Ghost Festival

At the stroke of Midnight, everything will be different.

Everyone would be seen rushing home before night comes knocking on their doors.

The night sky seems darker as the only thing that lights up your pathway would be the glowing flame of the lighted candles that accompany the offerings.

Every corner you turn, you'll face bins that roar and cackle as people throw the "paper dolls, shirts and money" into the rising flame.

You see tents in the middle of the field, you squint to have a better view of what it is all about. It's a Chinese opera performance for the "visitors".

You try to erase the scary faces of the opera singers, but before you know it, two ghoulish eyes stare at you, ready to eat you alive.

You try to run, but tripped. A nightmarish laughter haunts you as you try to erase the eerie glare that you got earlier.

You try to avoid the ashes on the drains that are enveloped by a white circle, but as hard as you try, the mistral gently blows the ashes forming a tornado, after you.

You quicken your pace, but soon hears a familiar voice calling your name.

Should you turn around to see who it is?

Millions of thoughts races through your head as you mentally weigh between turning to look or not.

It's 1am, and you turned. And you saw...









True enough, midnight would mark the start of the Hungry Ghost festival. If you have no idea what that is, fear not, I've check wikipedia.org!

The Ghost Festival (simplified Chinese: 中元节; traditional Chinese: 中元節; pinyin: zhōngyuánjié) is a traditional Chinese festival and holiday, which is celebrated by Chinese in many countries. In the Chinese calendar (a lunisolar calendar), the Ghost Festival is on the 15th night of the seventh lunar month.

In Chinese tradition, the thirteenth day of the seventh month in the lunar calendar is called Ghost Day and the seventh month in general is regarded as the Ghost Month (鬼月), in which ghosts and spirits, including those of the deceased ancestors, come out from the lower realm. During the Qingming Festival the living descendants pay homage to their ancestors and on Ghost Day, the deceased visit the living.

On the thirteenth day the three realms of Heaven, Hell and the realm of the living are open and both Taoists and Buddhists would perform rituals to transmute and absolve the sufferings of the deceased. Intrinsic to the Ghost Month is ancestor worship, where traditionally the filial piety of descendants extends to their ancestors even after their deaths. Activities during the month would include preparing ritualistic food offerings, burning incense, and burning joss paper, a papier-mache form of material items such as clothes, gold and other fine goods for the visiting spirits of the ancestors. Elaborate meals would be served with empty seats for each of the deceased in the family treating the deceased as if they are still living. Ancestor worship is what distinguishes Qingming Festival from Ghost Festival because the former includes paying respects to all deceased, including the same and younger generations, while the latter only includes older generations. Other festivities may include, burying and releasing miniature paper boats and lanterns on water, which signifies giving directions to the lost ghosts and spirits of the ancestors and other deities.

When I was younger, I was very afraid whenever the Hungry Ghost Festival were around. Because I always had a tendency to picture the "visitors" as scary ghosts who looked something like this:



















I was very naive and a coward, so I believed the folk tales of not going for a swim during the Ghost Month, not turning around when I heard someone calling my name, not stepping on any burnings, and apologize if I did, and to never stand near the offerings, or even ask/say anything about the offerings.

My mum used to tell me that kids have the ability to look at the "supernatural" and I for one, have experienced it.

I remember one time when I was really young (and stupid). I asked my mum why there were so many ravenous people fighting for the offerings. It was only a few years later, that I realized that the ravenous people were the homeless souls who depended on people's offerings to survive.

I've lost the magic touch to see the "supernatural" but I would love to go on expeditions to try to "regain" the touch back. Besides, who wouldn't love the explore more of the Lingo world?

I know exploring and entering their "territory" could be a grave danger, literally, as we may offend them without knowing it at all. But still, I would love to be part of SPI.


Any SPI people want to take me in?