Around 6 or 7am, I would be unable to fall back into sleep, hearing the sounds of gongs, drums, praying and chanting on the streets, just like one of our rituals for deities. My husband could not hear this. In the same time period, I dreamt Qi Ye 七爺 * was standing outside the door of my house. He was as tall as two or three storeys, dressed in white, looking dignified, not like he wanted to scare me. I didn’t think much of his being there. He asked if I wanted to go in, and I said yes. I told my mother about the dream; she asked me to pray for protection. Dreaming of Ba Ye 八爺 ^, counterpart of Qi Ye, would not be a good sign. After this period, I never dreamt of him again, nor did I hear those ritual sounds.
*also known as Dua Ya Peh in other Mandarin speaking countries
^also known as Li Ya Peh in other Mandarin speaking countries
Da Xiong, Taiwan
[deity]