41. If you dream you lost a tooth, it means is bad luck. To break the omen, silently go to a tree and tell your dream so that it will be the tree that will suffer.
42. Never allow food on the table to wait for you, otherwise the spirits will spoil it.
43. Needle bought in the afternoon is likely to rust.
44. A birthday celebrant must take extra precaution against accident, so with a new graduate.
45. The bride should not look behind while marching the aisle, otherwise the wedding will not be disrupted.
46. The number of steps of a stair is based on the alternate oro (gold)-plata (silver) formula. Aim for oro in the last or highest step.
47. Wearing bright clothes, especially red, on your birthday makes the day happy.
48. After the wedding the man must exit first from the church so that he will not become a henpeck husband.
49. Don’t give your loved one a necklace; otherwise your relationship will not last.
50. Don’t allow your friend to remove your ring, otherwise you will quarrel.
51. If the father or mother leaves the house, place the clothes he or she last worn beside the sleeping child so that he go into deep sleep.
52. Kill a chicken for a new born baby as an offering.
53. Sweeping or cleaning the house while a dead relative is in wake will lead to the death of another member of the family.
54. Eating nangka or jackfruit during menstruation is prohibited otherwise the woman will get sick and even die.
55. When planting sitao (string bean), place a comb on your hair to induce the production of abundant long fruits.
56. Eating chicken cooked with squash will cause leprosy.
57. A woman on her menstrual period should not visit a garden or orchard otherwise the plants will become sick or die.
58. To know if it is true jade, it remains cool even if the body is warm.
59. Water fruiting tree with sugar solution to make the fruits sweet.
60. Don't cut fingernails at night, it brings bad luck. ~
We Filipinos are really superstitious in nature. I'd like to assume three reasons as to why we act in such way. I believe many of our superstitious beliefs hark back to the pagan beliefs before Roman Catholicism was introduced by the Spanish conquistadors half a millennium ago. It was during that time when we believed in almost anything. We assumed that when a particular thing happens, it is a sign or a warning even if it was only coincidence.
ReplyDeleteMaybe it was also the influence of the ethnic Chinese starting with our immigrant ancestors who traditionally practiced so many colorful, superstitious beliefs. Many Chinese beliefs are harmless and delightful. For example, if a parent of a boyfriend or girlfriend dies, the couple has to rush marriage within 100 days or wait two years after to do so.
Perhaps another reason could be the ruling political and social elite of the Philippines (whether Spanish or the local datus and later the ilustrados) invented and spread all sorts of superstitions as well as numerous aswang/kapre/dwende/tiyanak/manananggal/tikbalang/multo
horror tales as part of social control, to manipulate and mesmerize the oppressed masses into acquiescence.
-Khriastiana Jacinto, AB Communication Arts