My parents are from a village called Capari in Macedonia. I was born in the States but on occasion I visit the motherland, usually staying in the village of Capari. I have heard a million superstitions, ghost stories, etc, from my folks and others in Capari. It's not that I don't believe in these occurrences, it's just that I never witnessed them for myself.
In the summer of 1995, while on a two month vacation in Capari, I saw and I now believe. My grandma has a stable of horses in the barn, next to her house. One morning, the horses were dripping wet, sweating like Patrick Ewing in a overtime game, and the manes on all three of the horses were braided into hundreds of braids. It would have taken years to do the braiding, yet it happened overnight.
When I asked what had happened, my grandmother and mother responded, as if it weren't that big of a deal, "the beli ubai are out." Apparently, the beli ubai are lady ghosts whom died over a hundred years ago, trampled by horses that the Ottoman Empire Soldiers were riding.
A few nights later, I was walking home from a Pub (keep in mind, Macedonian villages do not have street lights and it is pitch dark at night - scary enough). I heard a woman whispering in my ear. I quickly turned around and saw a woman (she appeared illuminated) run away quicker than Carl Lewis. I was freaked out and sprinted the rest of the way home. When I told my grandma what had happened, she told me only horses have to be scared, they have never harmed humans. Whatever? Also, if I was to get scared, before leaving to go outdoors at night I had to chant, beli ubai, beli ubai, beli ubai. This, as I was told, would keep me from seeing them. Beli Ubai translates to White Nice in English, however, it makes no sense.
There are so many other ghosts in that village and so many stories to tell. I do not know if this is interesting reading for anyone of you, I just wanted to share one of my stories. If you want to hear more, just comment, it was a weird summer.
Usually, only a few people might see an individual ghost. Yet almost the whole village of Capari is able to see the ghosts that I am talking about. I wonder if it's because no one is scared of them and nobody pays them to much attention. People there don't even talk about it, as if it isn't unusual?
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