Growing up, old people will often tell children about certain things to avoid doing at night. It is the kind of belief that is rooted deeply in our culture that is still around in some areas to this day. Some of them are to protect the children while some are pure beliefs from the olden days. I don’t encourage you to believe in everything you see below. All I want is to share a small part of our culture that I grew up with. Maybe a few of these days are relevant to some other cultures too. Below are the 8 things to avoid doing at night, midnight, or in the dark that Cambodian elders told us.
Answer To Calls/Noises
It is a common knowledge to never answer to the call of your name or noises at midnight. If you hear someone calls your name or if your hear strange noises at midnight, just ignore those. Never ever answer that, especially if you live alone. You should not go check, open your door or window, or say anything. It is a high chance that those calls or noises are from ghosts or wandering spirits. Answering those or opening your door or window to check is an open invitation for them to come in. Pretend you didn’t hear anything, and focus on something else instead or you won’t have a good night sleep.
One of the stories I listened to regarding this experience was of a girl who visited her hometown. She left her hometown for a year to work, and she came to visit her parents during new year. While she was gone, a lady in front of her house hung herself after an argument with her husband. The girl did not know that. At midnight, she heard calls of her name from that lady outside her house. She opened the window to check, saw the lady, and she actually went downstairs to talk to her. The lady asked if she could come and hang out to catch up, and the girl said yes. She brought the lady to her room while her parents were sleeping at midnight. Long story short, that night ended in her jumping out of the window from the first floor, breaking her leg.
This is why you should never answer to any calls or noises at midnight. If it is nothing urgent, it appears unusual and out of place, ignore that. I do not encourage any sort of beliefs, but it is also a good precaution for your safety. We don’t have any reason to open our door to anyone at midnight when there is nothing serious going on.
Cleaning
You should never clean at midnight. It is believed that you are sweeping away the fortune and money that you have been collecting since morning. Another probable reason is that, before, we did not have enough electricity to use. So it was often dark at night, and cleaning in the dark is not safe. There is no reason to worry about cleaning and sweeping when it is the time to sleep. It is best to do that in the morning instead.
Facing Bedhead To The Bathroom/Bed Facing The Door
According to the beliefs of the elderly, doing so will bring away our fortune and money. You should never put your bed in a position where your feet are facing the door directly. It can cause bad dreams, restless sleep, and sleep paralysis (known as ghost stepping in Khmer). Some people even believe that you sleep in a big bed by yourself, tand here could be something sleeping next to you. So old people often tell us to have plush toys or pillows in bed to fill up the space in bed.
Incense Scent
You have to be extra careful when you smell the scent of incense at midnight. First of all, people don’t ignite incense at midnight. If you randomly smell an incense, old people believe that it is the spirit of the ancestors or relatives visiting. Sometimes the incense smells quite pleasant so we should be careful and pray for those spirits. This one is nothing serious but it is too random and scary to ignore. However, the best way to deal with this is to actually ignore it. Never go check, never.
Nail Clippings
This is one of the most common things to avoid doing at night that people Cambodian people are aware of. Before, people used knives to clip their nails which is why clipping nails at night is not advisable. It was not safe to do so, obviously. Superstitiously, people believed that clipping your nails at night would bring ghosts or spirits to your house. I have heard many stories about that growing up, even now. People said you should never clip your nails at night and keep your nails at the end of your bed. Those who did, experienced seeing a ghost or spirit coming to collect their clipped nails. To witness such an eerie event is one thing but getting sick from that is another thing. This is why it is one of the things to avoid doing at night.
Plate Tapping
This refers to using silverware or other things to tap on the bowls or plates while eating at night. Old people said that we shouldn’t do this at night because it is like an invitation for wandering spirits. When those spirits hear the plate tapping sound, they will come to eat the food that we are eating. As a part of the culture that is probably not even broadly practiced anymore, we do similar things at funerals or special occasions. During those events, there is often a tray of food for wandering ghosts or spirits. And the way to invite them to receive the offering is by tapping on the glasses or plates. Hence, old people forbid us from tapping on glasses or plates at night, or unfortunate things will happen.
Sleep Under The Beam
As for this one, it is like the common knowledge for Cambodian people to avoid doing both day and night. Sleeping under the beam of a house can bring various things such as demonic possession, haunting, and restless sleep. It is believed that the energy under the beam of a house is extremely negative. That is because it is where the spirits stay, and sleeping under the beam never results in anything pleasant. Things are the same when you are at a guest house or hotel, you should avoid sleeping under the beam.
The common haunting experience from those who did is seeing a ghost sitting and swinging their legs from above. During the event, they are completely paralyzed so they cannot scream or move. And they had to go through all of the haunting activities that the ghost bring to them. Those who were haunted while sleeping under the beam were usually sick, seriously sick, or even passed away. The good thing is that this kind of design is only in Cambodian traditional house design. In modern home design, the beam is not visible anymore.
Use Mirror At Midnight
I think this is a very common thing that many cultures hear about: do not look in the mirror at midnight. Even worse, do not brush or comb your hair while looking in the mirror at midnight. Some people believe that something might appear in the mirror while you are doing that. It can cause panic, and it can also make you sick as well. There is not a lot of explanation behind that, but it is one of the things to avoid doing at night told by the elders.
To Sum Up
Old people always say, “the darker it gets, the more careful we have to be.” And probably it was why these beliefs came up, it could be something to scare the children so that they are safe. I personally never experienced any of those, and I even clip my nails at night sometimes. However, there are certain people who usually come across superstitious events who have shared the experiences. Believe it or not, it is up to you.
Related Post: Superstitious Beliefs Cambodian Elders Don’t Do