Are you soon attending a Filipino funeral? There are things you MUST know before you go, and we’ve listed them all right here in this article!
Do NOT comb your hair
Combing the hair on a burial or in a wake means you are inviting more bad luck to ruin your family and personal luck for the future.
Do NOT wear red during a burial
Wearing a red piece of clothing when visiting a wake or burial is a very rude thing to do. It means you are happy that the person has died.
Rain During Burial
Death is a common phenomenon where people are understood if they weep, mourn, and grief for their lost loved one. Though weather conditions do not have any connection with the scheduled burial aside from it can affect the activities such as releasing of balloons when raining and others, Filipino people believe that weather conditions imply something.
In some parts of the country, people believe that raining during burial is a sign that that the deceased was a good man that even the clouds cry and mourn with the family, and in other parts of the country, people believe that heaven is rejoicing to accept the soul of the deceased.
Do NOT go straight home after a funeral
Never go straight home when coming from a wake/funeral. It is believed that if you go straight home the spirit of the deceased will follow you and torment you. We do what is called “pagpag”, we go another place before going home to ward off the spirit.
Lamay: Death and Sweeping the Floor
Filipino people have strong family ties. When a part of the family dies, most of them would even want to have the coffin with the dead body stay more or less than 1 week in their house where other relatives and friends can visit and either empathize or sympathize. They call that ‘lamay’.
During the lamay, old people believe that the spirit of the dead person is still in the place, dwelling with them. They should let the spirit be there to spent time with the family before the burial and the 40th day. Sweeping the floor is also prohibited inside the house during the lamay to avoid “sweeping” away the spirit.
