Tag Archives: folk beliefs

Eggs for a Rain-Less Wedding

M is 50, and was raised in the Caloocan area of metro Manila, Philippines, and currently resides in San Gabriel, California.

M says that “if there is an occasion in which you don’t want it to rain, like a wedding” then you should leave an egg outside. Interestingly, M couldn’t recall where she had heard this belief or the reason why it was so widely held.

Research indicated that this was indeed a common belief held among Filipino people, although there is some discrepancy whether the belief is a myth or a spiritual belief. One variation acts as an urban myth, with eggs being symbolic for new beginnings, while another variation suggests that the egg is an offering to Saint Clara for good weather. Either way, it is still interesting that there can be multiple different origins for one folk belief.

Tabi Tabi Po

M is 50, and was raised in the Caloocan area of metro Manila, Philippines and currently resides in San Gabriel, California.

Growing up, she was always told that “when you pass by a mound of dirt in the Philippines” you must say “tabi tabi po”. This translates to something along the lines of “excuse me” or “I’m passing by.” This was to show the “nuno sa punso” that you respected their home. Upon asking why this was done so frequently, M responded that you are “not supposed to kick it or trample it or something bad will happen to you.”

Upon further research, I read that the nuno sa punso was a catch-all term for any folkloric spirit that could be dwelling within the mound. Additionally, “tabi tabi po” is the shorthand term for “tabi, tabi po baka kayo mabunggd” which translates more formally to “excuse me, sir, lest I bump into you”. In addition to this phrase, it appears that there are different variations of the same phrase uttered in similar situations that vary in different regions and dialects, perhaps suggesting that there is a general reverence/fear surrounding the figures of Filipino folklore.

Gifting Shoes is Bad Luck

M is 50, and was raised in the Caloocan area of metro Manila, Philippines, and currently resides in San Gabriel, California.

M says my grandmother told me that “If someone gives you shoes” you are supposed to “give them coins or pennies” in return. This is because it is meant to ward away bad luck that gifting shoes brings. I asked M why gifting shoes is bad luck. M responded that it symbolically means the equivalent of the gifter asking the person they are gifting shoes to to “go away, or walk out of your life.” So the coins are to make sure that they do not “go away”.

Further research led me to believe that this was a general belief/superstition held by Filipinos. This is an illustration of objects having symbolic meaning attached to them. For instance, instead of shoes, which would symbolize a drifting relationship, a better gift to give a Filipino would be a belt, to “tighten” the relationship.

Ghost Parties in Thailand

Informant: So, like, my family is kinda, like, the official designated ghost family in my village. And my family is from this very small, um, place, kinda outside of Chiang Mai, like 30 minutes outside of Chiang Mai in Northern Thailand. Um. And so my mom, even though she was adopted– so she doesn’t have this official designation, but it’s my family, they basically take care of all the ghosts in the village. And the ghosts are like the ancestors of all of the families that live there and each generation, they have a special woman that they picked out, that’s like part of the bloodline, and.. it can’t be a man, it has to be a woman, and she’s like the keeper of the ghosts. Um, and so it used to be my grandma, and now it’s, um, its fallen to, like, one of my aunties, and now it’s with my cousin who– lemme tell you about my cousin, her name is {name}, and she has like a very severe, like.. learning disability.. So she’s the new keeper of the ghosts. And its, its, kind of interesting because, like, she can’t work, she can’t have a job, she can’t marry.. She’s very, very frail and very thin, but.. It’s kinda nice, cuz now she’s the one that has this responsibility. 

Collector: Right, right, she doesn’t need to… Does she makes money off this?

Informant: No, no, it’s not– it’s more of like a communal village position. But the village is like one big extended family. Y’know. And all of our ancestors are everyone else’s ancestors. And we have one little temple in the very center, y’know, we go to like, mass– it’s like Buddhist mass, basically, on Sundays. Um, so.. But anyways, every eight years there’s what we call like a ghost party. I missed the last couple cuz I was in school, um, but basically every eight years it’s like throwing a big party for all of the ghosts. Like, all of the ancestors, and you get, like, all the food gets spread out.. Spirits in Thai culture are very hungry.. They’re basically like, the ultimate hedonists, they just wanna consume everything. And so you give them, like, entire spreads of like chicken, and food, and like carnations, flowers, they love cigarettes, you get them a lot of cigarettes, they really like, um, whiskey, so you give them a lot of whiskey. Um, and it’s like, everyone gets drunk and gets together, and the process of getting drunk with your family members and your village, its like the spirits come, and they’re getting drunk, and they’re eating with you. 

Collector: This is all so interesting.. When, when you say taking care of the ghosts, you mean like giving them offerings, and keeping the altars clean? 

Informant: Yeah, so it’s kinda like that, it’s also kinda like, part of the spirit lore is like, they’re ghosts, so its like human ancestors, and another part of it is like, like, a lot of high-elf fantasy stuff, like, kind of speaks true to Thai culture, where like before the humans came, there were spirits in the forest. And these spirits are very old, and they had been there for like millennia. And they owned the forest, that’s their domain, and like, in Thailand, you know, we cut down the forest, we lived there and we farmed, and so we need to like, give back to the spirits. 

Context: The informant is a close friend of mine, and is a Thai-American young woman. She lived in Thailand for several years with her mother, before they both moved to Southern California.

Analysis: This is possibly my most exciting collection, seeing how I have a friend who has thrown a ghost party before. This experience is obviously personal to not only my informant, for also for the entire village. They do not differentiate their own ancestors from the village ancestors, which ties the entire village together, even after death. It is interesting that Thai spirits are considered to be hungry, as I have seen previous examples of hungry ghosts in Korea and Japan, all of which stem from Buddhism. I also find it interesting that only woman can serve the ghosts, as previously mentioned.

Filipino Leprechauns

Informant: Ok so , in the Philippines, ah, the way leprechauns show up, is ah, they’re these, like, really dark-skinned, short people, that–that have really bright, like, teeth, right? So when you see them at night, and when they smile, its kind of like the cheshire cat? Yeah, so, umm, basically, whenever you see one you don’t want to mess with them because, if you, uh, hurt them in any way, they’ll most likely attack you in the middle of the night.

Collector: Will they kill you? Will they eat you?

Informant: They won’t eat you, but if like, you could die from it, so for example, the story that happened to my dad’s relative, he saw a leprechaun, and then he smacked it with a shovel. And then, ah, the very next day, my relative’s back just started hurting out of nowhere, and it basically bedrid him, and then, yeah, he died later. 

Context: My informant is a close friend of mine, and is a Filipino American young man. His father is an immigrant from the Philippines, and has extended family still living there.

Analysis: At first, when my informant named the entity as a “leprechaun,” I was momentarily confused, and could think only of a stereotypical Irish leprechaun, complete with a red beard and green suit. The image I was thinking of is entirely different from what my informant told me, namely the dark skin and bright teeth. My informant recalled that these entities were found largely in more rural areas of the Philippines, and so it was often smaller towns or villages that experienced leprechauns. Though it is unclear what would have happened if the relative had not hit it with a shovel, what is clear is that because of that, the relative was bedridden, and died shortly afterwards. While searching the USC Online Archive, I found another post regarding Filipino dwarves– could this be another version of the leprechaun?

Filipino Dwarves post: http://folklore.usc.edu/?p=36181