I went online today and chatted with my students who are scattered out of town, celebrating the Halloween season with their families. I agree that they deserve a break...after all, when I see them next semester, they'd definitely return to their former selves: dark circles under their eyes, dry skin and gaunt faces. When I ask them how they celebrate Halloween, I got similar answers. Someone said that they went to the mall to shop. Another went to the beach with friends. Somebody went to the cemetery to sell candles and flowers or paint tombs. It's either a variation of any of these answers.
It saddens me to think that the youth of today's Philippines does not practice what had been ingrained in our culture from one generation to the next. I think the government knows that Halloween is a lame excuse for local tourism or semi-reunions that it never extended October 31st (as what local employees expected)as non-working legal holiday this year. Though there is still the usual influx of people visiting their dead relatives in the cemeteries, may it be in the provinces or in the city, traditional celebration is not observed as usual.
I saw children in the mall line up in the activity area, wearing masks or face paint. They all want to "trick or treat" the participating mall tenants. There are specialty shops that sell latex masks galore, all Halloween trinkets imaginable, sound cards that emit blood curdling clips to scare unwary strangers, candles of all sorts of molds and scents, costumes of fairies to ghouls, styrofoam bones and wigs of all colors and cut. It's blatant commercialism at its best.
What happened to the days when the youth would, at the eve of Halloween, help their parents cook rice cakes to offer for their dead ancestors and the lost souls that would come and visit them? On the feast of All Soul's, the young would form groups that would go from house to house doing "pangangaluluwa." It's the Filipino version of Halloween carols. These carolers will pretend that they are hungry,lost souls that has just come out from the gates of heaven.They will beg the owner of the house for food.If the owner of the house disregards their pleas, these carolers will steal the owner's chicken or vegetable. At the stroke of six,it is traditional for the whole family to light candles at the entrance of their house,the altar and the table where the feast for the dead is laid out. The whole family will kneel in front of the altar and pray for the souls of their departed relatives and friends. After the long prayer is over,the family will eat rice cakes like biko, suman and kalamay. The elders believe that the dead likes to eat sweet and sticky rice cakes. It is believed that before the break of dawn,these souls will return to heaven. The next day,the whole family will visit the cemetery to clean the tombs of their relatives. They will cut grass and weeds that surround the tomb, sweep it away and eventually paint the tomb white. After the paint has dried out, they will light candles and offer colorful flowers for the dead. They will whisper a short prayer so that its soul will achieve eternal rest.
I understand that many young people I know are too preoccupied to care about traditional Halloween practices. But won't it be much better if we, older people, pass on these traditions to the next generation? How can our culture exist if we do not safeguard it in the future?
If you ask me where I'll be spending my Halloween, it would be with my family. My siblings have planned a get-away to Baguio for the holidays. We're leaving tomorrow night, leaving our parents behind, to attend to the mundane world of local politics.
It saddens me to think that the youth of today's Philippines does not practice what had been ingrained in our culture from one generation to the next. I think the government knows that Halloween is a lame excuse for local tourism or semi-reunions that it never extended October 31st (as what local employees expected)as non-working legal holiday this year. Though there is still the usual influx of people visiting their dead relatives in the cemeteries, may it be in the provinces or in the city, traditional celebration is not observed as usual.
I saw children in the mall line up in the activity area, wearing masks or face paint. They all want to "trick or treat" the participating mall tenants. There are specialty shops that sell latex masks galore, all Halloween trinkets imaginable, sound cards that emit blood curdling clips to scare unwary strangers, candles of all sorts of molds and scents, costumes of fairies to ghouls, styrofoam bones and wigs of all colors and cut. It's blatant commercialism at its best.
What happened to the days when the youth would, at the eve of Halloween, help their parents cook rice cakes to offer for their dead ancestors and the lost souls that would come and visit them? On the feast of All Soul's, the young would form groups that would go from house to house doing "pangangaluluwa." It's the Filipino version of Halloween carols. These carolers will pretend that they are hungry,lost souls that has just come out from the gates of heaven.They will beg the owner of the house for food.If the owner of the house disregards their pleas, these carolers will steal the owner's chicken or vegetable. At the stroke of six,it is traditional for the whole family to light candles at the entrance of their house,the altar and the table where the feast for the dead is laid out. The whole family will kneel in front of the altar and pray for the souls of their departed relatives and friends. After the long prayer is over,the family will eat rice cakes like biko, suman and kalamay. The elders believe that the dead likes to eat sweet and sticky rice cakes. It is believed that before the break of dawn,these souls will return to heaven. The next day,the whole family will visit the cemetery to clean the tombs of their relatives. They will cut grass and weeds that surround the tomb, sweep it away and eventually paint the tomb white. After the paint has dried out, they will light candles and offer colorful flowers for the dead. They will whisper a short prayer so that its soul will achieve eternal rest.
I understand that many young people I know are too preoccupied to care about traditional Halloween practices. But won't it be much better if we, older people, pass on these traditions to the next generation? How can our culture exist if we do not safeguard it in the future?
If you ask me where I'll be spending my Halloween, it would be with my family. My siblings have planned a get-away to Baguio for the holidays. We're leaving tomorrow night, leaving our parents behind, to attend to the mundane world of local politics.
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