Spirits or Superstition?

Several weeks ago, I heard a metallic tapping, 3 times, like a quarter being tapped on my bedroom window. It woke me from a sound sleep and I explored the interiors, trying to figure out if "someone" was tapping on my window or if it's a sound I heard in my sleep. The dogs, who share a room with me, weren't riled up, so I went back to bed. Another night recently, as clear as if she were standing next to my bed, I heard my mother say my name, somewhat forcefully. Again, I immediately awakened and checked the property, but everything seemed secure, so I again went back to bed. I've been having grusome nightmares, often involving snakes, one of which I dreamed was imbedded in my head in a big hole from which it entered and exited. I'm waking up often throughout the night and, sometimes, giving up sleep and staying up from what seems to be my 3 AM weird wake-ups.

Last time my housekeeper came, I told her that strange things have been happening to me, and as I described these recent events, she turned pale, began praying loudly in Spanish, and crossed herself repeatedly. She stared at me and said, "You are in danger. There is a witch in your house and you have to get rid of her." She said that the long string of injuries I've had, as well as the repeat bouts with community-acquired pneumonia since last November, reveal that there is something evil in my house and it's trying to take away my happiness, and, maybe, my life. She said she feels a "darkness" about me that wasn't there when she first began working for me and she's worried.

That's the point at which I had to decided (quickly) whether to laugh, acknowledge her superstition, or brush her off. I chose to acknowledge her concern and thanked her for providing that insight. "No," she repeated, "I am serious." I could see in her eyes that she was afraid for me, worried that something bad could happen to me, so I asked her what was there to fear. She asked me if I still had that "book" I brought back from Greece, the one written in Greek that the "witch" in the platka had given me with such strong insistence. I told Lulu I did still have it, and she told me to burn it. Now.

Again, there was a strength to her concerns, no humor nor hint of it, so I found the booklet -- and she refused to touch it or look at it directly. She again told me to burn it, so I put it into the sink and lit it. Suddenly, brilliant green flames shot up almost a foot high, which worried me because (1) I had never seen anything burn completely brilliant green before and (2) My house has sprinklers in case of fire, and I didn't want to set them off and water damage everything I own. When the booklet was ashes, I washed them down the sink, but we weren't finished with our exorcism.

Lulu got an egg out of the 'fridge and began making the sign of the cross all over my body with the hand holding the egg, all the while praying in Spanish. I recognized some of the words, especially Dios and diablo, and she was quite thorough about the ritual. Then, we broke the egg into a glass filled with water and, believe it or not, swirling white filaments, like a spider's web, filled the water. Lulu jumped back, told me this was not good, and directed me to flush the egg down the toilet. She explained that it's a cleansing ritual and all that filament effect was an evil spirit that had gone inside the egg. She told me that the egg-orcism would do until she could bring me a candle.

Today, she brought the candle. The glass container is covered with all kinds of symbols of evil, including the devil and witches and black cats, with the words "Arrasa con Todo" (Destroy Everything) written at the bottom. The way it works is I light the candle and let it burn itself out, and then whatever has taken up residence in my home is gone. I think we double-check with another egg ceremony the next time she comes to clean, but she's confident that the candle is going to rid my house of the spirits that have taken up residence in it.

At this point in time, I'd like to make it through the rest of this calendar year without breaking a bone or having another surgery or dealing with yet another intense respiratory issue, so between burning the Greek booklet, capturing the spirits in an egg, and burning a candle to destroy everything, let's hope that the evil spirits have moved on to another house.