Hexxed

Summary

Snap Judgment: "Hexxed" (October 23, 2025)

Podcast Summary

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Episode Overview

“Hexxed” is a spellbinding episode of Snap Judgment that explores the ancient, uncanny power of words—particularly curses—and their resonance in the lives of real people. The episode features two main stories: a harrowing account from Dan Sassoway Jones about a supernatural affliction in Blackfeet country, and an emotional narrative by Rashi about mysterious family blessings and her mother’s presence after death in Mumbai. Both narratives are woven together with Snap’s signature beats and a focus on the mysterious crossroad where the supernatural and everyday life intersect.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

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1. Power of Words & Curses

• The show opens with the timeless notion that words not only build but can also destroy.
• “A person calls upon the most ancient of powers. And the more purpose we give our words, the more likely the universe will bend around them.” (Host/Narrator, 01:10)

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2. Blackfeet Medicine: Dan Sassoway Jones' Story (03:23–24:55)

Meeting the Blackfeet Healers

• Dan moves near Heart Butte, Montana, living in a teepee, and is introduced to Tinyman Heavy Runner, apprentice to his grandfather, a revered Blackfeet medicine man.
• The Heavy Runner family is described as "an intricate part of the Blackfeet Medicine Society," holding deep healing and spiritual knowledge. (Dan Sassoway Jones, 04:33)

Ritual Life at the Compound

• The compound is spartan: no running water, communal effort, and a constant stream of people seeking healing or guidance from the old man and Agnes.

A Crisis Arrives

• A family arrives in desperation, bearing excessive gifts—a hint at the seriousness of their trouble.
• Their young brother (17) has been “cursed” after running off with a medicine man’s daughter.
• The curse: Each night, he transforms, "billows like an animal," thrashes, and nearly injures himself, as if possessed by a bull. (12:19)

“They said his face would contort and eyes totally bloodshot. This boy would basically turn into a bull… They’d have to tie him up with sheets.”
— Dan Sassoway Jones (12:19)

• Dan is warned to stay clear of the house: “Just don’t go around the house, don’t circle the house. You got something that strong… you don’t want to put your energy around it.” (14:54)

The Ritual & The Storm

• As the healing begins, the environment erupts—winds batter the teepee, drumming and prayer songs fill the night, and terrifying animal noises echo out.
• “The wind, it seemed like it was coming from every direction … We started hearing from the house moaning like an animal, like a call of a bull. This loud rumble.” (Dan Sassoway Jones, 17:48; Dan’s Girlfriend, 18:25)

Resolution & Aftermath

• By dawn, the tumult dies down; Tinyman emerges “completely beat up,” but victorious: “It’s done. It’s gone. This thing has left the boy. He won’t be bothered with it again.” (21:22)
• The boy appears transformed—peaceful and alive again. The family rejoices with the healers.

“All else I can tell you, was the evil medicine man’s medicine represented hate and fear. Old man’s medicine is good. … In the end, love is stronger than hate.”
— Dan Sassoway Jones (23:47)

Memorable Moments & Quotes

• Tension, fear, and trust in traditional healing echo throughout:
  • “Surely there’s enough men there… but what if there isn’t?” (Dan, 19:00)
  • “Love is stronger than hate.” (Dan, 23:47)

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3. Mumbai Mystery: Rashi’s Story (26:49–48:48)

Setting the Scene

• Rashi, eldest child in a lively Mumbai family, finds money tucked away in cereal boxes—an early clue to her mother's careful, secretive nature.

A Mother's Illness

• Rashi’s mother is diagnosed with cancer. The family faces financial and emotional hardship.
• Mother instructs Rashi on house routines and hidden stashes—preparing her kids for an uncertain future.

Loss and Aftermath

• After her mother’s passing, the family struggles. Practical and emotional chaos ensues, and beloved houseplants begin to die, symbolizing grief.

The Unexplained Returns

• Rashi starts waking at 3am, often found by relatives sitting up and staring at the dead money plant—until, mysteriously, the plant revives, sprouting new growth over 20 days.

“It had small leaves… It was almost as if it was a fresh new plant. I was just plain confused because the same plant had been dead for almost an year. It was impossible to revive.”
— Rashi (36:59)

The Mother’s Visitation

• One night, Rashi feels a familiar touch and sees her mother’s spirit, who communicates through gestures, leading Rashi to her father’s room.
• That night, Rashi (while sleepwalking or possessed) uncovers a secret cache of cash and jewelry under the mattress—assets her mother had hidden, now critically needed for her grandmother’s surgery and the family's expenses.

Resolution and Letting Go

• The recovered wealth rescues the family. Rashi, now ready to move forward, lets go of the protective metal bangle her grandmother gave her, symbolically releasing her mother’s spirit.

“Maybe it was my mother coming to see us for one last time and ensuring our well-being.”
— Rashi (46:48)

Memorable Moments & Quotes

• The raw emotion of the supernatural encounter and the family's restoration is palpable:
  • “If it was you who had come back, I hope I’ve done whatever it is you wanted me to do. I fulfilled your last wish and I love you more than anything else in this world.” (Rashi, 48:30)

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Notable Quotes & Timestamps

• “A person calls upon the most ancient of powers. And the more purpose we give our words, the more likely the universe will bend around them.”
  — Host/Narrator (01:10)

• “They said his face would contort and eyes totally bloodshot. This boy would basically turn into a bull… They’d have to tie him up with sheets.”
  — Dan Sassoway Jones (12:19)

• “Love is stronger than hate.”
  — Dan Sassoway Jones (23:47)

• “It had small leaves… It was almost as if it was a fresh new plant. I was just plain confused because the same plant had been dead for almost a year.”
  — Rashi (36:59)

• “Maybe it was my mother coming to see us for one last time and ensuring our well-being.”
  — Rashi (46:48)

• “If it was you who had come back, I hope I’ve done whatever it is you wanted me to do. I fulfilled your last wish and I love you more than anything else in this world.”
  — Rashi (48:30)

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Timestamps for Major Segments

| Timestamp | Segment / Story | |-------------|---------------------------------------------------| | 00:00–03:23 | Introduction & meditation on the power of words | | 03:23–24:55 | Blackfeet Medicine & the “Bull Curse” | | 26:49–48:48 | Rashi’s Mumbai story: loss, haunting, and hope |

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Episode Tone & Storytelling Style

• The episode is cinematic, atmospheric, and rooted in personal, lived experience.
• Tension, awe, and deep love run through the narratives.
• The hosts and subjects speak with reverence for both the dark and light sides of supernatural experience, maintaining a sense of wonder, respect, and occasional fear.

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Conclusion

“Hexxed” masterfully blends real human stories with supernatural mystery, meditating on the enduring power of words, ritual, and love across cultures. Whether confronting the terror of an ancient curse or the echoes of a lost mother’s care, both narratives find their deepest power in community, tradition, and acts of love—that, ultimately, are stronger than hate, loss, or fear.

Transcript

[Narrator/Host]

Snap Studios. Snap Judgment is brought to you by Progressive Insurance. Do you ever find yourself playing the budgeting game? Well, with the name your price tool from Progressive, you can find options that fit your budget and potentially lower your bills. Try [e-mail] Progressive Casualty Insurance Company and affiliates Price and coverage match limited by state law not available in all states. Look, it's hard these days if you're looking to stretch your food budget, because who isn't? Stock up with amazing finds from $3.65 by Whole Foods Market. And I'm talking real food like their organic pastas with robust sauces. And I'm always headed straight for the wild caught Atlantic salmon. See hundreds of yellow low priced signs that let you shop with confidence. Enjoy. So many ways to save on cozy fall meals at Whole Foods Market. The start of so many ancient texts tells us plainly that in the beginning was the Word. Before everything was the word. And even those that don't know, they know this. They know this. That simple words alone have a power. Peace be to you. Walk in the light. You have my blessing. You are forgiven. These are powerful words, but this is a two sided coin. When wronged, when humiliated, when threatened, when needing that final revenge, people reach for the last weapon left to them. The word. I hate you. Damn you. Cursing A person calls upon the most ancient of powers. And the more purpose we give our words, the more likely the universe will bend around them. Spook starts now. It curses. Curses, Curses. We begin in the early 1980s where Dan Sassoway Jones. He's living in a scenic national park in Montana. It's also Blackfeet Indian land. He's a member of the Ponaca Nation, but he's about to get an education in the ways of Blackfeet medicine Society. Sputin.

[Dan Sassoway Jones]

One day I was visiting a friend of mine in East Glacier, Mr. Bird.

[Dan's Girlfriend]

He was kind of a collector of American Indian arts at the time. I was doing writing and also my.

[Dan Sassoway Jones]

Artwork.

[Dan's Girlfriend]

And he invited me in and I just happened to notice across the room there was an Indian man, Tinyman, Heavy Runner. I was introduced to Tinyman and we shook hands.

[Dan Sassoway Jones]

I just knew that there was a connection between him and I. Tinyman was a striking human being. Long black hair, but he had one spot on the top of his forehead that grew white the full length of his hair.

[Dan's Girlfriend]

He had this very baritone voice.

[Dan Sassoway Jones]

It controlled the room really.

[Dan's Girlfriend]

I started finding out more and more about him. I realized what a powerhouse he was, especially around his own people.

[Dan Sassoway Jones]

The Heavy Runner family are an intricate part of the Blackfeet Medicine Society and kept a knowledge of the history of the tribe and also a knowledge of their spiritual ways. There was all this mystique about this family.

[Dan's Girlfriend]

Well, it wasn't long after my girlfriend and I had met Taiman that we had met his grandparents.

[Dan Sassoway Jones]

The grandfather. Everyone lovingly referred to him as Old man and his wife Agnes.

[Dan's Girlfriend]

I quickly learned that they were actual healers, medicine people of the tribe. And Tiny man was actually an apprentice of his grandfather and he was learning the medicine ways of his people.

[Dan Sassoway Jones]

They lived in an area called Heart Butte, Montana. Big Badger Creek, which is still a part of the Blackfeet reservation.

[Dan's Girlfriend]

Winter was coming. I really wasn't prepared for Glacier national park winter. I mean, they get 20 foot snowfalls.

[Dan Sassoway Jones]

I was living in a teepee at the time. And Tinyman says, you know, you really need to get out of these mountains here and. And come down into the valley area where they lived, to the family's home. I personally wanted to be around Tiny man for what, the knowledge that he had.

[Dan's Girlfriend]

So we took him up on his offer.

[Dan Sassoway Jones]

Tiny man lived right in the home with old man and Agnes. But part of their family lived on the property and they had their own little shack. So it was kind of a compound of people. They lived a pretty bare life. No running water. They had a well, and all the water was hauled to the house. They gave everything that they had of material away, other than the clothes they wore and cars that they had sitting up on blocks around the property. They'd become chicken houses and stuff like that. Had a few horses, they had a few head of cattle, and that was the extent of their farm.

[Dan's Girlfriend]

When we first got to the compound, we just had that tradition of jumping in and trying to help out where we could. Chopping wood was a constant thing. If you're not bringing in wood, then you don't have wood. Each week there was some folks that were coming to see the old man and Agnes. Both old man and Agnes were elders in the medicine community. Younger medicine people were coming to him to ask them advice, sending them patients or people that maybe they couldn't deal with. There was a lot of people there all the time. So there were people coming and going.

[Dan Sassoway Jones]

The old man just carried this happiness about him all the time, big smile on his face. And that's why he was such a good healer. A lot of that was his attitude. He was filled with love.

[Dan's Girlfriend]

It was in the late fall after our hunting expedition. The old man would spend a lot of time in the house and, well, I noticed that he Was out. He was out quite a bit, pacing. I hadn't seen him out unless he was working on something. But in this case, he wasn't really working on anything.

[Dan Sassoway Jones]

He walked from the corral to the back of the house, circle the house and then, you know, back to the corral and do pretty much nothing other than look up toward the north.

[Dan's Girlfriend]

Seemed like he was expecting something. A couple of days later, I'm having breakfast and finishing my coffee in the teepee.

[Dan Sassoway Jones]

And I hear this vehicle coming rather.

[Dan's Girlfriend]

Fast.

[Dan Sassoway Jones]

More so than normal. When you live in a teepee. It's very similar to living inside of a megaphone that's turned upside down on the earth. So any sounds that are around you are vibrating through the skin.

[Dan's Girlfriend]

But I stuck my head outside and.

[Dan Sassoway Jones]

Noticed there was this red pickup truck and it was zipping down the road. That thing was doing 90, if not more. And when it got to the old man's turnoff, he pulled up our road, which is dirt. The dust was coming, billowing behind them as they were coming toward the house. They pulled up into the front yard. Old man was standing there waiting.

[Dan's Girlfriend]

He knew why they were there. He had a look on his face of kind of dread. These two big gentlemen unfolded from the truck. In the back of the truck, they begin to unload this meat that they had brought. They were hindquarters of moose, which are huge. Each one of them took one of the hindquarters and threw over their shoulders, you're talking 100 or more pounds. They immediately greeted the old man. These guys looked like they were desperate. They're anxious to be there. And they had brought gifts that were beyond, I would say, what I normally saw people bring for payment for healing. I felt a level of anxiety. I have no idea what it is or what it could be, But I know it's something that's an emergency and that it's probably dangerous.

[Dan Sassoway Jones]

They moved inside, and still not a smile from the old man.

[Dan's Girlfriend]

When the gentleman left, Tiny man came directly to my lodge and proceeded to tell me exactly why they were there and what was going on. Tinyman said that these older gentlemen were the older brothers of this young boy that was afflicted. This boy, young boy and couldn't be older than 17. Had basically ran off with the daughter of a very powerful medicine man from Canada. And they had gone to a powwow and spent a couple of days before she finally went home.

[Dan Sassoway Jones]

It was a big deal to the father. Had everybody looking for her. He was just fraught with fear and anger.

[Dan's Girlfriend]

Tiny Man Told me that the man had cursed the boy.

[Dan Sassoway Jones]

Every night for the past few days. When the sun went down, the boy would go down on his all fours and he'd billow like an animal. He'd make these growling sounds and they said his face would contort and eyes totally bloodshot. This boy would basically turn into a bul. Running headfirst into the walls like a bull would do, tearing their home up. Tiny man said it took about four of them to hold this 17 year old boy down. When he would make this transformation, they'd have to tie him up with sheets. He would just be slobbering and billowing all through the night until morning he would come out of it. The real concern they had was that he was going to kill himself or hurt somebody else. As Tiny man and his grandfather as they all understood it, there was an entity that was inside of this boy that needed to be removed. Tinyman was concerned. He knew because of the old man's age that he would be the primary healer that was gonna have to work on this boy he was worried about. Scared me. Once I realized that this is a real thing, this was coming here, then I was concerned for my girlfriend's safety, my safety. I felt like I'd jump in and help restrain him if necessary. So I had no fear of being able to hold the boy. What I was afraid of was whatever was doing it to him, did it have the ability to shift, to go into and move into other people? I'd asked Tinyman what should we do? He said, just don't go around the house, don't circle the house. You got something that strong of energy going on, you don't want to put your energy around it in any way. Just stay away from it. And they've got everything handled. This is what they were trained to do. Later in the afternoon, they show up with this boy. And there are two vehicles this time. There's more of the family there, nine, 10 people. I kind of moved off to the trail chopping block, you know, start chopping wood. There was nothing special about the boy. Young, western, clean cut. He's kind of a scrawny kid. He wasn't, you know, anything that you would think that would be much of a threat. The family was immediately taken into, you know, one of the back houses that was prepared for that. So I'm standing there stacking wood, cutting a few more pieces. You get that little feeling that something is near. I turn around and it's the boy. He's standing, you know, right behind me, kind of frightened me. I didn't know exactly how to deal with this. So I'm like, oh, hello. And trying to, you know, calm my own fear about what I know I'm kind of a big handshaking kind of a guy, but I didn't shake his hand, didn't want any physical contact with the young guy. The first thing he asked was, is that your tp? And I was responding and, yeah, it's where I live. It's my home.

[Dan's Girlfriend]

There wasn't much said. The boy was very quiet. He did have a look of concern.

[Dan Sassoway Jones]

But I don't think he knew what was going on either.

[Dan's Girlfriend]

After a few minutes, one of his older brothers came out and got him, and they left. So I wandered back to my lodge.

[Dan Sassoway Jones]

The sun's going down. Right at sunset, these winds started coming. All of a sudden, we heard calls for Tinyman from the house. It was beginning. I hear Agnes singing at the top of her lungs, singing. I hear the old man, he's raised.

[Dan's Girlfriend]

His voice in prayer.

[Dan Sassoway Jones]

It just seemed more intense this night than any before. Somebody was drumming.

[Dan's Girlfriend]

It was a slower tempo, which in my tribe would be what we call a prayer song.

[Dan Sassoway Jones]

The wind, it seemed like it was coming from every direction. The teepee was just getting slammed from each way. It was getting cold. So I just built up a fire. We started hearing from the house moaning like an animal, like a call of a bull. This loud rumble.

[Dan's Girlfriend]

These guttural grunts. I remember hearing a lion in a zoo once roaring. And it's the most loudest thing you've ever heard. And this was a lot like that.

[Dan Sassoway Jones]

I could hear loud thumping, Almost like the shaking of vibration that would set up through the teepee from the house. Sounds like people were being thrown around like rag dolls. And at one point, the old man's screaming. I'm really concerned. Surely there's enough men there. But what if there isn't? What if something's brought it to a head that this force becomes so powerful that all the men that are in there can't control it? I was afraid. This went on for hours into the night, singing the different songs, the old man at times praying rather loudly. That'd be long periods of silence. And then the sounds would begin again. Loud thumping. Then you'd hear hollering. We didn't have much conversation between my girlfriend and I because we wanted to hear what was going on from there. When would this break and how would it break? We didn't sleep at all. Didn't even try to sleep.

[Dan's Girlfriend]

I burned some cedar. We Were praying individually. At times we'd pray together, Mostly praying.

[Dan Sassoway Jones]

To ourselves all night.

[Dan's Girlfriend]

It had been very windy, though, and cold. And then it kind of broke right before sunrise. It almost felt like it warmed up.

[Dan Sassoway Jones]

It's that special time when the old people say that the night is fighting the light to stay. There'd been a long period of calm.

[Dan's Girlfriend]

We knew that something definitely had changed.

[Dan Sassoway Jones]

We're drinking coffee and. And then I hear the knock at the teepee. And he yelled, you know, a hoke come in. And it was Tinyman. He looked completely beat up. He looked like he had been through the fist fight and one that he probably lost. We handed him a cup of coffee, and I wanted to know how the boy was. First of all, he said, it's done. It's gone. This thing has left the boy. He won't be bothered with it again. It was just such a relief to hear that from Tinyman.

[Dan's Girlfriend]

We came out of the teepee that morning, and the sun was coming up as we walked towards the corral.

[Dan Sassoway Jones]

The old man was walking in the front yard. And the first time in a few days, he's got a big smile on his face.

[Dan's Girlfriend]

He looked tired but happy.

[Dan Sassoway Jones]

Then in a few minutes, the brothers came out with their younger brother between them. We started walking over toward them. First thing I noticed how different the boy looked.

[Dan's Girlfriend]

I mean, his eyes were alive.

[Dan Sassoway Jones]

He didn't have the same look that he'd had before. He looked more just completely at peace.

[Dan's Girlfriend]

I'd say the family was relieved and happy. Very thankful to Agnes and to the old man. I mean, they were hugging them and they were talking in black feet.

[Dan Sassoway Jones]

I still had a lot of questions. You know, what was this thing? How did it come to be? Tiny man told us that in these kinds of exorcisms, they look for tokens or items that might be connected in some way to the situation. If they found a carved bull that.

[Dan's Girlfriend]

The boy was wearing and he immediately removed it, Tiny Man's assumption was the medicine man had given it to his daughter and made the suggestion that it became a gift to the boy.

[Dan Sassoway Jones]

Medicine men provide different services. The healing is not the only thing that they provide. If you lose someone or something, you can go to a medicine man. They find things that you've lost. And then there's others that deal in revenge. How do you do something like that to another person? So we're dealing with a medicine man that's ethics or a little askew. Not balance, maybe, but still handling a lot of power. All else I can tell you, was the evil medicine man's medicine represented hate and fear. Old man's medicine is good. It is filled with love. And in the end, love is stronger than hate.

[Narrator/Host]

Big thanks to Dan Sassoway Jones for sharing your story with the Spooked. If you want to know more about Dan, check out our show notes. That original score was by Leon Morimoto. It was produced by Chris Hambrick. When Snap returns, we're gonna find out someone's hiding spot. Stay tuned. How about some good news for a change? Because there's a cannabis company that ships federally legal THC right to your door. And not just any thc. Fast acting gummies designed to target specific moods and needs. I'm talking about Mood.com's incredible line of functional gummies. And you can get 20% off your first order at Mood.com with promo code SNAP. So head to Mood.com, find the functional gummy that matches exactly what you're looking for and let Mood help you discover your perfect mood. And don't forget to use the promo code SNAP when you check out to save 20% off on your first order. Welcome back to Snap Judgment, the Hex special celebrating the brand new season of Snap's supernatural sister podcast, Spooked. And yes, the new Spooked season, the Crossroads is available everywhere. Podcasts are available. Get Spooked. But now, now we're going to take you to India to meet Raashi. Rashi is a teenager and she lives in Mumbai. She just graduated and wants to throw a party to celebrate. Naturally, Rasche has just one small problem. Spooked.

[Rashi]

One day, all of his cousins, we've gathered at this Mumbai house and we are planning to do this amazing, amazing, huge party that we have never had before in our household. We just had our major results in school. Some of us are growing up and going to college. So we plan to get some booze. Of course, then we have to buy some paper hats and some decoration. So me being the eldest child in the family, I decide that I should be contributing more money. But I had no money. So my mum's in the kitchen and I go to her and I very sweetly start to wash the utensils. So she knows that I've come there to ask her for something. She stops me and she's like, just tell me what you want already. Don't try to act sweet. I look into her eyes and I'm like, mum, please can you give me some more money? Because we were planning a party and then there was silence for about 20 seconds. She just smiled and she said, okay, fine, but have you had your breakfast? And in my head, I'm like, she's changing the topic. I know I'm not getting money for that party. I used to have chocolate cereal for breakfast. So I walk to the cabinet in the other dining area, take out the box, and while I'm pouring the cereal out, there's a whole lot of cash that just falls out on the table. 5 rupees, 10 rupees, 50 rupees. In my head, I'm like, hmm. I have no idea where this money's come from. But now I don't need to ask my mother, which is so great. My mother comes to me in the evening. She said, the 200 rupees that you took, what are you gonna buy from it? I go like, oh, so it was you who put that money in that box in the first place? She said, no, it's magic. It can appear from anywhere in the house. If you ever find money again in the house, you have to tell me. You cannot just steal it without telling me. I suddenly realized that, oh, my mother hides money around the house. And when I think about it, my dad is a spendthrift. So it actually made sense that my mum hid money around the house. The party was a blast. And I remember the next morning, none of us were sober enough to go home. One night, I was waiting for my parents to come back from this doctor's appointment. My parents had regularly started going to the doctors because my mother started feeling sick. She constantly had pain and aches. I was standing in the balcony and I saw the car approach, and I just ran downstairs to greet my mom. And I see her come out of the car, and she has this, you know, expression about her that she's going to cry. She runs up the stairs, goes to the bed, lies down, and she just puts her head between her hands and she bursts out crying. Never in my life my mother had cried like that. Not even when she lost her best friend. So I kept asking her, what happened? What happened? Why are you crying? And she just looked at me and she said, I'm gonna lose all my hair. My mum had this luscious long hair which went right down to her knees. And she loved her hair so much. I asked her if there's something wrong or why would it happen? And in between her sobs and crying, she just somehow told me I have cancer. I couldn't speak for the next, I think, 30, 40 minutes. My head just straight away went to, what would happen if we lose our mom? So after my Mother's diagnosis. For the next two years we had to regularly visit the hospital and each treatment was quite expensive. So it was getting difficult for us money wise. She started teaching us different things as a family. She would give us instructions on how to take care of the garden, what who likes to eat, how do you go about a set routine? How do you not spend too much? Initially I thought my mother was teaching us those things because she couldn't do them herself. But eventually I realized that maybe she was trying to teach us the ways of life because she knew she's not going to live with us for very long. On 31 August, we were at home. My mum felt just fine. She was doing good. But towards the evening, later on, she started to feel sick. She suddenly started to have a lot of pain in her back. She started to feel breathless. And I think a couple of hours later in the morning at 4 o', clock, she just went silent. We just knew that my mother had gone. She was no more with us. The next few months were very difficult for every small thing. We used to miss our mother a lot. None of us knew how to cook properly. We couldn't find our clothes in place. There was no routine in the house. Everything was chaotic and financially we did not have enough. I was very depressed. So my grandmom, she gives me this metal bangle which is like a bracelet, and she puts it on my left hand and I'm thinking, okay, maybe you know, it's for good luck, or maybe it's to calm me down Somewhere there's this belief that if you wear something metal, it keeps you calm and protected. So I just put it on and I never took it off. Obviously we couldn't tend to ourselves, so forget about tending to the garden or the plants. This particular plant, it started to die eventually. It was one of our very favorite plants. It was a money plant that climbed all the way up to my window grill in my bedroom and almost covered. Half of had nice beautiful round leaves. But it suddenly started to wilt. After a week it was completely dead. We try everything we know and we can to save it. Make another cutting from it, prune it, grow another plant from it. Nothing works. It almost felt like the plants knew that my mom was not around to take care of them anymore, that she was gone. After almost a year after my mom passed away, I was sitting in my living room and my dad comes to me and says, why do you keep waking up at 3am? And I immediately looked at him confused and I said, I have not I was not up at 3am what happened? And he said, I woke up to get some water and I passed by your room and I saw that you were sitting in your bed. I was like, oh, maybe I would have just woken up randomly. After two, three days, my grandmom told me the same thing. She said, you do wake up at 3am why do you keep sitting in your bed? Is something wrong? The first thing that went into my head was maybe I'm still not used to the fact that my mother is not around anymore. Maybe I'm depressed and maybe my brain is making me do things. Sometimes people also go into sleepwalking problems because of stress and all of that. So we went to the doctor. The doctor said that it could be just stress. And I don't think there's something serious that you need to worry about. But if you think you're waking up at the same time and if your family is saying it's the same time, put an alarm clock just to see how you respond to it. You will know if you've been sleepwalking. So we come back and my father puts an alarm clock for, I think 3:15am and I just dozed off to sleep. Next thing I remember is the alarm clock started ringing. So I wake up and I realize that I'm sitting up and I'm staring at that plant, the plant that was already dead in my window. I'm thinking, oh, I have been actually sitting up and doing this. But also, what are these little green things coming out of the plant? There are three new branches that are sprouting out. It had small leaves. It was almost as if it was a fresh new plant. I was just plain confused because the same plant had been dead for almost an year. It was impossible to revive. So in my head I'm thinking, you know, maybe I'm just imagining it. And I went back to sleep. The next night I go to sleep and then once again, I wake up at 3am I'm sitting up and I'm staring at that plant. The plant had grown a little more. One of its branches had actually coiled around the grill. It's almost like it's coming alive right in front of me at that moment. And this goes on for about 20 days. In the span of 20 days, it came back to life. And there's no bloody explanation for it. I remember thinking that maybe this is something supernatural. Maybe there is some sort of energies passing or something that has remained of my mother, which she's come to tell us through the plant. A couple of Times the thought did cross my head, but I never took it seriously. One night, I go to sleep on my usual time, in the middle of the night. I remember feeling a soft touch on my head, like somebody caressing my hair, somebody massaging my eyes. And the touch is very, very peculiar because it's just like my mum's. She would usually massage our eyes, massage our heads before waking us up. And that touch is so strong that I open my eyes and I look to the right side of my bed and I see my mom standing there. She's wearing a saree and she's wearing her hair in a braid, a long braid. She just looks like she's there in person, alive. She's smiling and. And I'm confused. I want to ask her out aloud. Mom, if it's you and if you've come back. But I can't get myself to speak. She is not saying anything. She's just pointing at me and she's pointing towards the other room where my father's asleep. I get down from the bed and I follow her to that room. I enter the room and I see my father sleeping, very peaceful. And my mother's standing there and she just constantly is pointing at the bed. I'm looking at the bed and the very next thing I remember is I wake up.

[Narrator/Host]

Spook continues right after the break. Stay tuned. Welcome back to Snap Judgment, the Hex Special, a dark celebration of the return of our supernatural sister Podcast Spooked. The brand new season is called the Crossroads and it is waiting everywhere you get your podcast. When last we left, Rashi had just been visited by the spirit of her mother during the middle of the night before waking alone in her bed. Spooked.

[Rashi]

I'm in my bed and I see my father, my grandmother, and a couple of other family members sitting in my room looking at me. Something is probably wrong because I'm also feeling very heavy. I'm exhausted, I have a body ache. My family has this weird expression on their face. And I realize that I've woken up almost five hours later than I would usually wake up at. So I instantly ask my father what's happening? And the first thing he asks me is, do you remember anything? And I tell him no. And I also tell him that I'm extremely tired. Then my father tells me, he says, do you remember seeing a lot of money? I instantly ask him, I said, what do you mean by a lot of money? Then my grandmom says, do you remember waking up last night? I think you woke up. Didn't you think Hard. I said, no, of course I don't remember. At this point, I sort of snap at them. And I said, can you guys just please tell me what's happening? Because it's really irritating me. And that's when my father says, you woke up in the night, you came to my room and you first lifted me. You put me on the floor and you pulled the mattress off the bed. And I'm wondering, how are you picking that mattress up? Because it's very he. At this point, I'm legit thinking that my family is just, you know, they're just joking around with me. I said, maybe I was sleepwalking. Maybe I was doing something out in my sleep. He said, the moment you lifted that mattress, it was so scary to look at. And we did not have the courage to come and touch you. We called out your name a couple of times, but you did not respond. And then my father says, underneath the mattress, there were four compartments. One of the compartments had a secret locker that none of us knew about. No one in our family knew that these locker existed. You opened the locker and then you pulled out this plastic bags with a lot of cash and jewelry. And you pull them out one by one. You just took everything out and you just put it on the floor. And then you close the compartment and you put the mattress back. And then you went back to your room. My family is scared. They sound like they don't know who I. I am or who I was last night. And while my father is saying this, my grandmom comes from behind. She takes me to the room and I see there on the floor five or six big clothes bags with jewelry in them. Wards of 50 rupees, 100 rupees. I have never seen this amount of cash or jewelry, jewelry before in my life. I was so pissed at my own family. You know, it almost felt like. Like my family wanted to prove that I'm mentally unstable, that I've gone mad. I straight off told my father, if this is a joke, it's a very cruel joke to pull on anybody. And my dad said, listen, you're my daughter, and I have no reason to put you through this. We found the jewelry that I thought had gotten stolen. The jewelry that was there was stolen long ago, even before I was born. And we found it at a time when we actually needed this cash. And then he tells me that my grandmom was due for a surgery. She had a hole in her heart and she was due for a surgery for which we really needed money fast. After being angry I felt that sense of relief, like something was lifted off my shoulder and everything just made sense. It almost felt like my mom was still trying to protect us from the afterlife by trying to keep the plants alive by trying to make sure that we had enough money to get us by in our rainy days when we actually needed it the most. Maybe it was my mother coming to see us for one last time and ensuring our well being. My grandmom's treatment was started. I was already in college so I had a huge college fee to pay. All of that was paid off. My brother's tuition fee was paid off. Some of the jewelry we still have for my brother's would be wife. And after about a week I went to the seaside and I sat there for some time trying to recollect everything that had happened. That metal bangle was still in my hand. And so whenever I looked at the bangle or that bracelet, it reminded me that it was given to me right, Right on the next day of my mother's passing and I wanted to move on in life and I was ready to let go. I put the bangle in the water saying this to my mother, if it was you who had come back, I hope I've done whatever it is that you wanted me to do. I fulfilled your last wish and I love you more than anything else in this world. As I let go off that bangle, I saw it disappear and then slowly sink into the water.

[Narrator/Host]

Thank you Rashi for sharing your story with the Spoot. We are so glad you and your family are in a much better place now. Rashi is a DJ for Big fm, one of India's largest radio networks. You can check her out on bigfmindia.com that story was scouted by Aditya Mattu. Original score by Lauren Newsom. It was produced by Eric Yane. Oh yes, there are more Spook journeys available. The brand new season of Spooked, the Crossroads just dropped with Spooked episodes leading you through the heart of the Shadowlands. Available right now wherever you get your podcast. Spooked Spooked is brought to you by the team that goes by the motto Leave no Trace. Except of course for Mark Ristich, who always leaves a trace of peanut butter. There's Davey Kim, Zoe Ferrigno, Ann Ford, Eric Yanez, Teo Da Cott, Marisa Dodge, Myles Lassie, Doug Stewart, Paulina Creeky, Elizabeth Z. Pardue, Adithya Matu and Lulu Jemima. On Team Spook. The union representative, producers, artists, editors and engineers are members of the national association of Broadcast employees and technicians, Communications Workers of America and AFL CIO Local 51. The spoof theme song is by Pat Mcity Miller. My name is Washington. Right now, my promise is to never, ever turn out the lights. Sam.