ginger in my pocket when I travel outdoors or in locations with large tress and forest.

"Pag-dahan, basi kamo ma-sindaan," the elders constantly say. Which indicates you should be cautious because you might get sinda.

    Sinda is the feeling of being unwell and out of shape after visiting areas you've never been to before. Usually in areas with the home of giant trees and a lot of wildness. According to urban legend, the creatures that guarded that area gave you this illness since you were noisy and annoying during your visit. Victims frequently go to manug luy a in search of a treatment, and the manug luy a explains where and why it happened to them.

    The story happened to a teenagers group, who like going on adventures and traveling. They came upon this spot one time, and it appears that not many people travel there. It's a river surrounded by big trees and woods, ideal for camping. They have their desired privacy because they have merely filled the space and are free to do as they like. They loved it since it was just a typical way of celebrating. Music is playing everywhere, and laughter can be heard in the distance, indicating that they are having so much fun. They shouted out loud while eating their food by the river. They had no idea that the location they had visited was "kaliliit," which means "surrounded by large trees hindered by nature spirits," and "talabuan," which means "prone to accidents or people

get unwell after visiting that area."

    Sinda victims are usually those who have made a lot of noise, which leads the spirits to be disturbed. There has long been a urban legend that if you attempt to visit a forest with large trees, you should not wear anything red, especially clothing since the color red seems highly dazzling in the eyes of the spirit. As a result, you will get their attention, and if you make a mistake, you risk becoming a Sinda victim.

    Another anecdote is about when I was in first grade. It's an incident of how spirit possessed one of the students in our school. The classmates who were with her at that time said that they were playing hide and seek when the girl began acting strangely after the game. Her gaze lingered, and she was sobbing, yelling, and playing with her emotions. She was in a state of flux at the moment. Then, out of curiosity, I ran into the crowd, only to discover that I was the only one in all the people out there wearing a red shirt, while everyone else was in white uniforms. She stared at me dead straight in the eyes. Everyone said to take me away from the crowd and let me wear something different that wasn't red.

There is no adequate explanation for why spirits are attracted to red color.

    Sinda is similar to the Buruanganon superstition known as "natabuan." It indicates that something happened to you at that specific location allegedly associated with supernatural phenomena. Patients who experience and are associated with "natabuan" experience fever and heavy body feelings, similar to Sinda, and how would you obtain this? And how would you get this? Victims are usually the loudest, noisiest, and obnoxious ones in a group during the visit.

    Another superstition related to sinda is "sab-wag" The victims are often called "nasabwagan" It occurs when you visit a forest and then make noises there. Then after you get home, strange bumps and rashes in your skin start to form and irrational itching of the skin. But the itching can be a threat to medicines. These phenomena have something to do with how strong or weak your "Dungan" is.