Glenda, Inday -so much for all these typhoons. How is it for you buddy? Lucky for me I'm still in one piece. This raining makes me wanna sleep longer, do you?? Oh Hola August! Which means we're 4 months away to the end of the year and Christmas and New Year and 2015. Amazing huh? Do you even notice time is running quite fast, really fast.
So before we can even begin celebrating Christmas, there's our usual All Saints and All Souls come November. Semester break by October. Sure, we don't celebrate Moon Cake festival here in September although I've seen lots of stalls around malls with mooncake offerings for some Chinese kababayan. August is apparently Linggo ng Wika right? Now you remember your elementary days wearing baro't saya with matching bakya..haha. Funny days. But, have you heard of Ghost month?
So before we can even begin celebrating Christmas, there's our usual All Saints and All Souls come November. Semester break by October. Sure, we don't celebrate Moon Cake festival here in September although I've seen lots of stalls around malls with mooncake offerings for some Chinese kababayan. August is apparently Linggo ng Wika right? Now you remember your elementary days wearing baro't saya with matching bakya..haha. Funny days. But, have you heard of Ghost month?
Oh Ghost month
During ghost month, the Gates of Hell are opened allowing dead spirits to wander in the world of the living. This makes the ghost month a bad time to do activities like travelling, starting a new business, contract signing, swimming, strolling, celebrating, even marrying. In short, anything important that you'd like to do is a no-no during the hungry ghost month. This year 2014 Ghost month starts Jul 27 and will end Aug 24. If you would like to know more of do's and don'ts during this time please click here.
Buddhist countries like Japan, Malaysia, India, Singapore, China and HK have always believed that Ghost Month is the most ill fated time of the year, so extra caution should be taken.
We are all alike
Like All Souls day celebration, we put food offerings to honor our dead and please them. During ghost month a food feast with beer and wine, paper money is held for the spirits which if well-fed and happy~ in return the spirits will bring prosperity and abundance to the family.
This custom is just one of too many handed down beliefs from generations to generations that we may not fully understand because (we're not Chinese, that's one). Buddhist and Christians have different faith but somehow we are all alike in some aspects like the most basic human value of respecting our departed love ones. I was raised to follow this tradition of honoring the dead and I think there is nothing wrong by believing in Ghost month too.
Ghost month reminds us that there is a greater power above us all. This is a time of prayer and spiritual value because prayer works!
May blessings come upon you,
This custom is just one of too many handed down beliefs from generations to generations that we may not fully understand because (we're not Chinese, that's one). Buddhist and Christians have different faith but somehow we are all alike in some aspects like the most basic human value of respecting our departed love ones. I was raised to follow this tradition of honoring the dead and I think there is nothing wrong by believing in Ghost month too.
Ghost month reminds us that there is a greater power above us all. This is a time of prayer and spiritual value because prayer works!
May blessings come upon you,
itsmelory (^.^)
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