Strange Superstitions

I’ve been here for almost five months now and during that time, I am often reminded by my Girlfriend; Charise and her family of certain beliefs that the Filipino people have.  Some of them are myths, wives-tales, superstitions, religious beliefs or any combination of all of the above.  I am not saying that they have no actual validity….some of them may and some of them might not.  Either way, these are some of them that I have heard and I thought my friends and family in America would be interested in hearing them.

It should be noted that how I interpreted these items below may not be 100% correct due to language differences, vocabulary, etc. 

• On your Birthday, you should go to the Church and light a few candles and say a prayer thanking God for another year of your life.
• On your Birthday, you should cook & eat Pancit and eggs for long life.
• If you are peeing outside at nighttime, you should say “Tabi” which is the Cebuano word for “Go away”.  This is done to get rid of the bad spirits.  This is also done if you step outside at nighttime to throw some trash or something…
• If you have a new car or house, you need to let the Priest bless it so that you will have less accidents and much good luck with no bad spirits.
• Drinking something cold in the morning on an empty stomach is bad because you might get a headache and faint.
• If you just completed an exercise or hard work outside you should always relax first before taking a shower.
• If you have a cough, don’t eat mango, pineapple or eggs.
• If somebody dies due to murder, but nobody knows who the killer was, then a live baby chicken will be placed on top of the casket or coffin.  This is done so that the killer will have difficulty sleeping and will feel guilty.
• After a couple gets Married and they go home after the reception, etc…, the Mother of either the Bride or Groom will comb the new couples hair and then the comb will be placed into a cup of water.  The new couple will then share the glass of water, return the cup to their Mother and she will then throw the glass on the ground.
• If a child has a cough or fever that does not stop after taking medicine, then it is believed that perhaps the bones have become mis-aligned and a “Bone Doctor” will be called in.  He or She will then poke and feel around the childs body and do some sort of a massage to fix the situation.
• Don’t cut your fingernails or toenails in the evening because it is thought that you are cursing your parents or family.
• If you hear a Rooster or Hen making their normal noises at nighttime instead of in the early morning, then it means somebody in the neighborhood is pregnant.
• Sleeping immediately after taking a bath at either day or night time will result in blindness.
• Sore eyes can be cured by washing them with your first urine in the morning.
• Black ants inside the house is a sign of good luck.
• If a member of your household dies, then you should not sweep the floor or clean until after the burial occurs.
• If somebody leaves the table after eating a meal, the others at the table should turn their plate towards that empty chair to wish that person safe travels.
• If you have hiccups, cut a string from your clothes, wet it with your saliva, and hold the string on your forehead until the hiccups stop.
• Don’t sew or repair your own clothes while wearing them, as it means there is a greater chance you will commit suicide.
• When sweeping your floors at nighttime, don’t sweep the dust, etc., all the way outside as you will be removing the good blessings that are inside the house.
• If you are a child, don’t eat the hardened rice or “tutong” at the bottom of the pan.  It will cause you to be “last” in school, career, etc.
• Bring uncooked rice, water, salt or sugar into your new home before moving in.
• Don’t cut a babys hair until after the 1st Birthday.
• On New Years day, get in your car, honk the horn and rev the engine at midnight.
• If you are eating your meal with a 2nd plate under your plate, it means you are likely to cheat on your partner.
• If you drop your fork or spoon while eating, it means a visitor will stop by.  Fork means a Male visitor, spoon means Female visitor.

There is many more, but I think these will give you a general idea of some of the weird things that I hear or see.

 JOHN 

This entry was posted on March 21. 2010 at 06:48 and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response or trackback from your own site.