IN CHINESE folk legend, the seventh lunar month is the Ghost Month. It is said that every year on the first day of the seventh lunar month, the gates of hell will be wide open and the ghosts will come out until the gate is closed on the 30th day of the month. For the safety of both ghosts and human beings, China has the tradition of worshipping the dead in lunar July since ancient times. In folk China, people would offer sacrifices on the first, second, fifteenth and last day of the Ghost Month.
Thursday, August 15 is the start of the ghost festival in 2019.
As Chinese integration in the Philippines grows, more and more of their beliefs are being shared by the rest of the people. Here in the Philippines, many non-Tsinoys now also believe in the Ghost Month. Here are a few of the many taboos in the Ghost Month:
DO NOT WEAR RED. It is believed that wearing red makes a person more attractive to ghosts which means he or she has higher chances of getting possessed by wandering souls. But a feng shui practitioner Maxima Tiu, as interviewed on DZMM ABS-CBN in 2015 said that aside from wearing amulets, one can also wear red underwear to deflect negative energy.
DO NOT TAKE PHOTOS at night because you might capture some other stuff that you don’t wish to see.
DO NOT open an umbrella, especially a red one, in the house because wandering ghosts might seek “shelter” under the umbrella.
DO NOT STAY out late in the night because the spirits might follow you back home.
DO NOT make big decisions. Never set a wedding date on a ghost month. Signing a contract for a new business venture is also not a good idea.
KEEP away from the water if you can as they say water spirits might drown people in order to reincarnate.
DON’T stare at a candlelight or burning fire.
AVOID the number four as this sounds similar to the word for death in Cantonese.