Day of the Dead practices

[halfcactus]

Translating some posts from this thread bc I like reading "personal/regional experience" threads, especially as someone who's kind of a fake Asian and doesn't know/practice anything lol.

Note: my Filipino is very dodgy (mixed language household, not a native Tagalog speaker, etc) /o\ as usual, corrections are fine

In the spirit of Halloween or "Araw ng Mga Patay," what are your customs and traditions regarding dying, funerals, etc? QRT this.

I'll start: 'wag mag-uwi ng pagkain mula sa burol, kahit kendi lang.

— CARLOS AHJUSSI 🇵🇸 (@Watdahel_MarceI) October 30, 2023

In the spirit of Halloween or "Day of the Dead" what are your customs and traditions regarding dying, funerals, etc? QRT this.

I'll start: don't take home food from the wake, not even candy.

May hawak ding rosaryong putol yung patay. This is to family suffers the same fate (cycle daw kasi). Dapat din daw sakto yung sukat ng kabaong, or else it leaves space for one more.

Sa Chinese side: rearrange furniture to confuse the ghost.

— CARLOS AHJUSSI 🇵🇸 (@Watdahel_MarceI) October 30, 2023

The deceased is also to hold a broken rosary. This is to to make sure that no one else in the family suffers the same fate (because it's a cycle, supposedly). Also that the casket's measurement should be just right, or else it leaves space for one more.

On my Chinese side: rearrange furniture to confuse the ghost.

Naglalagay ng mga sisiw sa kabaong ang mga pamilya ng mga namatay sa krimen at injustice. This is because chicks scratch the earth as if they're looking for something (like evidence).

— CARLOS AHJUSSI 🇵🇸 (@Watdahel_MarceI) October 30, 2023

The family of the victims who died of crime and injustice put chicks on the casket. This is because chicks scratch the earth as if they're looking for something (like evidence).

Gulgol. It’s a burial service na ginagawa ng family the next morning pagkalibing ng namatay. Naliligo ang family members—usually sa ilog—using a mixture of shampoo, water, burnt palay, and basi.

Ginagawa siya to remove the influence ng spirit nung pumanaw. https://t.co/I3J9paPT1v

— Rold Almighty ♿️ (@RoldAlmighty_) October 31, 2023

Gulgol. It's a burial service that the family does the morning after the dead is buried. The family members take a bath--usually in the river--using a mixture of shampoo, water, burnt unhusked rice, and basi (sugarcane wine).

This is done to remove the influence of the deceased's spirit.
Related reading: https://tawidnewsmag.com/cache-golgol-tradition-ilocanos/

Pag ikaw yung namatayan, bawal magsabi ng "salamat" or "thank you" and bawal ihatid palabas yung mga bisita na uuwi na

— immanuelcunt 🌸🪐🇺🇦 (@hellerhammer_m) October 31, 2023

If you are the bereaved, you can't say "thank you" and you can't send off a visitor who's leaving.
(I think this one might be true for us; or at least that visitors should leave without saying goodbye to the host.)

Pagpag. Pag galing sa burol, wag derecho sa bahay kasi susunod yung patay daw LOL. Not halloween also, but pag naggupit ka ng kuko sa gabi, mamamatay nanay at tatay mo.

— JR (@rajmvnd) October 30, 2023

Pagpag. When coming from a wake, don't go straight home because the dead will follow you LOL. Not halloween also, but if you clip your nails at night, your parents will die.
Pagpag (shaking off the spirits) I also do, and I take amusement in the image of ghosts just hanging out around 7/11 which is where a lot of people choose to stop over on the way home haha there was art of this on Twitter some years ago!!!

pag nasa sementeryo na, at pag matanda na yung namatay, bubuksan yung kabaong at magmamano lahat ng bata. di ko rin gets kung bakit, sign of respect siguro? ewan https://t.co/kmuz0c9tHo

— aa (@_johnaeronc) October 30, 2023

IIRC sa Chinese funeral, kapag above 80 na yung namatay, pula na yung suot ng guests imbis na puti. Celebration daw kasi nabuhay nang matagal. Baka related, baka hindi. https://t.co/a5QfFaQxmI

— CARLOS AHJUSSI 🇵🇸 (@Watdahel_MarceI) October 30, 2023

When you've reached the cemetery, and the deceased is an old person, the casket is opened and all the children will mano [gesture of respect to an elder]. I don't get why either, sign of respect maybe? idk
       Reply: IIRC in Chinese funerals, if the deceased is over 80, the guests wear red instead of white. They say it's a celebration because the deceased had a long life. Might be related, might be not.

Wakes
-Bawal daw mag-walis gamit walis ting-ting
- Bawal mag-suot ng red
- Bawal matuluan ng luha yung salamin ng coffin (or something?)
- Pagpag before going home. One must also change into diff clothes before sleeping

D word
-Bawal mag-clip ng nails once the clock strikes 6 https://t.co/r1PWvlysUE

— nami (@nauireverie) October 30, 2023

Wakes

- No sweeping with a walis tingting (native Filpino broom: here's a photo)

- No wearing red

- No tears must touch the glass of the coffin (or something?)

- Pagpag before going home. One must also change into diff clothes before sleeping

D word
- No clipping nails once the clock strikes 6

Pagpag; ‘Wag dederecho umuwi kung galing sa lamay o susundan ka ng kaluluwa ng patay.

Magbihis ng damit na sinuot sa lamay bago matulog o mamalasin ka.

Dapat may takip na tela yung mga salamin sa lamay, baka magpakita yung kaluluwa ng patay. https://t.co/f6ycIz0UMt

— miro 🇵🇸 (@mirorglr) October 30, 2023

Pagpag; When coming from a vigil, don't go straight home or the spirit of the dead will follow you (home).

Change out of the clothes you wore to the wake before going to bed or misfortune will befall you.

Any mirrors at the wake must be covered with a cloth because the spirit of the deceased might appear (in them).

Just a short one: n'ung namatay Lola ko last year sa Cagayan, as the only smoker there, they asked for a lighter para sindihan 'yung kandila for the procession to her final resting place. Hindi na raw puwede ibalik sa'kin 'yon, and it was buried with her. https://t.co/M72dGbijEY

— 𝐣𝐚𝐤𝐞 🏳️‍🌈 (@JakeAnino) October 30, 2023

Just a short one: when my Grandma died last year in Cagayan, as the only smoker there, they asked for a lighter to light the candle for the procession to her final resting place. But they couldn't return it to me anymore, and it was buried with her.

As an Igorot, marami: a 🧵 that may contain practices that are not exclusively Cordilleran

- do something about howling dogs in the neighborhood -- katayin, iligaw, etc. to avoid a death in the neighborhood
- sa funeral, prepare a mealfor the dead as if they were still around to eat. This is called "atang" (noun/verb). Also, around this time, 'pag may ulam or kanin na mabilis mapanis, nakikikain ang namatay.
-sa kanyaw, naghahain ng 12(?) meal sets arranged in a circle, with cigarettes, booze, tapuey, nasa gitna yung kinatay na baboy. with the help of

https://t.co/wKObfDXBEs

the mambunong, we call and pray and wait in silence as the ancestors commune and eat the atang.
-binabasa ng mambunong ang atay ng kinatay na hayop (baboy o manok, in some cases) to get an insight on the dead's spirit, the bereaved family's future, etc.

also, pics from a tita's despedida. same practices, different purpose, ig
https://x.com/reinpatric/status/1719142510134710544?s=20

-nakagawian na ring ibigay ang buntot ng kinatay na baboy sa mga bata para paglaruan (may hinihilang litid tapos kikislot it's fun)

-matagal ang lamay (na depende rin sa budget ng family. mahal ang baboy). 2 weeks noong namatay ang Lolo noong 2012. halos isang buwan noong namatay ang great Lola noon. Kadalasan ding sa bahay ang lamay, 'pag kaya.

-Preferred na sa sariling lupa ililibing ang namatay, madalang sa sementeryo para mas mabantayan ang naiwang pamilya.

-May pabaon sa namatay pag ililibing. Naglalagay ng sapatos o isang balot ng pagkain sa ibabaw ng ataul.

-May didilaang barya at kakaining bigas ng tapuey ang pamilya pagkatapos ng libing para makaiwas sa sakit.

-Dreams are important and powerful. The dead use them to communicate. A few years after nh libing, family members started to have dreams of my late Lolo complaining how his house is leaking water at the seams. Upon consulting the mambunong, the family agreed to exhume and transfer the remains to a new coffin. True enough, his coffin has gone moldy and he is in some sort of mummified state, his features still noticeable a few years after his death.

-Finally, a Cordilleran funeral is a celebration. There's dancing to the gangsa and solibao, singing, chanting, and drinking.
🦥 (@reinpatric) October 30, 2023

As an Igorot [an indigenous group], a lot: a 🧵 that may contain practices that are not exclusively Cordilleran [person from the northern region of the Cordilleras]:

- do something about howling dogs in the neighborhood -- butcher them, lead them astray, etc. to avoid a death in the neighborhood

- in the funeral, prepare a meal for the deceased as if they were still around to eat. This is called "atang" (noun/verb). Also, around this time, if there's food or rice that goes bad quickly, the dead also partakes.

-in kanyaw, we set 12(?) sets of meal arranged in a circle, with cigarettes, booze, tapuey, with the butchered pig at the center. with the help of

the mambunong [indigenous priest], we call and pray and wait in silence as the ancestors commune and eat the atang.

-the mambunong reads the liver of the butchered animal (pig or chicken, in some cases) to get an insight on the deceased's spirit, the bereaved family's future, etc.
[accompanying image: https://pbs.twimg.com/media/F9ueAZXaYAAktyP?format=jpg&name=medium]

also, pics from an aunt's farewell party. same practices, different purpose, ig: https://x.com/reinpatric/status/1719142510134710544?s=20 [sensitive image warning]

-it's also customary to give the tail of the butchered pig for the children to play with (there's a tendon[?] to pull and then it wiggles it's fun

-the wake is long (depending on the budget of the family. pig is costly). 2 weeks when my Grandfather died on 2012. and about a month when my great Grandmother died. Usually the wake is at home, if possible.

-It's preferred for the dead to be buried in their own land, rarely in the cemetery, so the family they left behind can keep a closer eye on it.

-The deceased gets provisions when they get buried. We put food or a parcel of food on top of the casket.

-The family licks a coin and eats rice from tapuey after the funeral to avoid illness.

-Dreams are important and powerful. The dead use them to communicate. A few years after he was buried, family members started to have dreams of my late Grandfather complaining how his house is leaking water at the seams. Upon consulting the mambunong, the family agreed to exhume and transfer the remains to a new coffin. True enough, his coffin has gone moldy and he is in some sort of mummified state, his features still noticeable a few years after his death.

-Finally, a Cordilleran funeral is a celebration. There's dancing to the gangsa and solibao, singing, chanting, and drinking.

Comments

[superborb]

I don't think fake Asian is the right term......

This was really interesting!

[halfcactus]

I wrote that during the days of the dead so I was still wrestling with my identity ghosts ahahaha

These types of threads are why I'll miss Twitter and already do because 99% of the threads are just people instigating everyone to fight about their opinions. ;_____;