Halloween is quickly approaching. In the USA it's a time of celebration and superstition. Do we celebrate Halloween in the America the same as they do in the Philippines?
Yes and no.
Halloween is one of the oldest holidays in America it's a time of celebration and superstition yet it is celebrated very differently in the Philippines.
In the USA we celebrate Halloween on October 31st which is one day before the beginning of the Halloween Season in the Philippines.
That's right, November 1st is the beginning of the Halloween Season in the Philippines, where they observe it as Halowin, Undas or Day of the Dead.
In the Philippines, the "Day of the Dead" is called Undas, which is derived from the Spanish word "anda" or "honra" (possibly), meaning "All Souls' Day" or "Araw ng Mga Patay".
The Undas-season typically starts on November 1 (Todos los Santos or "All Saints' Day") and then ending on November 2nd, "All Souls Day" itself.
Unlike here in the USA where Halloween is not a national holiday. Undas is a state-recognized holiday (no-working holiday) in the Philippines. People all over the country get time off from work or school giving them time to return to their home provinces, where their family cemeteries are located.
Celebrated a day before "All Saints’ Day", Halloween has, evolved into a day of celebration and superstition.
Lots of child-friendly activities like trick-or-treating and costume parties will be held today. Children pretending to be characters from the underworld will make the rounds of commercial establishments like malls, restaurants, and hotels to ask for candies and other treats while chanting “trick or treat”.
In exclusive subdivisions, club houses, and residential condominiums, where houses have been decorated with spiders, cobwebs, scary masks, and characters weeks before Halloween, parties are usually organized. It has also become a tradition for the homeowners to have candies ready for all the children.
Undas or Day of the Dead History // Origin of Undas in Philippine History
Spain had governed the Philippines for over 300 years, and many of their Spanish customs and traditions were passed on to the native Filipinos. These include the ways how Undas or Halloween in the Philippines is typically celebrated.
How Do Filipinos Celebrate Halloween?
In the Philippines, Halloween or Undas can be said to be actually more of an observance than a 'celebration.' It's a day of commemoration of the dead. During the Halloween season, Filipinos go to the cemeteries to visit their 'dead', clean their tombstone (sometimes repaint them), light candles, and offer flowers and prayers for the dead (Catholic masses are also offered).
It's a typical sight to see entire families camping in cemeteries and sometimes even spending the whole night or two near their dead relative's tomb. During this time, card games are played, ghost stories are told, and there are eating, drinking, singing, and merriment in commemoration of the departed loved ones. The occasion is more like a family reunion or banquet or family picnic.
Filipino Halloween of the past
Pag-aatang or Atang
- An Ilocano-Filipino superstitious belief and practice of offering food in an altar for loved ones who had passed away. This is typically just a form of respect and remembrance and holds no religious significance.
Pag-titirik ng Kandila
- 'Erecting a candle' - in front of houses, on the ground or sometimes on top of gates or fences - to guide the souls of the faithful departed coming home to visit during the Halloween season or Undas. (I personally find this very creepy.)
Pangaluluwa
- 'Ghost visits' or 'Haunting' (coming from the word kaluluwa, meaning 'soul'). The Filipino version of 'trick-or-treat' performed usually in the provinces or rural areas, where kids, children, or young folks would dress in white or drape themselves in white sheets going from house to house in the evening or early morning of Undas or Halloween, ghoulishly singing and begging for some alms or foods, treats, or money. (Again, for me, the sound of singing 'souls' in the dead of the night is really really spooky.) This practice is believed to represent the souls stranded in purgatory asking the living for help in the form of prayers so they can get to heaven.
- During the earlier decades, part of this tradition was stealing eggs, chickens, and sometimes even large livestock from the yards of fellow townspeople. It's a friendly Halloween tradition that is now slowly dying out.
Modern-day Halloween Celebrations
Even pets get to wear costumes for Halloween Aside from Spain, the United States also governed the Philippines some time during the first half of the 20th Century, particularly after World War II. Thus, much of the modern-day Halloween celebrations you can see or experience in the Philippines came from the influence of Americans.
Corporate offices, school faculties, private institutions, and other groups and communities hold Halloween parties in celebration. Teens and youth would go to a Halloween Ball in the night club in the city, if not ghost hunting or spirit questing in secluded neighborhoods.
Malls are garishly adorned with Halloween decorations and kids and small children will go trick or treating (in the malls) wearing their best cute, if not scary outfits. Scariest Halloween costume contests among other festivities are also prevalent.
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