THE Hungry Ghost Month has arrived and is generally a time when business in the country slows down.
Feng shui experts or geomancers advice most people to chill during this period, as the spirits of our dead ancestors roam the earth and visit us, sometimes creating mayhem.
As I write this on Wednesday, trading at the Philippine Stock Exchange has ended nearly flat 6,158.34 index points. And the deals will likely remain sluggish until September 10, when the ghosts all return from whence they came.
As per the advice of geomancers, no major life decisions (e.g. weddings, moving house, celebrating birthdays and other happy occasions, etc.) should be made during this period, which started on August 13. Other taboos include late-evening excursions, swimming in the open sea, whistling or humming outdoors at night, taking photos after sunset, and leaving the laundry hanging outside overnight.
The latter of course is a bit of a problem for many of us. With the onset of the monsoon season, drying our clothes under the sun has become a challenge. It will likely take two to three days for our laundry to properly dry, hopefully aided by outdoor wind. Otherwise, we take our wet clothes and linen indoors and risk the ‘kulob’ smell, even as they are cool-dried by electric fans. (Makati Mayor Nancy Binay recently shared on social media that her son messsaged her and asked if she had changed their detergent. He wondered if it was why his clothes smelled ‘funky,’ or, as the mayor noted, ‘amoy kulob’.)
These past weeks, I have bravely left my laundry hanging overnight or two at the balcony. When these are dry enough to bring into the house, I first shake these and shout loudly for anyone to hear that they ought to leave my clothes ASAP. Shoo! Cross my fingers that works.
I’ve also managed to avoid leaving the house at night, politely turning down dinners and other events. So apologies to my frineds, I will have to deprive you of my exciting presence in your evening gatherings. Perhaps let’s do lunch instead?
And so far, everyone is safe from me getting married anytime soon. Although too bad, my dead ancestors will have been overjoyed to attend my wedding. Right, Mama?
While we’re waiting out the wanderings of our dead ancestors’ spirits, we are advised to honor them by setting up an altar to offer them food, fruit and incense.
To preserve our luck, we should also be generous in words and action. Practice charity, we are told. The latter of course is good to practice all year round.