Hallows Eve - Philippine Style

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Scary! Spooky! Freaky! Ghostly! Gory! That all happens on hallows eve. On that day it would a macabre scene. But that's only in the movies.

It was a different scene when I visited a corporate office in Makati. I noticed a lot of children dressed in Halloween costumes.  They followed their parents and they went around the different offices and shouted, ""trick or treats!"  Afterward, they would smile at the candies they would get. It was a festive atmosphere for corporate Makati.

My grandchildren will have their own "trick or treat" activities complete with costumes and make-up as they will be joining their parents at their respective offices.

My grandchildren with their Halloween make-up. Pretty scary!


"I'm a big fan of the Walking Dead series"



This year 2016, the Halloween holidays will be longer, because it will include October 31 and November 1 which falls on a Monday and Tuesday.  All in all, it's a 3-day respite including Sunday. That will give the chance for most of us to visit our dead relatives.

As Friday evening approached, traffic jams started to build up. People rushed to bus stations, airports and the expressway to go home to their provinces to visit their dead relatives and offer prayer and candles.

Halloween celebration has become commercialized nowadays.  But interestingly, it has a bit of long history.  The tradition started in England. Centuries ago, Hallow's eve was a Celtic harvest tradition called "Samhain." 

The Celts also believed that during that time, the boundary between this world and the other world thinned and that the souls of the dead return home on one night of the year, and they must be appeased.  It was also believed that during this time of the year, people can communicate with the dead. The tradition has its pagan character.

To replace the Celtic pagan tradition, the Roman Catholic Church introduced the Christian tradition of All Saints' Day and All Souls' Day, where the souls of the saints and the dearly departed were remembered with prayers and lighting of candles.  

As a tradition in the Philippines, the entire family goes to the cemetery as early as October 31 and until November 1.  It's the time for family reunions with relatives.  Families would bring food and drinks for sharing and swap family stories and gossips of both the living and the dead while spending quality time in the cemetery.

This coming All Saints' Day and All Souls' Day is special because my Dad passed away this year and has joined my Mom, so we will be visiting both of them in the cemetery offering our prayers.  I missed them both (sigh).



As I remember them, I thought of the words  "death as part of life." When my mother was still alive, she wrote that "writing as an activity and art form is an effective catharsis for sad emotions."  Thanks, Mommy for that quote!

Happy Halloween!










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