Hallows Eve - Philippine Style

-
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!










Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Seventies - The "Disco" Era

-
Image
The seventies was undoubtedly the "disco" era.  As a teenager, I listened and danced to the distinct sound of that era. When "Saturday Night Fever" hit the movie theaters in 1978,  I became an avid fan of the Bee Gees and other bands that played the disco sound.   Besides listening to disco sound, I also mimicked dance steps like the "swing" and "L.A. shuffle" from a local popular TV show the "Penthouse Seven." I strutted my stuff every time  I danced with a partner at birthday parties held in friends' residences. Bands that dished out disco tunes during the '70s were  ABBA  with their  song "Dancing Queen";   Donna Summer 's   goosebumps-raising song "Last Dance."  Other bands like  KC and the Sunshine Band ,  The Trammps ,  Van McCoy ,  Gloria Gaynor ,  The Village People ,  Chic , and  The Jacksons   also flooded the radio airwaves in the '70s .   I even followed their progress over...
Read more

Grandfather@50

-
Image
I will be turning 50 before the  end of this year, and what better way to usher in my golden boy status is becoming a bonafide grandfather.  I now have a grandson, his name is Samien. He was born on April 25, 2012. His parents say that the name means "to be heard".  I guess their choice was right because when Samien cries, he is really heard by everybody. I noticed remarkable things in Samien.  While just a new born, he showed to us that he has strong legs and arms.  He can push himself upwards in the crib and was tireless in raising his small arms every  now and then.  Also, he is not the quiet type because he always cries and laughs unlike other babies inside the nursery who are peacefully asleep.  At three months old, he speaks amusing although unintelligible syllables.  Also, at three months, he is rather long for babies his age and quite heavy for a three month old baby.  He weighed in at 5 kilogram during his visit to his pedia...
Read more

Organic Rice in the Philippines For Healthy Living

-
Image
Do you prefer healthy living? Go organic rice! Health buffs would like to get their hands on real organic rice. If you're one of them, do you know which ones are authentic organic rice? This blog will tell you all you need to know about organic rice. Some people think that organic rice is red and brown rice variety only.  Not really. It comes in other varieties and colors such as white, black, etc.  The idea that red and brown alone are organic rice is wrong.  These rice varieties are now sold under specific brands in leading supermarkets in the Philippines, however, not all of them are organic rice. But how will you know if you're buying organic rice or not? Organic rice is farmed without using synthetic fertilizer and chemical pesticide inputs. Besides the inputs, there are other things to consider such as -  How was it planted? What were the farming methods used? Was there contamination along the supply chain until it has reached the end consumer? There...
Read more