We are bound by the reality that we live in, examining what is in front of us with our five senses. We see. We hear. We smell. We taste. We touch. Yet there are circumstances where a few are gifted with a sixth sense. This extrasensory perception sees beyond our plane of existence, and to see what others could not through a “third eye”. People say that to see is to believe, but what is it like for one to see beyond the borders of our reality?
Movies have twisted the perception of the third eye into a mangled web of myth and reality. “Based on a true story” is an example of many buzz phrases that the media use to further increase a sense of dread, since there is nothing scarier than fear materialized. Are they truly a more exaggerated depiction of everyday realities of experiences with the third eye?
Life with a third eye
In her late sixties, Evangelina Duplon Uy has gone through a lifetime being blessed (or cursed, as some may perceive it) with experiencing the paranormal on a regular basis. “Since I was a kid, I have always seen ghosts,” she shared, contemplating on her childhood in Zambales. Reminiscing of her childhood living near a beautiful, untouched beach, she recounted how she’d “often see people walking around” that her family couldn’t see.
Perhaps Evangelina can be considered luckier than most possessing a third eye, as she had a sister with a third eye, someone she could share her anxieties and burdens with. Unlike Evangelina who didn’t really view her third eye as a curse, however, her sister just couldn’t handle seeing the wandering beings and had her third eye closed by a specialist. Evangelina shared that she “never bothered” attempting to have her sixth sense closed. “I don’t see it as a curse,” she disclosed.
However, just because she didn’t view her sixth sense as a curse does not mean she’s completely comfortable with it. As can be expected, seeing apparitions is still something that surprises her. Each encounter is its own unique experience. When asked if she saw her third eye as a burden, she reflected, “To some extent yes because it is really uncomfortable to see things that are not meant to be seen.” But Evangelina can be called a brave soul, she adds to her statement saying, “I don’t get overly scared about it since they are more wandering spirits than haunting ones.”
I see, you don’t see
Interestingly enough, when asked to share her most memorable experience, Evangelina shared an experience where she didn’t actually see the ghost. She looked back on a memory of her grandson playing with his toy car, seemingly a common and joyful recollection. She moved on to say, “I saw him playing with a toy car but the toy was moving by itself. I couldn’t see the ghost, but he mentioned how he was playing with a friend.”
The experience perhaps stuck to her mind as it involved her precious grandson, and even more so because the ghost could interact with him. Her internal shiver could almost be felt in her words. “[It] really scared me that his imaginary friend could move objects. There was no harm on my grandson, but I still consulted my daughter and her husband to have the condo blessed again.”
Reality isn’t a movie
Blockbuster hits like the Conjuring and Nightmare on Elm Street have used the phrase “Based on a true story” to generate more fear among viewers. How one phrase could entice many into watching such movies is all down to how reality threatens you more directly than fiction. Nothing is scarier than a fear materializing into reality, and it holds true with horror movies.
These should always be taken with a grain of salt, with productions heavily exaggerating scenes. It may hold true that how scary a movie might be is up to the production quality but basing it on true events does create a more direct relation to the viewer, creating an idea that the same event could possibly happen to the viewer considering it has happened to someone else.
While there are paranormal experiences that may leave those affected traumatized, media’s portrayal doesn’t show the less frightening scenarios. “I love watching horror movies but seeing apparitions is nothing like the movies,” Evangelina claimed, understanding that horror movies are made to make the audience fearful that the same could happen to them. Throughout her decades of living, she never experienced anything too extreme. “…most I see just wander [rather] than haunt and possess others,” she assured.
The third eye has been heavily dramatized by the movie industry, with many horror movies depicting it as something terrifying, like a curse that brings monsters to life. But horror movies are just that—movies. In reality, it is a matter of perspective. The “scares” she’s had, like with her grandson, have become not a shackle to oppress her with fear, but perhaps an interesting story she could share to her grandchildren.
Having a third eye could be cause for one to live their daily lives in constant anxiety and paranoia, not knowing when the next encounter will be. But as Evangelina has shown, one can live peacefully with what seems like another plane of existence, facing each other-worldly encounter with a proud tilt of the chin and a mind secure in the realities of this realm.
