By: Lorena Guadiana
Superstition is the belief in supernatural casualty which Filipinos, especially the elders, are so fond of. They are so superstitious where almost everything becomes a big deal.
They believe that when your actions are against the superstition, bad luck will happen even where there is no natural process and scientific explanation and even if it just happens coincidentally just like what we see in horror movies and stories related to astrology, magic, religion, witchcraft and prophecies.
For modern people, superstitions are ridiculous. They tend to laugh every time they hear those beliefs of the elders. However, whenever they are attending events, like weddings, christening, birthdays and funerals, they tend to observe those norms as practiced by the elders just for the benefit of the doubt.
Everyone thinks following these traditional beliefs will cause us no harm, but, what people didn’t know is that it will just consume so much of our time and effort in reality.
Household beliefs vs. reality of funerals in the Philippines
- Belief no. 1
Mirrors should be covered with cloth in the house where the funeral is being held because the spirit of the dead might show up in the mirror and be trapped on it.
Reality
Because they’d covered all the mirrors and trying hard not to see their reflection, they didn’t know what do they look like.
- Belief no. 2
Taking a bath and combing one’s hair are strictly prohibited in the house but they can do it in another house. It is to show respect to the dead.
Reality
Because everybody is busy taking care of everything, preparing food, accommodating visitors and with minimal amount of sleep, plus their smell and messy hair , they might scare somebody because they already look like a zombie.
- Belief no. 3
Do not sweep the floor during the wake because it is likely to sweep the spirit away from the house.
Reality
The house will be dirty and untidy, the trashes will be piled and scattered on the floor and nobody is going pick those up because it is against the beliefs.
- Belief no. 4
When about to bury, none from the relatives is allowed to lift the coffin. Anybody who is not blood-related can only lift the coffin.
Reality
In reality, when nobody is available to lift the coffin, the funeral will be delayed because the time will be consumed of looking for anybody who is not related to the dead.
- Belief no. 5
When the coffin is carried out of the house, somebody must strongly break a glass or plate and shout “please take all the bad luck with you ” so that good luck will come in the house where the wake was held.
Reality
Somebody might be hurt when the debris of the broken glass/plate propelled into his direction. So instead of good luck, bad luck might even happen.
- Belief no. 6
It is not good to look back when the dead is already on its way to cemetery and being accompanied by family members. They believe that when you look back, somebody from the family will be the next to die.
Reality
When you forgot something, no matter how important it is, you cannot go back anymore.
- Belief no. 7
The dead must be the first one to leave the house and family members will follow after him because walking ahead of the coffin will cause you bad luck .
Reality
No matter how fast you walk , you always have to slow down to keep the distance behind the hearse. The hearse moves really slow so you will be exposed too long under the sun.
Many people believe that following all the superstitions will lead them to good luck, but nobody can completely prove if the bad luck or good luck is not just a matter of coincidence but a matter of consequence .
These 7 beliefs over reality are not complete because there are more than hundreds of beliefs in every region in the world and some of them are in opposite claims.
For example: Color black is the color of mourning and red is a color of happiness. However, Chinese wear red when they are attending funeral. So, always remember, we are coming from different region with different beliefs and practices, even we believe or not, we must respect each other’s beliefs.
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